2020 total
1.37 million cruise passengers
First port · 2020
517,241 cruise passengers
Series high, 2012–2025
14.1 million cruise passengers
Cruise calls
744 calls
The 2020 balance
Spanish ports received 1.37 million cruise passengers in 2020, 87.2% less than in 2019 (9.3 million less). This is the year-end balance according to Puertos del Estado’s monthly statistics, with December data for the 28 port authorities.
The high point of the 2012–2025 series is 2025, with 14.1 million cruise passengers: 2020 was 90.3% below it and ranks 14th of the 14 years with data. It is the lowest figure in the whole series.
In the 2020 ranking, the ports moving up on 2019 are Las Palmas (from 3rd to 1st), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (from 4th to 2nd) and Vigo (from 10th to 9th); those moving down are Barcelona (from 1st to 3rd), Baleares (from 2nd to 4th) and A Coruña (from 9th to 10th).
Cruise calls: 744 calls in 2020, 82.4% less than in 2019. Santa Cruz de Tenerife ranks first on this measure, with 277 calls.
Las Palmas ranks first among port authorities with 517,241 cruise passengers in 2020 (65.2% less than in 2019). It is followed by Santa Cruz de Tenerife (345,093 cruise passengers) and Barcelona (198,842 cruise passengers). Together, the three account for 77.5% of the total.
The steepest falls were recorded by Baleares (−94.1%), Valencia (−94.0%) and Barcelona (−93.7%). The comparison is limited to port authorities that account for at least 1% of the total, so that an extreme swing at a small player does not distort the picture.
The rest of the top ten are Baleares (4th, 156,757 cruise passengers, −94.1%), Bahía de Cádiz (5th, 40,690 cruise passengers, −91.5%), Málaga (6th, 40,172 cruise passengers, −91.6%), Valencia (7th, 26,286 cruise passengers, −94.0%), Cartagena (8th, 18,862 cruise passengers, −92.5%), Vigo (9th, 9,425 cruise passengers, −93.3%) and A Coruña (10th, 6,586 cruise passengers, −95.9%).
At the bottom of the table are Almería (592 cruise passengers), Santander (51 cruise passengers) and Motril (8 cruise passengers), out of a total of 28 port authorities with data.
The distribution is highly concentrated: the top five account for 91.9% of the total and 4 port authorities are enough to reach 80%, while the other 18 port authorities further down share the remaining 0.7%. 0 of the 26 port authorities with a comparison grew compared with 2019 and 26 fell.
Of the 12 months of 2020 with data, 1 are above the same month of 2019 and 11 below; over the last three months (October, November, December) the figure is down 97.4% on the same months of 2019; the largest year-on-year difference was in October (down 99.9%); the highest point in the series was January, at 565,428, and the lowest July, at 8.
Between 2012 and 2020 the figure went from 7.6 M to 1.37 M, a decrease of 82% over 8 years (−19.3% a year on average). The best year was 2019 (10.7 M) and the worst 2020 (1.37 M).
Top 10 · Ranking of port authorities · 2020
Month by month · 2020 vs 2019
Annual series, 2012–2020
Full table · 28 port authorities · 2020
| # | Port authorities | 2020 | Change on 2019 | 2019 | Share | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Las Palmas | 517,241 | −65.2% | 1.49 M | 37.8% | Port |
| 2 | Santa Cruz de Tenerife | 345,093 | −67.7% | 1.07 M | 25.2% | Port |
| 3 | Barcelona | 198,842 | −93.7% | 3.14 M | 14.5% | Port |
| 4 | Baleares | 156,757 | −94.1% | 2.66 M | 11.4% | Port |
| 5 | Bahía de Cádiz | 40,690 | −91.5% | 477,392 | 3.0% | Port |
| 6 | Málaga | 40,172 | −91.6% | 476,973 | 2.9% | Port |
| 7 | Valencia | 26,286 | −94.0% | 435,616 | 1.9% | Port |
| 8 | Cartagena | 18,862 | −92.5% | 250,058 | 1.4% | Port |
| 9 | Vigo | 9,425 | −93.3% | 141,704 | 0.7% | Port |
| 10 | A Coruña | 6,586 | −95.9% | 160,256 | 0.5% | Port |
| 11 | Ferrol-San Cibrao | 3,040 | −79.6% | 14,928 | 0.2% | Port |
| 12 | Alicante | 2,413 | −96.2% | 63,088 | 0.2% | Port |
| 13 | Tarragona | 1,463 | −98.9% | 128,089 | 0.1% | Port |
| 14 | Huelva | 934 | −31.2% | 1,357 | 0.1% | Port |
| 15 | Sevilla | 906 | −95.6% | 20,518 | 0.1% | Port |
| 16 | Almería | 592 | −91.8% | 7,177 | 0.0% | Port |
| 17 | Santander | 51 | −99.8% | 30,691 | 0.0% | Port |
| 18 | Motril | 8 | −99.9% | 9,415 | 0.0% | Port |
| 19 | Avilés | 0 | −100.0% | — | 0.0% | Port |
| 20 | Bahía de Algeciras | 0 | — | — | 0.0% | Port |
| 21 | Bilbao | 0 | −100.0% | — | 0.0% | Port |
| 22 | Castellón | 0 | −100.0% | — | 0.0% | Port |
| 23 | Ceuta | 0 | −100.0% | — | 0.0% | Port |
| 24 | Gijón | 0 | −100.0% | — | 0.0% | Port |
| 25 | Marín y Ría de Pontevedra | 0 | — | — | 0.0% | Port |
| 26 | Melilla | 0 | −100.0% | — | 0.0% | Port |
| 27 | Pasaia | 0 | −100.0% | — | 0.0% | Port |
| 28 | Vilagarcía | 0 | −100.0% | — | 0.0% | Port |
What this indicator measures
Puertos del Estado counts each cruise passenger at every port where they embark, disembark or are in transit, so the same passenger can be counted at several ports on an itinerary. Calls are the arrivals of cruise ships. Passengers per call indicate the average size of the ships each port receives.
Frequently asked questions
Which was Spain’s first port by cruise passenger traffic in 2020?
Las Palmas, with 517,241 cruise passengers in 2020, 37.8% of the total.
What was the cruise passenger traffic figure for Spanish ports in 2020?
1.37 million cruise passengers in 2020, 87.2% less than in 2019.
Was 2020 a record year?
No: the high point of the 2012–2025 series is 2025, with 14.1 million cruise passengers; 2020 was 90.3% below it.
Source
Puertos del Estado. To explore the data in detail, use PortStats · cruise passengers by port, annual series or see the original source.