After several months of uncertainty, at the start of last June we finally had clarity: SAIC, the Chinese giant that owns MG, will establish industrial operations in the province of A Coruña.
The plan is for this company to have a car factory up and running before the end of 2028 in the locality of Ferrol. The Government, through the Ministry of Defense, has just acknowledged that there is “concern” about the plant’s location.
Five kilometers in a straight line from Navantia’s shipyard
A few weeks ago, the Xunta de Galicia announced a major development for Spain: SAIC will build a car factory in Ferrol and it will be operational in just over two years, by the end of 2028. In reality, it will be an assembly center for cars that will arrive from China in kits, but it remains a positive announcement because it will promote job creation in this region.
The forecasts speak of the creation of more than 2,000 jobs thanks to this plant, which will be a strategic hub for the next growth phase of the MG brand in Europe because it will have an annual assembly capacity of up to 120,000 vehicles. It should not be forgotten that, today, SAIC is the leading Chinese manufacturer in Europe.
Well then, although it may seem so, not all news are good news, or at least that’s how the Spanish Ministry of Defense sees it. According to RTVE, this ministry has acknowledged having “concern” about how close SAIC’s plant will be to a military arsenal and Navantia’s shipyard that exist in that area.
RTVE notes that this concern stems from the “risk of espionage” because SAIC’s facilities and Navantia’s facilities will be separated by only about five kilometers in a straight line. After all, these Navantia facilities are among the most advanced in the Navy in northern Spain.
The president of the Xunta, Alfonso Rueda, has reacted to this concern raised by the Ministry of Defense: “Logically, the news we’ve seen in the media doesn’t please me, nor do I think it does the project any favors.”
Security and industrial development must be compatible.
The SAIC project is a strategic one for Ferrol that will create more than 2,000 jobs and that Galicia cannot afford to lose pic.twitter.com/cChph7SiBB— Alfonso Rueda (@AlfonsoRuedaGal) August 10, 2026
Rueda notes that there is a part of the central government processing the factory file, while another part, referring here to the Ministry of Defense, expresses concern, so he begs that the Government be capable of “making both things compatible.”
And that is because the Minister of Digital Transformation and Public Administration, Óscar López, defends these facilities and assures that national security will be guaranteed: “These investments are analyzed, and it may happen that there is a series of recommendations, from an economic or security standpoint, that are addressed and make the operation viable.”
Images | Ministry of Defense, SAIC
