The Alicante Port Authority and the regional government launched a transformative business plan two years ago, with a total investment near 140 million euros sourced from public and private funds up to 2024. The initiative has turned the port into a magnet for tech companies and startups. Daily, around 800 to 1,000 professionals work in business centers located between the cruise terminal facilities and the Panoramis complex, a development expected to amplify the docks’ impact in 2023 when new facilities come online in Digital Zone 5 at the pier.
In addition to the core port operations, projects address traditional activities such as a second container terminal, a fish farm aimed at raising and exporting to Japan, a closed ship for public transport, and a logistics platform managed by the multinational Dachser. Developments also anticipate a future major convention center for the city. Companies including Accenture, Softek, Navico, and Trascom are among more than 60 firms already establishing a presence in Alicante. The Business Center of the former Panoramis complex now spans 25,000 square meters and has undergone a real transformation in the last year.
The port is projected to move 1,600 containers per week to destinations such as the Canary Islands, Turkey, Malta, and Marseille.
Until 2024, the Port Authority has organized its activities into three major areas. Public investment is driving improvements to berths 1 and 2, supporting a private investment program that will manage berths 4, 6, 8, and 10 around their surroundings. A pedestrian loop along the inner pier completes this redevelopment and reinforces the port city concept.
The project plan includes four architectural structures of 1,200 square meters each that will simulate port containers across a 15,000 square meter site. This will form the fifth Digital Zone center, complementing the existing facilities in Ciudad de la Luz.
The regional government stresses the importance of this infrastructure, noting that the current dependencies hosting 65 companies have already seen growth pressures. The new center enables expansion of the Digital Zone and positions the port as a core driver of the city’s innovation landscape.
Forecasts indicate about 550 technology professionals will be working in the new building, with many already showing interest in Alicante as a base for their operations.
Logistics Center
Multinational Dachser has developed what will become the world’s largest logistics hub for the port of Alicante. The concession covers 51,364 square meters and includes an office building of over 13,000 square meters, an industrial warehouse, a logistics platform serving goods, sea and road transport, and a loading area of 2,300 square meters. The planned total investment is 15 million euros, with a concession period of 30 years.
Dachser Iberia reports yearly revenues of about 680 million euros and employs around 3,000 people. As the Spanish and Portuguese arm of the German logistics giant, the group focuses on freight transport both nationally and internationally. The port concession to establish a base in Alicante was granted at the end of 2020, though the process faced delays due to the pandemic. A 24-month implementation plan is currently under review.
The company outlines an expansion plan that includes an additional 2,246 square meter warehouse adjacent to the existing facility on a plot connected to the A-31 motorway and the port road. The remaining area will be developed into a truck loading and unloading zone, a rolling area, parking for trucks and cars, and an access control point. The expanded operations are expected to open after Easter 2023, around April or May, bringing roughly one hundred new jobs to the region and strengthening the province’s logistics capabilities. The aim is to become a leading national and international transport operator while broadening the client portfolio and delivering sector-wide solutions, according to company sources.
The Digital Zone Center in the Port
On the environmental and innovation front, the Ministry of Ecological Transition recently approved Alicante Aquacultura’s plan for captive breeding at the port. The project envisions producing about 600 tons of fish annually aboard a vessel spanning 9,000 square feet at the 11th quay, near the Marine Fisheries Polytechnic Institute and the new MOE amphibious equipment location. The Port Authority notes that the investment will fund fry production, export activities to Japan, and the construction of a two-million-euro facility that will create about 20 permanent jobs. Water will be drawn from the sea and treated with microfiltration to remove residual particles from the system.
Plans for a second container terminal, operated by JSV, target an annual movement of roughly 70,000 containers at this pier. The Levante dock will host a new marina for large yachts, promoted by the Marmarala group, with a floating platform for a restaurant and space for jet skis near the Fish Market slated for 2023.
Mediterranean Corridor
The long-awaited link between the Central Government port of Alicante and the Mediterranean Corridor remains to be tendered. At the end of 2021, the Transport Ministry outlined how the Alicante port would connect to this corridor and allocated a 61 million euro budget from New Generation funds arriving from Brussels. The Mediterranean Corridor is overseen by Government Commissioner Josep Vicen Boira, who indicated that the main remaining step for the third rail project is resolving clearance for the Elda tunnel. The tendering process is expected in the first half of the year.
The port connection depends on a tender that has yet to be awarded. The Ministry of Transport has not clarified whether rail links will eventually connect the Alicante and Elche airports. More than two years ago, the ministry tied the project to the completion of the Torrellano variant, a key infrastructure project estimated at 85 million euros to remove suburban tracks from the first sea line. As of February 2020, works were awarded. Two years later, officials acknowledged that the alternative still lacks a concrete plan and has not decided if electrification will proceed. Entrepreneurs from across Spain are scheduled to meet in Barcelona on a later date to press for progress on this corridor, organized by the Valencian Entrepreneurs Association.