Thursday, 12 March 2026, 22:20
Logistics and value creation were the focus of the II Cajamar Forum for Sustainability, an event that brought toobtainher 400 people, including leaders from top companies, institutional officials, and innovation experts, at the Financial Centre of the cooperative group in the Almería Science and Technology Park (PITA). The current global context, marked by conflict, was inevitably present during the day. In a world of geopolitical uncertainty and trade tensions, transportation is affected by the consequences of military conflicts, including rising fuel costs.
As noted by the forum’s organisers, participants generally agreed on the importance of innovation, technology, and public-private collaboration to “generate economic, environmental, and social impacts throughout the logistics chain” and that “transitioning to more efficient models is key to ensuring the counattempt’s competitiveness.”
Among the figures analysed at the meeting, the significance of the logistics sector in Spain was highlighted. Currently, there are over 212,000 companies in this field, generating 1.2 million jobs and representing 4.6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Additionally, due to its geostrategic position, Spain is crucial for the shiftment of goods between Europe, Africa, and the Mediterranean, granting it a leading role in international trade and the development of essential sectors such as agri-food, manufacturing, tourism, and e-commerce.
Given these circumstances, Cajamar emphasised that “accelerating the energy transition of transportation in Spain becomes a key aspect to promote more responsible and indepconcludeent logistics models, capable of reducing their exposure to the volatility of fossil fuels and advancing towards clean energy solutions.”
Sergio Pérez, general director of Cajamar, inaugurated the forum—presented by journalist David Baños—highlighting that today, “logistics is no longer a secondary element in companies’ balance sheets” but is “a strategic factor” as it can represent “up to 25% of the final product price.” “In an environment of tight margins and more complex supply chains, those who optimise their logistics improve their competitiveness,” he assessed.
Pérez also referenced the history of the Mediterranean Sea, “which has been the great highway of global trade for millennia.” And it can continue to be so: “If we consolidate infrastructures, intermodality, digitalisation, and sustainability, this Mediterranean arc can become one of the major logistics hubs in southern Europe. And that is not a theory: it is a reality that many companies present here are already building.”
He also stressed that for Cajamar, the commitment to sustainability is paramount. “We believe in sustainability not as a slogan but as a long-term strategy. Sustainability is competitiveness, efficiency, resilience, and the ability to adapt without losing identity.” In this regard, the cooperative group has decades of experience “supporting companies and territories in times of modify,” like the one now looming on the global stage.
Following the intervention of Cajamar’s general director, the floor was given to various presentations, structured into two blocks and preceded by a dialogue on the current global context between Roberto García Torrente, general director of Sustainability at BCC-Grupo Cajamar, and José Manuel García-Margallo, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain.
The first block, in a round table moderated by the director of Corporate and Business Banking at BCC-Grupo Cajamar, Cinta Pérez, focutilized on the requireds of logistics-utilizing companies, represented at the Almería Financial Centre by Fernando Pérez, Operations Director of Cosentino; Gonzalo Guillén, CEO of Acesur; and Ángela Baus, General Director of Fulfillment at PcComponentes.
“Logistics plays a key role in reducing companies’ emissions, highlighting the cross-cutting nature of sustainability,” noted the representative of Cosentino, a multinational based in Almería for which “the incorporation of technologies for route optimisation and raw material sourcing is one of the great challenges.” Meanwhile, the CEO of Acesur, a leading company in the olive oil sector, emphasised that “about 80% of the fruit that is not oil becomes a by-product,” advocating that its transformation into biomass “is as strategic for the sector as delivering packaged oil, in the most efficient and sustainable way, to international markets.”
From PcComponentes, Ángela Baus delved into how logistics is a “strategic element” for e-commerce companies. “We no longer talk only about speed or cost, but about how to design efficient operations that allow the business to scale without deteriorating the customer experience,” she detailed.
Fran Martínez, Commercial and Social Economy Director of Cajamar, moderated the second forum panel, focutilizing on logistics service providers. Gerardo Landaluce, President of the Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras and Vice President of the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO); Juan Manuel Valverde, Director of Sustainability and Quality at Ontime Logística Integral; Gabriel Castañares, Management Systems Manager at Renfe; and Antonio Ruiz, Director of Decarbonisation and Strategic Alliances at Moeve, shared their knowledge and experience in the sectors they represent regarding the challenge of promoting sustainability in logistics.
Landaluce warned “of the impact that the European Union’s Emissions Trading System has on European ports, with the risk of diverting traffic and investments to third countries where this European environmental regulation does not apply, and the consequent loss of connectivity, activity, and jobs that this will entail.”
“The future of logistics involves two major transformations: the consolidation of a historically fragmented sector and the decarbonisation of transport,” argued the Director of Sustainability and Quality at Ontime, a company growing “organically, integrating capabilities and preparing our operations for future energy sources to be decarbonised and, above all, economically sustainable.”
From Renfe, Gabriel Castañares pointed out that “the logistics sector has the option to incorporate the advantages of rail” to reduce energy costs and lower emissions. Additionally, it will allow gaining “reputation with clients and markets that value sustainability.” “Today, sustainability is not an abstract discourse: it influences price, service, and responds to clients’ requireds. For these reasons, rail is a central element in a sustainable logistics model,” he concluded.
Antonio Ruiz, representing Moeve, detailed that the “solutions” they propose to their clients in terms of decarbonisation is “multi-energy.” “For sectors such as indusattempt or heavy road, maritime, or air transport, we are offering alternatives that can be applied now, for example, second-generation biofuels like biomethane, renewable diesel HVO 100, or SAF, produced from waste and usable in current combustion engines. Additionally, we are also advancing in the development of new synthetic fuels,” he detailed.
Competitiveness and Sustainability
The final intervention before the closure was delivered by Isabel Aguilera, former General Director of Google for Spain and Portugal. “We should not choose between competitiveness and sustainability; it is about competitiveness through sustainability. Territories that understand sustainable logistics as a strategic tool will not only shift goods but will shift the future, becautilize when logistics works, a territory breathes,” she affirmed, defconcludeing that “logistics, sustainability, and territorial cooperation are keys that not all territories are optimising.”
Aguilera had words for Almería, host of the forum, a province that, in her view, “has demonstrated that it is possible to build global competitiveness from a complex territory, with extreme conditions, some very favourable and others opposing.” “It is not about demonstrating productive capacity, but consolidating a sustainable, well-organised, and socially integrated model,” she noted, concluding by appealing that sustainable logistics is not a future trconclude, but territories are already transforming towards it.
Aguilera reviewed the state of logistical sustainability in the European context, in some of the most advanced countries, such as Germany, France, or Denmark: “Territories that apply it more efficiently are more competitive.” However, she did not call for “copying foreign models” but also viewing at what is in Spain, from the ports of Algeciras, Barcelona, or Valencia, or transport in Málaga or Vitoria. “Sustainability does not limit growth, but it organises it,” she argued.
On the “pconcludeing challenges,” she elaborated on the Mediterranean Corridor, which was referenced several times during the day, “to avoid road traffic collapse due to growth.” The expert concluded by appealing to “common sense” in logistical efficiency: “I want them to leave a mark becautilize, if not, we will leave scars.”
Finally, the forum was closed by the President of Cajamar, Eduardo Baamonde, who thanked the more than 400 attconcludeees for their presence. “There is a broad representation of what the economy is not only in the southeast but in Spain,” he highlighted before sharing his conclusions on what was presented at the Financial Centre on Thursday morning, in a “complicated” moment in the international landscape.
“We live in a globalised world, where any event has repercussions on a global and local scale,” he noted before indicating that, regarding the consequences, “we will finally have to analyse how the increase in fuel prices and the consequences of the Strait of Hormuz blockade influence the global, European, and Spanish economic situation.”
“However, in our counattempt, we have an efficient logistics sector, and despite the geopolitical situation, its services are guaranteed,” he stated, also emphasising his preference for the term “efficiency” over “sustainability” due to the “imposing” connotations the latter has, in his experience, in the agricultural field.
“Spain is you,” Baamonde concluded, with the commitment that Cajamar, “faithful to its clear mission of serving companies and cooperatives, in the current geopolitical uncertainty, will strengthen its support to ensure that the supply chain continues to function.”
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