The landscape surrounding Alcantarilla is arid and wide, until it meets the Murcian mountains. Along the way, highways, roundabouts, plots of land to be urbanized, and a few industrial warehouses are scattered. In this municipality, next to the city of Murcia, the 44,000 inhabitants coexist with a mosaic formed by the orchard, industry, and logistics. In the San Andrés business park, a huge red warehouse owned by PepsiCo attracts all eyes. What is this American giant doing in this corner of the Murcian orchard? It transforms tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers into the gazpacho of one of its brands: Alvalle.

Barcelona has become a magnet for international companies' hubs. The latest to announce that it will establish its new development centre in the Catalan capital is pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. The hub will focus on accelerating the development of next-generation drugs in the field of rare diseases. The project will create up to 100 specialised R&D jobs over the next two years and has the support of ACCIÓ, the Catalan government's agency for business competitiveness.

A new multinational, this time in the food sector, will focus part of its efforts in digital transformation in Barcelona. ARA has learnt that US giant PepsiCo will open a new tech hub at the end of the month in the Catalan capital, which will focus on the application of new technologies to the group's current challenges. The facilities will have a staff of 80 workers for the moment, but the intention is to give the initiative more weight and approach 500 employees by 2024. Company spokesmen would not confirm this news.