Definition
Vehicles as cargo are the new cars shipped by sea as freight, from the factory to the market where they are sold. They are counted in units and travel on specialised ships, the car carriers.
It is the traffic that links ports with car factories: through them the production that is exported leaves and imported models arrive. Ports store the vehicles in large open compounds before loading them or distributing them by road and rail.
They should not be confused with passenger vehicles, which are the cars of ferry travellers. The statistics separate them because they measure different things: the former the car industry, the latter the movement of people.
The figure · August 2026
Year to date · January–August 2026
2.32 million new vehicles
August 2026 only
239,373 new vehicles
First port
487,477 new vehicles
Passenger vehicles (the cars carried on ferries)
5.16 million vehicles
Vehicle traffic in Spanish ports in 2026
Spanish ports handled 2.32 million new vehicles in the year to August 2026, 5.2% less than in the same period of 2025. In August alone, the figure was 239,373 new vehicles, 14.6% more than in August 2025.
The full ranking, the trend and the table are in the indicator Vehicle traffic in Spanish ports. To explore the data in detail, see PortStats · vehicles as cargo, annual series.