Ports in Spain Enjoy Rise in Cruise Passenger Numbers

   May 10, 2019 ,   Cruise Industry

Spanish ports enjoyed a 9.66% increase in the total number of cruise passengers last year and the figure reached 10.18 million, the country's Ministry of Public Works and Transport announced.

The cruise industry employs around 31,200 people in Spain and it generated EUR 1.48 billion in revenue, according to the ministry. Over 3 million cruise tourists used a homeport in Spain (on a roundtrip/turnaround), while 91% of all passengers used ports on the coast of the Mediterranean or the Canaries.

The ministry said the data placed some Spanish ports, like the Balearic Islands or Barcelona, as leaders of European rankings. They even "hold strong positions in the global context... and make Spain the second most visited country in the European continent."

Port of Barcelona (Spain)

Image: Port of Barcelona (Spain)

The Mediterranean ports Almería, Alicante, Barcelona, Balearic Islands, Castellon, CartagenaCeuta, MelillaMalaga, Motril, Tarragona, Valencia, concentrated the bulk of passengers (67.7% - 6,888,298 passengers). This is the area that grew the most (11.35%) and where the major ports in the country are situated, Barcelona with over 3 million cruise passengers, the Balearic Islands with 2.4 million.

2019 began with promising figures for ports in Spain since the 579,572 cruise passengers counted in January entailed an increase of 8.7% in comparison with the same month in 2018.