Córdoba and Algeciras to discuss military expansion business opportunities

The Port of Algeciras is called upon to play a fundamental role as a logistical bridge with the future base that the Army is building in the province of Córdoba, since both enclaves will be directly interconnected by rail.

The works on this project, in the La Rinconada area, began last December and will allow the Army’s material maintenance activities to be grouped in a single facility, which will reduce service times, movements and infrastructure.

The facilities, valued at more than 500 million euro to erect 32 intelligent buildings, will allow the twelve logistics units, currently located in nine different locations, to be concentrated in a single enclave, in two headquarters: one dedicated to the maintenance of helicopters, the current base in Colmenar Viejo (Madrid), and the other, aimed at general logistics, in Córdoba.

To outline business and logistics opportunities with the Port of Algeciras, the Córdoba Investor Office, the Confederation of Businessmen of Córdoba and the City Council will hold a conference today, Tuesday, in the Port of Algeciras on the logistics connectivity and technological projects linked to this base.

In this project, the companies of the Port of Algeciras have business opportunities to channel the import of supplies necessary for defence, as well as all kinds of equipment.

The event, at the Millán Picazo Auditorium, will have a broad institutional representation from Córdoba and Algeciras prior to four conferences. Thus, the president of the APBA, Gerardo Landaluce, is expected to attend the event; the president of the Confederation of Businessmen of Córdoba, Antonio Díaz; the vice president of the businessmen of Cádiz, Francisco Arroyal; the president of the Campo de Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce, Carlos Fenoy; the rector of the University of Córdoba, Manuel Torralbo; the mayors of Algeciras and Córdoba, José Ignacio Landaluce and José María Bellido, as well as the counsellor of the Presidency of the Board, Antonio Sanz.

The first conference will be about innovation and defence, led by Alberto Cervantes Sánchez, director of services at Navantia, which will be followed by a round table on the technological project of the Army Logistics Base (BLET) with experts from the Ministry of Defence and the Army who will make a general presentation of the project.

The Confederation of Businessmen of Córdoba will provide its vision on the Andalusian Logistics Business Cluster generated around this strategic project, while the fourth and last conference will focus on the competitive advantages for companies in Córdoba.

A technological network

The General Army Javier Varela logistics base plans to be an economic and social boost for Córdoba, as well as a technological and R&D&I engine for the Andalusian region. Some 600 military personnel and 1,100 civilians will work there, of which 100 will be civil servants and 1,000 labour personnel.

The equipment will be made up of intelligent buildings, with robotic systems associated with the infrastructure. It will also host innovation projects for the launch of a network of autonomous vehicles for logistics management, the use of artificial intelligence for the development of camouflage patterns, the flight of drones inside warehouses to monitor possible deficiencies or the additive manufacturing for the production of spare parts.

The base works are progressing at a good pace and in accordance with the established deadlines, which will allow, after the fencing, urbanisation and supply channelling work that is currently being carried out, the buildings to start in just 12 months. The total execution period of the works extends until 2028.