MADRID / ALICANTE (EUROPA PRESS)-Irish fashion retailer Primark will further penetrate the Spanish market with the opening of a new store in Elche (Alicante). Its network now amounts to 16 stores in Spain with more than 2,000 employees, said the low cost brand.

The Elche establishment, a first in Valencia, is expected to open doors on August 26 at the Aljub shopping centre where, the Associated British Foods owned company, Primark will stretch over 3,000 square metres and employ 162 people.

"Primark is having an excellent year, with particularly strong performance in Spain and encouraging progress in other stores in continental Europe," said the group during its nine month results presentation, a period in which the Irish chain reported a sales increase of 17%.

The apparel company has a network of 200 stores in Spain, Ireland, Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany and Belgium and employs more than 30,000 workers.