2023-12-25 11:00:05
Next week it will be two years since the definitive closure of the factory Nissan in the Free Zone from Barcelona. A closing that ended decades of history of Catalan and Spanish motorsports and that left 2,525 workers on the street. Half of them headed towards retirement and the other half signed up for a reindustrialization project that, two years later, has not yet started.
The final decision by the Chinese automobile manufacturer Chery will determine whether cars continue to be assembled on a large scale in the Free Trade Zone or if the project to install an electromobility ‘hub’ falters before even getting the first start. A decision that for weeks has been described by different parties involved in the negotiations as “imminent”, but that has not just been produced.
Time is of the essence and the last unemployment benefits of those employees who have not managed to find a job while waiting to be called for reindustrialization will expire, at the latest, December 31. At the moment, of those 1,300 former employees who remained active once Nissan closed, only 200 have been relocated to reindustrialization projects. The rest are either collecting unemployment benefits or have looked for another job on their own while they wait.
The chances that this interest already expressed by the Chinese will materialize before the end of the year are slim, according to the same sources consulted, and the sensations are a mixture of skepticism and cautious optimism. “Talks are moving forward“they insist from the D-Hubresponsible for reindustrialization and agreeing on Chery’s fit in the future of the Free Trade Zone.
From Asia came the order to close Nissan and from Asia come the hopes of producing cars again. Although, in that search for Nissan’s successor, disappointments have also come from Asia. “We took a hit with Great Wall Motors,” recalls the secretary general SIGEM-SIR USOC, Miguel Ruiz. Misgivings shared by consulted sources from UGT and CCOO. Initially, the great bet of the administrations and unions to fill the gap of the Japanese was that manufacturer of Chinese origin, one of the most important in its market and that sought to open up to the European market.
However, his interest did not end up materializing and that disappointment gave rise to the D-Hub, a project by two Catalan consultancies that has ended up finding a place in the former Nissan lands (after agreement with the real estate investor Goodman). Now the D-Hub managers are seeking to reach an agreement with Chery to manufacture their vehicles and make the Free Zone their gateway to the European market. Although the precedents are not encouraging, Chery already threatened to settle in Catalonia a decade ago, including a visit to China by then-president José Montilla. Although the talks did not prosper.
The Administration moves
He has now been the Minister of Business and Work, Roger Torrent, who has traveled to China, where in mid-October he held a meeting with Chery leadership to expedite his landing in Barcelona. For the Generalitat of Catalonia it is a priority to successfully resolve this issue, after clearly betting on the D-Hub option to reindustrialize the Free Trade Zone and helping them do so with various financial disbursements. The Company Secretary, Albert Castellanoshas been on this subject and the Labor one for months, Enric Vinaixahas mediated for aid linked to training.
The Government wants Chery to come, works to consolidate the project in the long term and explores formulas so that the relationship between the Chinese and the D-Hub goes beyond a sporadic vehicle order. The changes in the Ministry of Industry caused by the early elections have not facilitated the movements from these spheres at this point, although Chery has also looked to the new minister and former mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Hereuan interlocutor with whom to negotiate aid and favorable conditions to make the Catalan capital its spearhead for the European market.
Meeting with Hereu
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This week, a Chery vice president held a meeting in Madrid with Hereu to address this issue, as confirmed by the minister’s team. They decline to give any details of the content of the meeting. Nor do they give details from the D-Hub, also present at that conclave. “Progress is being made in conversations and negotiations,” they insist. During the first quarter of 2024, Industry is expected to issue new calls for subsidies via PERTE.
The next February 1st, The D-Hub has committed to hiring 606 former Nissan employees (330 in dual vocational training and 276 in CONFORCAT training) with a training contract and a salary of 1,575 euros gross (the equivalent of the maximum unemployment benefit). Conditions clearly below those they had two years ago, but temporary, since as of October these contracts will take a substantial leap in quality and will be governed by the metal agreement, plus 20%. However, for these 660 former employees to have activity that justifies their salary, they need industrial orders like the ones Chery says it is interested in placing.
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