The Port of Algeciras has closed the first eight months of 2026 with a total traffic of 67.5 million tons, 0.1% less than in the same period last year, while container movement has reached 3,155,568 TEUs, which represents an increase of 0.8%.
The data from August has contributed to place the accumulated volume practically at the levels recorded during the first eight months of 2025. During the last month accounted for, goods traffic has grown by 4%, with liquid bulk among the activities that have recorded increases.
Activity during the second quarter of the year has been 10% higher than that recorded during the first four months. The summer months have allowed for the recovery of part of the traffic lost during winter, when successive storms forced activity stops at the port facilities.
In addition to liquid bulk and containerized cargo, fuel supply to ships has exceeded two million tons until August, with a growth close to 3%. Increases have occurred both in operations carried out with anchored ships and in those carried out at dock.
At the container terminals, refrigerated import and export cargo has increased by 4%. Costa Rica, Peru, and Egypt are listed as the main countries of origin for the goodsreeferthat arrive through the port of Algeciras.
Among the import products are mainly pineapples, avocados, and bananas. In terms of exports, the United States, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil appear as the main destinations, with products such as stone fruit —apricots, peaches, and cherries—, pork, and dairy products.
The road traffic of goods between both shores of the Strait also maintains positive figures in the annual accumulated. Until August, 359,306 trucks have used these connections, 0.9% more than during the same period of the previous year.
The majority of these units corresponds to the connection between Algeciras and Tangier Med, which has recorded 337,434 trucks during the first eight months of the year, 0.7% more.
In passenger and vehicle traffic, August has ended with declines of 5.5% and 3.5%, respectively. The data for the month has been influenced by the evolution of the Algeciras-Ceuta line, which has recorded a reduction of 20% in passengers and 19% in vehicles.
Between January and August, the maritime lines of the Strait have accounted for 4.5 million passengers, 3.6% less, and one million vehicles, with a decrease of 3.1%.
The evolution has been different in the connection between Tarifa and Tangier Ville. One in every four passengers and one in every five vehicles that have used the Strait lines during these eight months have traveled through this route.
The Tarifa-Tangier Ville line has recorded an 8.8% growth in passengers and an 18.8% growth in vehicles until August. During this year's Operation Crossing the Strait (OPE), this connection has moved from fourth to second place by volume of embarkations and disembarkations of users of the device.
The OPE 2026 has concluded after 93 days of activity, between June 15 and September 15. During this period, the ports of Algeciras and Tarifa have jointly accounted for 2,893,145 passengers and 638,698 vehicles embarked and disembarked.
These figures represent an overall decrease of 4.3% in passengers and 3% in vehicles compared to the previous edition.
By lines, Algeciras-Ceuta has recorded a decrease of 15%, which the Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA) attributes to the migratory crisis affecting the Autonomous City since the end of July.
Conversely, the Tarifa-Tangier Ville connection has increased its participation in movements associated with the OPE to position itself as the second line by volume of embarkations and disembarkations of passengers from the device.
After the conclusion of the Operation Crossing the Strait, the president of the APBA, Gerardo Landaluce, has again called for the execution of the duplication of the N-340 road between Algeciras and Tarifa and the construction of direct access to the Port of Tarifa.
Landaluce has linked this request with the traffic problems associated with the device and with the growth in the use of the maritime connection with Tangier Ville, “whose line with Tangier Ville is increasingly used both by passengers of the Operation Crossing the Strait and by tourists visiting Southern Andalusia and Northern Morocco throughout the year.”