5.3 million cruise passengers passed through Spanish ports first 7 months of 2018

Madrid, Spain (Ports Europe) September 21, 2018 - President Ornella Chacón of Puertos del Estado, the state agency for ports, is heading the delegation representing Spanish ports at Seatrade Cruise Med event, which is in Lisbon, September 19-21, 2018. A number of companies and 23 Spanish port authorities (A Coruña, Alicante, Almería, Avilés, Bay of Algeciras, Bay of Cádiz, Balearic Islands, Bilbao, Cartagena, Castellón, Ceuta, Ferrol, Gijón, Huelva, Málaga, Melilla, Motril, Santander, Seville, Tarragona, Valencia, Vigo and Vilagarcía de Arousa) are sending representation to the event under the sloban "Blue Carpet" which aims to promote tourism. During the first seven months of the year, passenger traffic of cruise ships through Spanish ports reached 5,374,758 people, an increase of 20.85% ove the same period of 2017. Ornella Chacón commented that the cruise industry was important because it generates a great number of indirect jobs, in tourism. The International Association of Cruise Lines (CLIA) reports that the direct contribution of this sector to the Spanish economy reached €1,481 million ($1,740 million) in 2017, 12% more than in the 2015, giving direct employment to 31,233 people. Puertos del Estado is expected to invest about €262 million ($308.36 million) in infrastructures and facilities dedicated to passengers in the period 2018-2021 , of which more than €188 million will be for direct cruise sector investment, including the extension of the Adosado dock in the port of Barcelona (€54 million/$63.5 million), various actions in the port of Palma de Mallorca (€54 million/$63.5 million), the maritime terminal and the cruise ship dock at the port of Valencia (€25 million) and the extension of the cruise pier of the port of Arrecife (€10.9 million/$12.83 million). Malaga will host the next Seatrade Cruise Med event in 2020, it will be a new opportunity to highlight the potential and the tourist offer of Spain as a preferred destination for cruise tourism. In the first seven months of 2018, ports in the Canary Islands saw cruise passenger growth of 35%, which already accounted for more than 1.3 million passengers. There was also good growth of the ports of the peninsular Atlantic, particularly Vigo (+5%) and Bahía de Cádiz (+ 25%). Notwithstanding the above data, the ports located in the Mediterranean continue to be the popular cruise ships in Spain as two out of three cruise passengers, 66%, visited a Mediterranean port, to exceed 3.5 million of passengers. Barcelona, with 1.6 million, is the main port of Europe, and together with the Balearic Islands they represent 82% of the cruise traffic of the Spanish Mediterranean coasts. Puertos del Estado, the state-run ports system, includes 46 ports of general interest, managed by 28 port authorities, whose coordination and efficiency control corresponds to the government agency Puertos del Estado, a body answerable to the Ministry of Public Works that is responsible for implementing the government's port policy. Source: Puertos del Estado Copyright (C) Ports Europe. All Rights Reserved. 2018.

5.3 million cruise passengers passed through Spanish ports first 7 months of 2018

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5.3 million cruise passengers passed through Spanish ports first 7 months of 2018

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All news

Ports want an EU strategy and funding

Is a Chinese ship part of Russia’s “hybrid warfare” damaging undersea cables?

Cargo theft in Italy increased 400% in two years

Stellantis plans huge solar plant in Port of Vigo

Update: French CGT union to strike at ports Dec 9-10 and Jan’25

Our Expert Analysis

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Top Ports