The ports of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife have witnessed remarkable growth in cruise passenger numbers. According to data from State Ports, between January and July, Las Palmas received 854,560 cruise passengers, marking a substantial 92.9% increase compared to the previous year. Santa Cruz de Tenerife welcomed 619,348 cruise passengers, a significant rise of 97.9%.
During the first seven months of the year, 371 cruise ships visited the ports of the eastern province (a decrease of 3.4%), while 303 ships docked at the ports of Tenerife province (a decrease of 14.6%).
Nationwide, Spanish ports experienced a notable surge in cruise passenger traffic, with a year-on-year increase of 74.8%, totaling over 6.1 million passengers. This figure surpasses the record numbers observed in 2019.
Considering both cruise and liner passengers, passenger traffic across the 46 Spanish ports maintained a robust upward trend, achieving a growth rate of 27.6% up to July, representing a total of 20.8 million passengers.
In July, a total of 287 cruise ships arrived at Spanish ports, a slight rise compared to the 285 registered in the same month of the previous year.
In cumulative data for the year, the number of ships decreased slightly, reaching a total of 2,357 ships compared to the 2,388 recorded in the same period in 2022.
Notably, the port of Alicante witnessed significant growth, welcoming 43 ships, a remarkable increase of 72% compared to 2022. Tarragona also experienced a surge of 78.6% in the number of ships, totaling 25.
In terms of overall figures this year, the cities that received the highest number of cruise ships were Barcelona (424), Las Palmas (371), and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (303).
CRUISE PASSENGERS INCREASE BY 74.8%
Passenger numbers saw a substantial increase of 74.8% in the first seven months of the year, exceeding 6.1 million passengers compared to 3.49 million in the same period the previous year.
The ports of Barcelona (1.8 million cruise passengers) and the Balearic Islands (1.2 million) led in the number of passengers during the initial months, followed by Las Palmas (854,560), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (619,348), and Valencia (378,213).
In percentage comparison with the same period in the previous year, the most significant passenger increases were observed in the ports of Ceuta (656.4%), Motril (582.4%), Vilagarcía (232.6%), Tarragona (140.4%), and Alicante (122.8%).
