The Mexican group ITM Group showed interest in investing 1.8 million euros in the construction of a cruise terminal and the rehabilitation of commercial premises in the marina to support said terminal, and the Port Authority of Melilla, after analyzing that the project aligns with its growth objectives, has granted it a concession for 25 years.
ITM Group is a family-owned company based in Cancún, with over 30 years of experience in the port sector and more than 50 years in the construction and development of port facilities and infrastructure. It is responsible for prominent projects in the Caribbean such as Costa Maya in Mexico; Taino Bay in the Dominican Republic; Port Roatán in Honduras; and the recently inaugurated Port Cabo Rojo in the southern Dominican Republic, among others.
The Board of Directors of the Port Authority unanimously approved the application submitted by MDT, a company belonging to the ITM Group, for the construction of 10 commercial units in currently disused facilities at the Noray Marina, and a cruise passenger terminal next to the Mineral Loading Dock. Construction is expected to begin before the end of the year.
Some legal issues had to be resolved, since since 2010, the company ETM has had the exclusive right to operate passenger services in Melilla, but an agreement has been reached with the company to cede powers of its license exclusively for cruise traffic at the loading dock and, exceptionally, at the Northeast-2 and Northeast-3 docks in the event that ships of larger lengths than those that the Mineral Loading Dock can accommodate dock.
The president of the Port Authority highlighted that the approval of the concession (which affects 1,465.95 m² spread across ten premises in the marina and 463 m² destined for a new passenger control building next to the mineral loading dock, a Cultural Heritage Site) marks the starting point of a project worked on for ten months.
In the first phase, the currently vacant premises, several of which have been inactive for 28 years, will be adapted to house restaurants, souvenir shops, and basic services. The small, single-story building, designed to avoid casting shadows on the historic loading dock, will house the passenger disembarkation control point. “It is gratifying that these premises, unused for decades, will finally generate activity and contribute to the Port Authority's revenue,” said Manuel Angel Quevedo.
Melilla has an upward trajectory in cruise traffic, with 4,000 cruise passengers in 2023 and 9,000 in 2024, but these figures will fall far short from 2027 onwards, when the company estimates receiving more than 80,000 passengers and reaching 150,000 in 2030.
In the coming days, the vice president of ITM Group will visit Melilla along with two managers of commercial areas and other "parallel activities" that the group will offer to cruise passengers when they dock in the autonomous city.
“We want Melilla to be known by the English, Germans, French, and Americans; we want them to know about our European reality and the richness of our historical heritage,” Quevedo concluded.
