The Port of Tarragona was the setting for the inauguration of the new Moll de Balears, the new multipurpose infrastructure adjacent to the Llevant breakwater. The presentation of the new port facility was attended by Pau Ricomà, Mayor of Tarragona; Josep Maria Cruset, President of the Port of Tarragona; Francisco Toledo, President of State Ports; Jordi Puigneró, Vice President of the Government of Catalonia and Minister of Digital Policies and Territory; and Teresa Cunillera, Government Delegate in Catalonia.
The inauguration ceremony for the new Moll de Balears began with a welcome address and presentation of the new pier project by the President of the Port of Tarragona, Josep M. Cruset. He explained the significance of the cruise ship project for the region, the work carried out by the Cruuers Institutional Roundtable to develop the tourism project, and concluded by reviewing the construction phases of the Moll de Balears. Following the presentation of the Moll de Balears project, the audience listened to speeches from institutional representatives.
Following speeches by representatives of the participating administrations, a twinning ceremony with the Balearic Islands took place. Josep Maria Cruset, president of the Port of Tarragona, acted as master of ceremonies for this twinning event, in which Josep Ribas, Minister of Mobility and Housing of the Balearic Government, and Pere Segura, mayor of Vila-seca, took center stage. The ceremony consisted of placing a sample of Mallorcan soil inside the pier that bears the name of the Balearic Islands.
The official part of the inauguration concluded with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque by Dvergastein Dag, captain of the cruise ship “Europa,” the first cruise ship to dock at the Moll de Balears. The captain was accompanied by the event's main authorities. To conclude the ceremony, all attendees enjoyed an excerpt from PortAventura World's spectacular show, “Around The World,” by Gianfranco Bollini, featuring approximately 35 artists, dancers, and acrobats.
According to Josep M. Cruset, president of the Port of Tarragona, “this new dock will allow us to recover the record figures we reached in 2019 within two years.” He added that “the construction of the new cruise terminal will provide
a new, comfortable, and functional space of over 5,000 m2 to offer better service to cruise ships in the coming seasons.” In his remarks, Cruset emphasized “the step forward” that this new infrastructure represents.
The Moll de Balears allows the cruise ship docking line to be increased by 700 meters and offers a much more comfortable and agile operation as it opens the door to accommodating larger cruise ships and allows more ships to dock simultaneously (up to 4 cruise ships).
The new Balearic Wharf is ready to implement the supply of electricity to cruise ships while docked. This service allows vessels to avoid burning fossil fuels during their stay in port, which
would significantly reduce CO2 emissions.
The first cruise ship to use the new Moll de Balears is the “Europa,” from Hapag Lloyd Cruise Lines, arriving from the port of Palma de Mallorca and bound for Málaga. The cruise ship arrived in Tarragona this morning with 240 passengers on board, mostly German citizens who will enjoy a 12-hour stopover to visit the city.
The cruise season at Port Tarragona began in September with the arrival of the cruise ship “Bolette.” Port Tarragona has remained fully prepared throughout 2020 and 2021 for the resumption of cruise activity, both in terms of operations and logistics, as well as the implementation of health measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to all this work, up to six cruise ship arrivals are expected in 2021, a number that will gradually increase throughout 2022. Currently, bookings for 2022 indicate an expected number of passengers of around 60,000 and approximately thirty port calls.
The cruise project in the Port of Tarragona is a work developed with the consensus of the main institutions of the territory, represented by the main administrations, entities and companies of the tourism sector of the Costa Daurada: Tourism of Catalunya, URV (Department of Tourism Innovation of Eurecat – Technological Center of Catalonia), Diputació de Tarragona, Cambra de Comerç de Tarragona, City Councils of Tarragona, Reus and Vila-seca, PortAventura, Aeroport de Reus, Federació d'Empresaris d'Hosteleria i Turisme de la Província de Tarragona.
