​Almost all the Spanish ports will be present at the "Ports of Spain" stand at Seatrade Cruise Global, the largest cruise ship fair in the world, held in Miami (USA)

Spain is a country of cruise passengers: 10.1 million passengers in 2018

• More than 3 million passengers used a Spanish port as a base port.
• 90.8% of cruise passengers visiting Spain choose the Mediterranean or the Canary Islands.
• 22 Port Authorities, the Spanish Tourist Office and companies in the sector come together at the Ports of Spain stand.
• The cruise sector in Spain employs 31,233 people and generates €1.481 billion in reve
  04-08-2019 (Ministry of Public Works and Transport). Ports of general interest once again raise the bar for cruise passenger traffic, the 10,178,169 cruise ship passengers in 2018 have set a new record for Spain. There have been six years of continuous growth since 2012, when 7.5 million passengers were registered. This figure is even more surprising if we consider that cruise passenger volume has multiplied by 20 in the past 25 years, going from just over 480 thousand visitors in 1992, to the above-mentioned 10.1 million in 2018.

These data place some Spanish ports, such as Barcelona or the Balearic Islands, as leaders of European rankings, and they even hold strong positions in the global context. In addition, they make Spain the second most visited country in the European continent, second only to Italy. According to the latest data published by Eurostat in 2017, the passengers who started/ended a trip in a Spanish port (ports considered as a base) amounted to 3 million, which made us the second most popular country in Europe, only behind Italy that accumulated 3.7 million, but ahead of Germany, 2.9 million and United Kingdom, 1.9 million.

• MORE THAN 90% OF CRUISE PASSENGERS CHOSE THE MEDITERRANEAN AND THE CANARY ISLANDS

 

The ports of the Mediterranean Façade (Alicante, Almería, Balearic Islands, Barcelona, Cartagena, Castellón, Ceuta, Malaga, Melilla, Motril, Tarragona and Valencia) concentrated the bulk of cruise passengers 6,888,298 passengers (67.7%), this is the area that has grown the most (+11.35%) and where the most important ports in 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 Facade, excluding those from the Canary Islands that deserve different treatment, (A Coruña, Avilés, Bay of Algeciras, Bay of Cádiz, Bilbao, Ferrol, Gijón, Huelva, Marín and Ría de Pontevedra, Pasaia, Santander, Seville, Vigo and Vilagarcía) received 939,190 cruise passengers, which represents 9.2% of the national total, and they experienced 5.75% growth. The ports of A Coruña, Vigo and Bay of Cádiz stood out.

 

The ports of the Canary Islands, managed by the Port Authorities of Las Palmas and S.C. de Tenerife, favored by their geographical location and a climatology that circumvents the seasonality of the sector, attracted 2.3 million cruise passengers, 6.5% more than the previous year, and accounted for 23.1% of the national total.

 

2019 has begun with very promising figures for Spanish ports since the 579,572 passengers counted in the month of January have entailed an increase of 8.7% compared to the same month last year.

• BLUE CARPET, THE HALLMARK SEAL OF SPANISH PORTS IN INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER MEETINGS

Just 6 years ago, the "Blue Carpet" campaign was launched, a hallmark seal of Puertos del Estado with a highly consolidated image, under the slogan "Blue Carpet: Step into Spain through world class ports", perceived abroad with great success and with the support of Spanish Port Authorities, institutions and companies, with the goal of consolidating and increasing its presence overseas.

In the 2019 edition, the Ports of Spain stand will host the ports of A Coruña, Alicante, Almeria, Balearic Islands, Bay of Algeciras, Bay of Cadiz, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cartagena, Castellón, Ceuta, Huelva, Melilla, Malaga, Motril, Santander, Sevilla, Tarragona, Valencia and Vigo, and the Spanish Tourist Office. In addition, BC Tours, Bergé, Marmedsa Cruise, Pérez and Cía and Quirón Salud will also be present. The ports of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife will be, one more year, present under the umbrella of Cruises Atlantic Islands.

This way, the global image of Spain and its industry has assumed a decisive position at our ports, with the idea of communicating to those tourists who visit us from any Spanish port, that a "Blue Carpet" rolls out from our ports, extending to inland towns and cities.

• 31,233 JOBS AND €1.481 BILLION TOWARD THE SPANISH ECONOMY

Although cruise traffic represents a small contribution to the port system's income, its relevance for local and regional economies is increasingly appreciable since it generates a large number of indirect jobs, in addition to entailing a significant incentive for sectors related to tourism. In this regard, it should be remembered that according to the data provided by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the direct contribution of this sector to the Spanish economy reached 1.481 billion euros in 2017, 12% more than in 2015, providing direct jobs to 31,233 people.