The Operation Passage of the Strait (OPE) 2026 reaches the midpoint of its schedule with 1,667,517 passengers embarked and 424,487 vehicles since the start of the departure phase on June 15, according to the situation report released by the General Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergencies with data corresponding to August 15. The overall figure shows a decrease of 3.1% in travelers and 2.1% in vehicles compared to the same period in 2025, when the operation moved 1,720,799 passengers and 433,755 vehicles between the same dates. The number of rotations also falls: 4,822 shipments compared to 5,131 the previous year, a 6% decrease.
Algeciras maintains its status as the reference port of the corridor, with 903,658 passengers and 251,473 vehicles embarked in the departure phase, which accounts for 54% of the passenger traffic of the operation. The port also contributes the largest volume of the decline, with 74,163 fewer passengers than in 2025, 7.6% lower. The decline is mainly explained by the line to Ceuta, which loses 44,488 travelers (-16.3%) and 10,147 vehicles (-16%), while the connection to Tangier-Med decreases by 4.2% in passengers and 2.4% in vehicles, with 198,235 cars embarked as of the cutoff date. On August 15, Algeciras recorded 56 departure rotations —34 to Tangier-Med and 22 to Ceuta—, with 9,950 passengers and 3,206 vehicles.
Tarifa is positioned as the port with the best performance of the operation among the large ports of the Strait. Its only line, which links to Tangier-Ville, has embarked 304,932 passengers and 52,721 vehicles, 7% and 12.6% more than in 2025. The fast connection with the urban port of Tangier, operated by shipping companies that link the two shores in less than an hour, absorbs part of the traffic that Algeciras channeled in previous campaigns. In percentage terms, the growth of the Tarifa-Tangier-Ville route is the most pronounced among the major lines of the Strait. On August 15, it added 21 departure rotations, with 5,290 passengers and 1,095 vehicles.
In the return phase, which started on July 15 and has a total of 570,901 passengers and 143,846 vehicles disembarked, the Strait corridor also presents varied behaviors. Tangier-Med/Algeciras drops 4.7% in passengers to 198,691 travelers, and Ceuta/Algeciras declines by 13.6% with 96,948 passengers returning to the Peninsula. Tangier-Ville/Tarifa, on the other hand, grows 12.2% in passengers and 18.2% in vehicles to 137,456 travelers and 23,901 cars, consolidating the trend observed in the departure phase. On August 15, 28,159 passengers arrived at the ports of the Campo de Gibraltar from the three routes of the Strait.
Outside the arc of the Strait, the port of Almeria has 301,782 passengers and 78,054 vehicles in the total of the departure, with a slight increase of 2.7% in travelers and 2.6% in cars. Its line to Nador, the largest in the Andalusian enclave, has moved 253,123 passengers with an increase of 2%, while the connection to Melilla grows 17.3% in passengers to 37,665 travelers embarked. Almeria also maintains its role as a connection with Algeria through the route to Ghazaouet, with 5,743 passengers to date.
Malaga registers 57,886 passengers and 13,220 vehicles on its line to Melilla, with growth of 5.9% and 7.8%, respectively. Motril is the enclave with the greatest percentage decline: 52,111 passengers embarked compared to 60,512 in 2025, a 13.9% decrease, with declines on all its active routes and the complete disappearance of the line to Tangier-Med, which in 2025 moved 4,358 passengers and this year has not operated any rotations. Valencia, with the connection to Mostaganem, remains stable with 23,630 passengers and 7,152 vehicles, a 4.5% increase in travelers and a 3.9% decrease in cars. Alicante adds 23,518 passengers through its links with Algiers and Oran, 11.2% fewer than the previous year.
On the return leg, Melilla records the highest percentage growth among receiving Spanish ports, with 44,654 passengers disembarked and an increase of 29.3%. The line between Melilla and Malaga is the most dynamic of the operation, with a 50% increase in passengers and 51% in vehicles.
The total health assistance accumulated at the Spanish embarkation ports stands at 860 during the departure phase and 84 in the return phase, while social assistance has added 6,923 and 209 respectively. Almeria concentrates the highest number of health care cases on the peninsular side with 519 cases, followed by Tarifa with 120 and Malaga with 52.