Spain’s economy is changing

A LARGE, FEATURELESS shed by the motorway between the Castilian towns of Burgos and Lerma is home to ASTI Mobile Robotics. Inside, on the main shop floor, a score of workers armed with iPads test driverless contraptions mounted on red and orange steel frames. The automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) they are designing, building and controlling with customised software already operate in factories and warehouses in 16 countries around the world, including some belonging to Fiat, Airbus and Nestlé. The robots deliver parts to production lines, bringing more flexibility and efficiency to the jobs that conveyor belts, forklifts and tractors used to do.