Alan Lam reporting
The Spanish public port control body, Puertos del Estado, has just released the latest set of half-yearly figures demonstrating that the country may be on course to set a new record for the total number of annual cruise tourists arriving at its ports.
In the first six months of 2015 Spain received 3.54 million of cruise tourists, a nearly 9% increase on the 3.2 million of the same period last year. About 2 million of those arrived through its Mediterranean ports, which enjoyed a 6.5% increase on 2014, with Barcelona, Málaga, Valencia and the Balearic Islands taking the lion’s share of 1.96 million.
The Canary Islands have continued to gain market share. With 1.11 million in the first half of 2015, a 9.4% increase on the same period last year. The number of cruise tourists to these islands now represents 31.6% of the national total.
375,781 passengers arrived in remaining Spanish Atlantic ports, representing about 10.6% of the national total, with Cádiz, Vigo and A Coruña being most in demand. These three ports have together attracted 311,682 passengers during this period.
Despite the relatively smaller number, the Spanish Atlantic islands (excluding the Canary Islands) enjoyed a 19.7% increase in number on the previous year.
From January to June, Spanish ports received 1,646 cruise calls, with average passenger number per ship somewhere between 3,500 and 4,500, about 1,000 higher than a decade ago when the number was between 2,500 and 3,500.
According to its port authorities, Autoridades Portuarias, Spain’s cruise tourist number could reach 8.1 million for the whole of 2015, surpassing the existing record of 8 million set in 2011.