Francisco Aranda opened eLogistics Connect 2026 with a call for the sector to stop playing it humble and start owning the numbers.
The second edition of eLogistics Connect landed at Madrid’s Sala Truss on Wednesday 21st of May, and Francisco Aranda, president of UNO Logística, was not there to be polite. He opened the day with the kind of straight-talking keynote the sector has probably needed for years.
The venue filled with operators, brands, tech platforms, and supply chain experts, all gathered under one roof to hash out what is reshaping how goods move across Spain.
A Sector that Changes Every Week and Still Acts Surprised
Aranda set the tone quickly. Spanish logistics, he said, manages around four million deliveries every single day. That number has grown 200% between 2019 and 2024. These are not small figures.
“It is an absolutely spectacular sector and we have to start showing off a lot more about what we do.”
He described the industry as one that transforms almost weekly, yet somehow still struggles to communicate its own weight in the economy. For anyone who has spent time watching logistics stay quietly in the background while e-commerce grabs the headlines, the point landed.
The Out-of-Home Moment
One of the more telling signals in Aranda’s presentation was the rise of Out-of-Home delivery. Spain now has around 100,000 OOH points, which handle between 17% and 18% of all deliveries in the country.
Beyond pure convenience, Aranda made a case that these networks provide an indirect lifeline to traditional retail. A parcel locker in a local shop is, in practical terms, a reason for someone to walk through that door. Not a bad side effect.
Where the Pressure is Building
The mood was not entirely bullish. Aranda flagged the parts of the picture that are making life harder. Social security contributions have climbed 53% since 2018, and a new tariff measure arriving on 1 July, applying a three-euro fee to certain shipments, adds another layer of cost pressure to an already tight-margin industry.
These are not fresh concerns. Back in February, when UNO presented its full-year outlook in Valencia, Aranda was already signalling that 2026 would bring moderate growth alongside “enormous concern” over rising costs and absentismo, which had reached 8% across the sector by end of 2025.
“2025 has been positive and allows us to face 2026 with prudent optimism, if the Government does not introduce new rules that attack our competitiveness.”
The Same Voice, Two Stages
There is something worth noting here. Aranda has now opened both editions of eLogistics Connect, and his message has remained consistent across both appearances: the sector innovates faster than it is given credit for, regulation needs to keep up with reality, and logistics is part of the solution for more functional cities, not an afterthought.
At the first edition a year ago, he put it bluntly: “Whoever says logistics is boring is wrong. Few sectors are innovating this much.” He was right then. The numbers he brought to the stage this week suggest he still is.
Amazon, Intermodal Rail, and the Rest of the Day
Beyond the keynote, the event covered serious ground. Giulio Antonelli from Amazon Shipping pointed to Spain’s high market fragmentation as an opportunity, noting that the top 20 operators control around 80% of the market, leaving real room for growth.
Rail logistics also featured prominently. One speaker highlighted intermodal solutions already running between Valencia and Madrid, where trucks are loaded directly onto rail platforms, a sign that the infrastructure conversation is moving past theory.
eLogistics Connect 2026 did what a good sector event should do: put the hard numbers on the table, gave the floor to people actually building the systems, and let the room argue about what comes next. Spain’s logistics sector may not love the spotlight, but on a day like this, it had no choice.
