Freight traffic through Spain’s state-owned ports exceeds 181 million tonnes in the first four months of the year

•    Import-export TEUs increased by 8.1% up to April.
•    Spanish ports recorded more than 10 million passenger movements.

22-05-2025 (Puertos del Estado). Spain’s state-owned ports handled 181,973,488 tonnes of cargo during the first four months of 2025, representing a 1.9% decrease compared to the same period in 2024, according to provisional data.

The first four months of the year were marked by adverse weather conditions, which caused temporary closures in some ports, and by instability in global trade due to geopolitical tensions and uncertainty over U.S. tariffs, which continue to negatively affect maritime traffic worldwide.

General cargo fell by 0.7% up to April, reaching 91.3 million tonnes. Within this segment, conventional cargo increased by 3.3% to 29.2 million tonnes, while containerised cargo declined by 2.4%, to 62.1 million tonnes, compared to the same period last year.

TEUs remained stable over the first four months of the year, at 5.8 million. The declining trend in transhipment TEUs (-5.3%) observed since the beginning of 2025 continues, while import-export TEUs grew by 8.1%.

Solid bulk traffic closed the period with a 1.3% decrease, down to 26.9 million tonnes, compared to the same period last year.

Liquid bulk fell by 3.7%, improving on the drops recorded in January (-10.8%) and February (-7%), and one point better than in March, totalling 58.7 million tonnes.

Ro-ro traffic grew by 2.9%, reaching 24.8 million tonnes.

The number of merchant vessels calling at Spanish ports decreased by 0.6% in the first four months of 2025, with a total of 49,087 calls, while gross tonnage increased by 1.5%.

Passenger traffic rose by 12.4% up to April, reaching 10.6 million movements, compared to the same period in 2024.