The Port Authority of Las Palmas closed January 2026 with a very positive performance in passenger traffic, driven by cruise tourism, and with a downward trend in freight and container traffic compared to the same period of the previous year.
Across all ports managed by the Port Authority, total passenger traffic reached 456,455 passengers, an increase of 40,392 compared to January 2015, representing a growth of 9.71%. Within this figure, cruise passengers totaled 370,622, an increase of 16.28%.
The president of the Port Authority of Las Palmas, Beatriz Calzada, stated that “January confirms the dynamism of cruise tourism in our ports and the role of the Port of Las Palmas as a major gateway to the Mid-Atlantic. This occurs within a context marked by the evolution of international maritime trade and the downward trend recorded across the entire state port system, according to data from State Ports, especially in container and transit traffic.”.
Passengers: Cruises are growing and total passenger traffic is rising
The Port of Las Palmas handled 257,909 passengers, representing a 15.12% increase, with particularly notable growth in cruise tourism, reaching 179,886 cruise passengers, 31.97% more than in the same period of the previous year. Meanwhile, the Port of Arrecife registered 116,733 passengers, an 18.51% increase, and 111,736 cruise passengers, representing a 21.35% increase. Passenger traffic at the Port of Puerto del Rosario totaled 81,813 passengers.
In January, cargo traffic reached 2,407,197 tons, in a context marked by a general contraction in port activity nationwide. By type, general containerized cargo totaled 1,097,302 tons, and container traffic, measured in TEUs, reached 105,556 units. In this context, the addition of two new cranes at the OPCSA terminal, currently being commissioned after an investment of €22.5 million, will increase the operational capacity of the Port of Las Palmas and facilitate an increase in cargo volume and container movements in the coming months.
This trend is part of a broader downward trend shared by the main ports in the system, which, according to data from State Ports, experienced an average drop of 4.5% in January, with the exception of the Port of Barcelona. In the area of liquid bulk cargo, the overall decline was 2.4%, while total container traffic fell by 4.2%, particularly in the transit segment, which is strategic for the Port of Las Palmas.
In this scenario, the data reflect a temporary adjustment linked to the international dynamics of maritime trade rather than to structural factors specific to the port.
Even in a month marked by the usual fluctuations at the beginning of the year, some ports registered significant increases. The Port of Salinetas handled 78,458 tons of cargo, representing a 31.92% increase, and raised the total gross tonnage of vessels by 95.46%. The Port of Arinaga, for its part, reached 32,758 tons of cargo, with a growth of 37.86%, bringing its total traffic to 32,987 tons, an increase of 38.33%.
In Ro-Ro traffic, the Port of Las Palmas recorded a growth of 2.06% in tons, reaching 327,160 tons, in a context in which the Port Authority as a whole recorded a slight decrease in units, with 30,937, and of 1.97% in tons, with 477,531.
Similarly, supplies totaled 240,029 tons, representing an increase of 4.47%, with a particularly notable increase in water supply, which reached 39,240 tons and grew by 42.38%.
As for ship traffic, 1,237 port calls were recorded, which represents a decrease associated with the start of the year, and a total GT of 30,175,363.
A start to the year with adjustments typical of the calendar
With these results, the Port Authority of Las Palmas begins 2026 reinforcing the cruise tourism sector and maintaining its focus on logistics and commercial activity, in a context where some indicators reflect a downward trend shared by the main ports in the state system, according to data from State Ports. In this scenario, the results point to a temporary adjustment linked to the international dynamics of maritime trade, with particular attention to general containerized cargo and TEU traffic in the coming months.
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