The food cluster Mercalicante has already covered 80% of its first expansion phase, utilizing over 19,500 square meters of land expropriated from the company Dosval. These plots have been awarded to companies in the agri-food sector interested in leveraging the synergies and shared services offered by the facility, managed by the public company.
The tender for this land began a year ago, after Mercalicante took possession of the grounds, following the formalization of the payment of 3.4 million euros for the expropriation. The initial plot included a pre-existing warehouse, which has also been allocated. Although specific beneficiary companies have not been detailed, all are within the agri-food sector, the cluster's primary activity alongside distribution and logistics.
Concurrently, the City Council of Alicante and Mercasa, the sole shareholders of Mercalicante, are advancing the procedures for the second expansion phase. This new stage involves the expropriation of another plot owned by the Gómez-Trenor family, owners of Colebega. The aim is to complete this second expansion within the next three years to provide new opportunities for business establishment.
The president of Mercasa, José Manuel Miñones, announced this projection during the visit of the Minister of Finance, Arcadi España, to the facilities. Miñones highlighted the role of Mercalicante and the Mercas network in national food distribution. Sources from Mercalicante confirmed that initial steps are being taken for this new expansion, reinforcing the City Council and Mercasa's commitment to the cluster's growth as a strategic infrastructure.
Recently, the rezoning of an additional 58,000 square meters has been promoted, transitioning from industrial land to a general system of urban market services for future expansions. This modification to the General Urban Planning Plan (PGOU) will facilitate the accommodation of new companies linked to food distribution.
Currently, Mercalicante has an occupancy rate exceeding 85%, according to data confirmed by Miñones. The cluster hosts 110 companies, generates 1,000 direct and 3,600 indirect jobs, with an aggregated turnover of nearly 485 million euros annually and handles 110 million kilograms of food per year. It supplies a population of 1.9 million inhabitants, a figure that increases in summer due to tourism.
During the visit, Minister Arcadi España, accompanied by Miñones, the Government's deputy delegate, Manuel Pineda, and the mayor of Alicante and president of Mercalicante, Luis Barcala, toured the facilities. They visited the headquarters of Nufri, a company founded in 1973, which has a packaging and distribution center in Mercalicante and manages over 5,000 hectares of its own agricultural production.
The delegation also visited the Wholesale Market for Fruits and Vegetables, which traded 59.7 million kilograms in 2025, exceeding 106 million euros in sales. In total, Mercalicante handled 109.1 million kilograms of food last year, consolidating itself as a key agri-food platform in the Mediterranean region.
The visit concluded at LAME (Authorized Location for Export Goods), a customs figure that allows pre-export controls to be carried out directly at the cluster, strengthening its capacity to support the export activities of the companies located there.
