Spain Gets Rocked by Fresh Redundancy Rumours on Back of Nissan Closure in Barcelona

SPAIN has been rocked by fresh new redundancy rumours on the back of Nissan announcing the closure this December of their operations in Barcelona.

Around 3,000 people are set to be sacked at the Nissan Zona Franca plant, and crucially up to 30,000 indirect jobs depend on the Nissan factory.

Now comes news that aluminium producer Alcoa is looking at letting go 534 workers from their factory at San Ciprian in the northern region of Galicia.

The company says they have yet to make a final decision, but the combination of a poor aluminium market and high costs has forced Alcoa into making big losses, and struggling to compete around the world.

The San Ciprian operation has a staff of 2,000 people.

Over Nissan, the Spanish government has not yet thrown in the towel, and are hoping to change the mind of the Japanese car maker.

They say that if the firm goes in with a viability plan developed with the Industry Ministry and the Catalonia regional government, then a cash injection of up to €100 million would be on the table, which would help to ensure the economic viability of developing a new electric car.

Nissan though is not quitting Spain as it will continue manufacturing in Cantabria and Avila.