Construction of Spain’s largest Chinese industrial investment will depend on workers brought in from China, according to a government report on Madrid’s automotive strategy seen by Bloomberg.
The report states that the €4.1bn ($4.68bn) battery factory, a joint venture between China’s CATL and carmaker Stellantis, will rely on “expatriate workers” during construction until the fourth quarter of 2028.
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This corroborates earlier reporting that Chinese labour would be used to build the facility.
The document does not specify how many workers would be sourced from China, though it notes that construction would generate several thousand jobs overall.
The report presents three joint ventures as examples of investment “done right in Spain”: Chery Automobile’s partnership with local firm Ebro Motors, the Stellantis-CATL battery venture, and BAIC Motor’s tie-up with Santana Motors.
Together, the three are expected to create close to 6,000 direct jobs, with more than 4,000 at the battery plant, 1,600 at Ebro Motors and around 210 at Santana Motors.
According to Bloomberg, the document is less detailed on two other benchmarks Spain has set for measuring the investments’ success: increasing procurement from Spanish suppliers and transferring technology.
Chinese firms will initially import complete vehicle kits for assembly in Spain, with an eventual goal of building a European supply chain that benefits domestic companies.
On technology, the report describes a gradual transfer process but does not set out a clear timeline for shifting underlying intellectual property to Spanish ownership.
CATL and Chery will licence their technology rather than transfer it outright, and the report includes no specific targets for setting up local research facilities.
Separately, Brussels is drafting a policy linking EU subsidy schemes to origin requirements and low-carbon standards.
Volkswagen, Stellantis and Renault have expressed support for local-content rules but asked last month for a broader threshold to allow more electric vehicles to qualify.
The EU currently lacks domestic battery manufacturing capacity, even though batteries make up roughly a third of an EV’s value – a gap widened by the collapse of Swedish battery developer and manufacturer Northvolt.
Stellantis is the first major manufacturer in the region to expand partnerships with Chinese firms, citing cost reductions and faster access to competitive technology.
The company said earlier this year it would build an Opel SUV using EV components from partner Leapmotor in Spain from 2028.
Stellantis will also share a factory near Madrid with a Chinese partner, while Dongfeng Motor Group is set to manufacture vehicles in Rennes, France.
