The 10,178,169 cruise ship passengers in 2018 set a new record for Spain. This marks six consecutive years of growth since 2012, when 7.5 million passengers were recorded. This figure is even more remarkable considering that in the last 25 years, the volume of cruise passengers has increased twentyfold, rising from just over 480,000 visitors in 1992 to the aforementioned 10.1 million in 2018.
These figures place some Spanish ports, such as Barcelona and the Balearic Islands, at the top of European rankings, and even in privileged positions globally. Furthermore, they make Spain the second most visited country in Europe, surpassed only by Italy. The president of State Ports, Salvador de la Encina, highlighted that, according to the latest data published by Eurostat, the number of passengers who began or ended a journey in a Spanish port (ports considered as homeports) reached 3 million, making Spain the second country in Europe, behind only Italy with 3.7 million, but ahead of Germany with 2.9 million and the United Kingdom with 1.9 million.
The ports of the Mediterranean coast (Alicante, Almería, Balearic Islands, Barcelona, Cartagena, Castellón, Ceuta, Málaga, Melilla, Motril, Tarragona and Valencia) concentrated the bulk of the cruise passengers 6,888,298 passengers (67.7%), it is the area that has grown the most (+11.35%) and where the most important ports of the country are located, Barcelona with more than 3 million cruise passengers, and the Balearic Islands with 2.4 million.
The ports of the Atlantic-Cantabrian coast, excluding those of the Canary Islands which warrant separate consideration (A Coruña, Avilés, Bay of Algeciras, Bay of Cádiz, Bilbao, Ferrol, Gijón, Huelva, Marín and Pontevedra Estuary, Pasaia, Santander, Seville, Vigo, and Vilagarcía), received 939,190 cruise passengers, representing 9.2% of the national total, and experienced a growth of 5.75%. The ports of A Coruña, Vigo, and Bay of Cádiz were particularly noteworthy.
The ports of the Canary Islands, managed by the Port Authorities of Las Palmas and SC Tenerife, favored by their geographical location and a climate that overcomes the seasonality of the sector, attracted 2.3 million cruise passengers, 6.5% more than the previous year, and represent 23.1% of the national total.
Salvador de la Encina has predicted that a new record will most likely be achieved in 2019, as the year has started with very promising figures for Spanish ports: 1,089,263 passengers were recorded in the first two months of the year, representing an increase of 5.7% compared to the same period of the previous year
Six years ago, the “Blue Carpet” campaign was launched, a distinctive feature of State Ports with a very consolidated image, under the slogan “Blue Carpet: Step into Spain through world class ports”, which has been perceived from abroad with great success and to which the Spanish Port Authorities, institutions and companies have joined, with the aim of consolidating and increasing their presence abroad.
In the 2019 edition, the Ports of Spain stand will host the ports of A Coruña, Alicante, Almería, Algeciras Bay, Cádiz Bay, the Balearic Islands, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cartagena, Castellón, Ceuta, Huelva, Melilla, Málaga, Motril, Santander, Seville, Tarragona, Valencia, and Vigo, as well as Turespaña through its Tourism Office in Miami. In addition, the companies BC Tours, Bergé, Marmedsa Cruise, Pérez y Cía, and Quirón Salud will be participating. The ports of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife will also be present again this year under the umbrella of the Cruises Atlantic Islands association.
According to the president of State Ports, cruise traffic makes a significant and increasingly important contribution to local and regional economies, generating a large number of indirect jobs and providing a major boost to tourism-related sectors. In this regard, it is worth noting that, according to data from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the direct contribution of this sector to the Spanish economy reached €1.481 billion in 2017, a 12% increase compared to 2015, directly employing 31,233 people.
