Spanish shoppers are about to get another major online retailer to compare before handing over their money, with millions of products, thousands of categories and another big European name entering an already crowded market.

For anyone who regularly checks several websites before buying electronics, furniture, clothes, garden equipment or household goods, the arrival could mean more choice and another opportunity to find a better price. The Spanish launch is initially an online marketplace, with hopes of a physical store in the near future.

What is actually coming to Spain?

The company behind the move is Kaufland, the German supermarket giant owned by the Schwarz Group, which also owns Lidl. With their online marketplace customers will be able to shop from third-party sellers across more than 6,400 product categories. The range includes electronics, fashion, home and household products, gardening, DIY, sports equipment and other non-food goods.

Sellers list their own products and fulfil orders directly, while Kaufland handles the marketplace, payment processing and customer service. That makes the Spanish operation much closer to Amazon or AliExpress than a conventional supermarket website. Kaufland is also explicitly positioning the marketplace as a European alternative to the major international e-commerce platforms, rather than simply another place to buy groceries. 

How big is it?

This is not a small retailer testing the Spanish market with a few hundred products. In Germany, Kaufland’s marketplace has more than 15,000 international sellers offering over 45 million products, attracting up to 32 million visitors every month. Spain and the Netherlands are being added to its marketplace network, taking the number of European markets to nine and giving sellers potential access to around 220 million online consumers. 

The platform has already expanded beyond countries where Kaufland has physical supermarkets. France, Italy and Austria are among the markets where its online operation has been able to grow without a physical Kaufland store network.  That is particularly relevant to Spain because shoppers should not expect to see a Kaufland supermarket suddenly appear in their town as a result of this launch.

Will it actually be cheaper?

This is the question most Spanish shoppers will want answered, but there is no honest blanket answer. Kaufland is a marketplace made up of independent sellers, so there is no single Kaufland price for a product in the way there is for a packet of coffee or a bottle of olive oil at a supermarket. Different sellers can offer the same product at different prices, and delivery costs also need to be taken into account.

The attraction for consumers is therefore the ability to compare another large marketplace against Amazon, AliExpress, Temu and specialist retailers. Kaufland’s scale could also put pressure on sellers to remain competitive. The company provides marketplace tools that allow sellers to monitor prices and compare their offers with competitors.  But shoppers should still compare the final price, including delivery, rather than assuming that a product is automatically cheaper simply because it is being sold through Kaufland.

Why has Kaufland become so popular?

The company already has considerable retail muscle behind it. Kaufland operates more than 1,600 physical stores across Europe, making its online marketplace an extension of an established supermarket business rather than a new internet company trying to build a customer base from scratch. 

Its online sales have also been growing rapidly in some of its newer markets. Marketplace revenue in Austria increased by 439 per cent last year, while Poland recorded growth of 322 per cent, according to figures reported by the company. Electronics are particularly popular in Germany, with desktop computer sales up around 60 per cent year-on-year, laptops up 32 per cent and mobile phone sales almost 30 per cent. Health and personal care products also recorded strong growth. 

What could change for Spanish buyers?

The immediate impact is more competition in online shopping. Spanish consumers will have another large European marketplace to check alongside the established names, while Spanish businesses will gain another route into customers at home and across other European markets. Kaufland says more than 500 Spanish sellers are already active on its marketplaces elsewhere in Europe, meaning the Spanish launch could work both ways: bringing international products to Spanish consumers while helping Spanish companies sell abroad.

For shoppers, however, the real test will come down to something much simpler, whether Kaufland can regularly offer products, prices and delivery options good enough to make people check it before clicking “buy” somewhere else. Its arrival does not mean Amazon, AliExpress or Spain’s existing retailers suddenly have a new supermarket competitor on every high street. It means Spanish shoppers now have another very large online shop to compare before spending their money

The El Valle Wildlife Recovery Centre, located in Alberca de las Torres, Murcia, has recently announced that in 2025, it cared for nearly 4,400 animals, representing a 41 per cent increase from the previous year. This means that, since 2009, the wildlife recovery centre has successfully carried out more than 34,000 interventions, saving vulnerable species and caring for the animals that call the Region of Murcia home.

Recovering and saving wild animals, releasing them back into their natural habitats

The El Valle Wildlife Recovery Centre is a facility in Murcia that focuses on recovering injured or distressed wild animals and returning them to their natural habitat once they are healthy. It has been in operation since 1984, and currently has a staff of 12 animal-loving professionals.

Record year for bird and reptile rehabilitation

In 2025, according to the El Valle Wildlife Recovery Centre, 1,356 animals were released back into the wild after being assessed and treated by the centre. In total, the centre cared for 4,393 animals during 2025, which is 1,287 more than the previous year.

Birds are far and away the most treated species at the centre, accounting for more than 87 per cent of the recorded treatments during 2025. In total, 2,323 birds were treated at the centre in 2025. There were 869 more birds treated at the centre than during the previous year. The most common species at the centre were the common swift (Apus apus) and the pallid swift (Apus pallidus).

As for reptiles, the spur-thighed tortoise, or Greek tortoise, was treated 292 times at the centre. Among the mammals, the species with the greatest presence was the European hedgehog, with 66 animals treated.

Kind-hearted local citizens drive the majority of animal rescues

These statistics are also notable for an interesting reason: nearly 80 per cent of the wild animals that are taken to the centre are brought there by Murcia citizens who stumbled upon them while enjoying the Region of Murcia’s natural areas.

The centre combating endangerment and extinction in Murcia

Of the 1,356 specimens that were recovered and returned to the wild, 80.3 per cent of the animals belonged to species that were included in various protection lists and catalogues, reinforcing the vital role the centre plays not only in helping injured animals, but conserving the wildlife in Murcia and its endangered species.

Plans to expand the centre with €700K investment

This good news for the local fauna comes along with even better news for the future of the El Valle Wildlife Recovery Centre: the regional government is preparing an investment of approximately €700,000 to modernise and expand the centre. One of the projects bookmarked for this investment includes the creation of a specialised area for the hospitalisation of sea turtles.

Educating locals about the importance of wildlife and conservation

But the work done at the El Valle Wildlife Recovery Centre is not limited to animal rescue and rehabilitation. The facility also carries out important environmental education activities for the locals. Activities offered by the centre allow the public to learn more about the work carried out there, as well as the importance of species conservation and the threats the animals face.

The centre’s Information Service received 14,155 visitors during 2025, and this year, between January and June alone, recorded another 9,400 visitors. 

Murcia emergency services leapt into action on Saturday, September 12, after a 58-year-old paraglider was injured and stranded in a difficult-to-access area of the Sierra del Buey, a mountain range located between the municipalities of Jumilla and Yecla.

An injured paraglider calls for help in the Murcian mountains

The man was unable to move on his own and was trapped in an area in the Jumilla mountains. The Emergency Coordination Centre of the Region of Murcia received a call from the man himself about the incident at 2:33pm. The athlete explained to them that he had suffered an accident while paragliding and was unable to move on his own due to his condition.

Drone deployed after mountain crash

The paraglider was able to send his location to a friend, but when emergency services tried to obtain his location, he could not provide it again as he was in too much pain. As emergency services could not determine the exact location of the accident, the Jumilla Local Police deployed a drone to search for the injured paraglider.

Off-road vehicles navigate difficult terrain to reach the injured athlete

Emergency responders, including the Guardia Civil, local police, and paramedics from the 061 emergency service were dispatched to the scene. A Guardia Civil patrol was the first emergency resource to locate the man and successfully reach him. The man’s condition was assessed, and the teams determined that an aerial rescue was not necessary.

Paraglider treated on site and taken to hospital

After locating the man, the next most significant challenge for emergency responders was getting medical staff to the difficult-to-access location. The 061 emergency medical team was transported in one of the local police’s off-road vehicles. Once they finally reached him, paramedics treated him on the scene. He was then moved to the local police’s SUV, where he was transferred with the paramedics to a point where he could be transferred to an ambulance.

The man was stabilised and evacuated to the Virgen de la Arrixaca University Hospital in Murcia to receive medical care.

Emergency services’ quick thinking: Paragliders and athletes in the mountains beware

Thanks to the quick actions of the emergency services, the man was swiftly located and transferred to a hospital where medical staff could treat his injuries. It is just one of the instances where Murcia authorities have responded quickly to a distress call, rescuing an athlete who otherwise could not have got to hospital safely.

Emergency services have also taken a moment to remind paragliders and those who practice other sports in the mountainous areas of Murcia of the importance of planning their trips in advance, checking the weather, carrying a mobile phone with sufficient battery life on them, informing loved ones of their whereabouts, and staying well fed and hydrated for their activity.