Lidl has started building Europe’s biggest distribution centre ever, with construction underway at its new logistics platform in Alcalá de Henares in Spain.

The 71,800 sq m facility will open in Summer 2016, when it will serve over 150 Lidl stores and create jobs for more than 275 workers.

“This will be the biggest distribution platform in the whole of Europe, the most technologically advanced and the most sustainable,” said Lidl director of expansion and real estate Javier Suárez.

The discounter held a ceremony to mark the laying of the first stone when construction kicked off last week. At the ceremony, Madrid’s regional president Ignacio Gonzáles said Lidl’s expansion would benefit Spain’s agrifood sector. The largest Lidl distribution centre in the UK is currently the Northfleet centre, which is 38,000 sq m, though the upcoming 71,000 sq m distribution centre in Scotland will overtake it.