The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, has highlighted the planned investments for the state-owned port system, which includes a mobilization of more than 7 billion euros by the year 2029 with the goal of improving competitiveness, sustainability, and connectivity of these infrastructures. The head of the Ministry has participated in the first National Congress of the Port Sector, organized by Port Authorities and taking place today in the Valencian capital, whose opening was led by State Secretary José Antonio Santano.
Puente referred to the 'Horizon 2030' plan, initially presented last November in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, as the roadmap that should guide the evolution of the Spanish port system over the coming years. As he outlined, approximately two-thirds of the planned investment until 2029 will be allocated to the improvement, expansion, and modernization of port infrastructures and facilities, while the rest will be directed to environmental sustainability projects, improvement of road and rail access, security, digitalization, and port-city integration initiatives.
The minister framed these investments within a port system composed of 46 ports of general interest managed by 28 Port Authorities under the coordination of Port Authorities, a structure that generates more than 250,000 jobs and nearly 25 billion euros in annual economic activity. Puente has described these infrastructures as levers for territorial cohesion and centers for technological innovation, and has pointed out that the goal is for the Spanish port system to continue being a global benchmark in generating wealth, employment, and opportunities.
Among the planned actions for 2026, the minister enumerated the completion of the rail access to the port of Sagunto and the forecast to conclude the second section of the rail access to the Port of Castellón. Rail accesses to the external ports of La Coruña and Ferrol, the rail siding of the Logistics Platform of Salvaterra-As Neves in Vigo, and the new direct link of La Salud in the rail access to the port of Seville will also be completed. Additionally, the second phase of the new container terminal in Cádiz will be completed, and the rail access to La Cabezuela will be put into service. In Cartagena, the duplication of the CT-34 road access to the port of Escombreras has been completed, and during this year, the transfer of ownership to the Port Authority of Cartagena will conclude, in addition to the works on the intermodal terminal of the port of Tarragona in Marchamalo (Guadalajara).
Puente has emphasized the new intermodal cargo terminal in Vicálvaro, an infrastructure with a budget of 300 million euros that will be put into service in 2026. The minister has defined it as a logistics node serving the entire Spanish port system, fully integrated into the Atlantic and Mediterranean corridors and with direct connection to the large global logistics networks.
The Transport head has also outlined a series of actions that are expected to be submitted to the Council of Ministers this year to authorize their bidding. In Algeciras, the rollout of the electrical supply infrastructure to ships will be completed, with a budget of 68 million euros, an action that will contribute to the sustainability and modernization of the port. In Almería, actions will be executed on the coastal front with an investment of nearly 20 million euros aimed at integrating the port with the city. In Huelva, the undergrounding of Avenida de Hispanoamérica constitutes a preliminary step for the port-city action at the Levante quay. In Málaga, the new quay 8 will define the commercial future of the port for the coming decades. In Las Palmas, the quay attached to the Reina Sofía dam, with almost 40 million euros, will consolidate port and logistical capacity. And in Barcelona, a road action of 100 million euros will improve the distribution of traffic within the southern service area of the port.
The connection between the port and the railway has taken a prominent place in the minister's intervention, which he has labeled as an essential axis of decarbonization and industrial growth in Spain. Regarding the Mediterranean Corridor, Puente stated that the planning, bidding, and construction efforts are translating into an execution rate of 1.3 billion euros per year in 2024 and 2025, and that this investment will lead to significant milestones over the next two or three years. Among the most immediate advances, the minister cited the start of operations in the first half of 2026 of the Almussafes bypass, which will connect the Ford plant with the corridor. He also indicated that access to the Port of Castellón could enter service in about a year to boost ceramic exports, and that the La Llagosta intermodal station, a key piece for the port of Barcelona, will complete its work in a matter of days. The completion of the gauge change between Castellón and Tarragona in 2027 will maintain international gauge continuity for the Corridor from the French border to Murcia.
In terms of innovation, the minister has highlighted the Ports 4.0 program, which since 2018 has mobilized more than 50 million euros and is expected to reach nearly 70 million in 2026 to encourage the creation of innovative ecosystems that favor the development of projects toward a more digital and technological future in port infrastructures. Puente also referred to the PORT-EOLMAR project, a pioneering initiative in Europe to adapt Spanish port infrastructures to new developments in offshore wind energy. It is expected that this project will mobilize 212 million euros in subsidies distributed among the three Spanish port facades —the Cantabrian-Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Canary Islands— with the aim of consolidating Spain's and Europe's strategic autonomy in the renewable energy value chain.
The minister has pointed out that all these investments are financed with the financial resources of the port system and with funds from the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan. In the field of international cooperation, Puente indicated that Spain will sign in the coming months its integration into the Intergovernmental Organization Mercator International Center for the Ocean, aimed at consolidating European leadership in operational oceanography and marine services for the prevention of climate-related risks.
For his part, State Secretary José Antonio Santano opened the congress by stating that the Port Authority of Valencia sums up actions valued at more than 900 million euros in the investment plan 2025-2029, and has defined the Port of Valencia as a national project, a gateway for the Spanish economy and a driver of employment and logistics innovation.