2016 total
151,564 merchant ship calls
First port · 2016
41,871 merchant ship calls
Series high, 2012–2025
170,944 merchant ship calls
Month with the highest figure
15,665 merchant ship calls
The 2016 balance
Spanish ports received 151,564 merchant ship calls in 2016, 3.3% more than in 2015 (4,832 merchant ship calls more). 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 2019, with 170,944 merchant ship calls: 2016 was 11.3% below it and ranks 8th of the 14 years with data. At the end of 2016 it was the highest figure in the series, which starts in 2012; it was later exceeded in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
In the 2016 ranking, the ports moving up on 2015 are Huelva (from 11th to 10th). The top three positions are unchanged.
Baleares ranks first among port authorities with 41,871 merchant ship calls in 2016 (3.1% more than in 2015). It is followed by Bahía de Algeciras (29,681 merchant ship calls) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (12,518 merchant ship calls). Together, the three account for 55.5% of the total.
The largest increases were recorded by Huelva (+19.1%), Almería (+14.2%) and Castellón (+9.2%); the steepest falls by Vigo (−8.3%), Tarragona (−3.6%) and Las Palmas (−1.3%). 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 Las Palmas (4th, 11,554 merchant ship calls, −1.3%), Ceuta (5th, 10,444 merchant ship calls, +1.3%), Barcelona (6th, 8,728 merchant ship calls, +8.5%), Valencia (7th, 7,702 merchant ship calls, −0.3%), Bilbao (8th, 2,815 merchant ship calls, 0.0%), Tarragona (9th, 2,643 merchant ship calls, −3.6%) and Huelva (10th, 2,191 merchant ship calls, +19.1%).
At the bottom of the table are Avilés (824 merchant ship calls), Marín y Ría de Pontevedra (529 merchant ship calls) and Vilagarcía (301 merchant ship calls), out of a total of 28 port authorities with data.
The distribution is concentrated: the top five account for 70% of the total and 7 port authorities are enough to reach 80%, while the other 18 port authorities further down share the remaining 14.1%. 20 of the 28 port authorities with a comparison grew compared with 2015, 5 of them by double digits, and 8 fell.
Of the 12 months of 2016 with data, 11 are above the same month of 2015 and 1 below; over the last three months (October, November, December) the figure is down 19.6% on the same months of 2015; the largest year-on-year difference was in December (down 46.1%); the highest point in the series was August, at 15,665, and the lowest February, at 9,479.
Between 2012 and 2016 the figure went from 133,582 to 151,564, an increase of 13.5% over 4 years (+3.2% a year on average); the last year is the high point of the series and the low was 2013 (130,170).
Top 10 · Ranking of port authorities · 2016
Month by month · 2016 vs 2015
Annual series, 2012–2016
Full table · 28 port authorities · 2016
| # | Port authorities | 2016 | Change on 2015 | 2015 | Share | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baleares | 41,871 | +3.1% | 40,596 | 27.6% | Port |
| 2 | Bahía de Algeciras | 29,681 | +4.3% | 28,446 | 19.6% | Port |
| 3 | Santa Cruz de Tenerife | 12,518 | +3.2% | 12,127 | 8.3% | Port |
| 4 | Las Palmas | 11,554 | −1.3% | 11,701 | 7.6% | Port |
| 5 | Ceuta | 10,444 | +1.3% | 10,306 | 6.9% | Port |
| 6 | Barcelona | 8,728 | +8.5% | 8,046 | 5.8% | Port |
| 7 | Valencia | 7,702 | −0.3% | 7,728 | 5.1% | Port |
| 8 | Bilbao | 2,815 | 0.0% | 2,816 | 1.9% | Port |
| 9 | Tarragona | 2,643 | −3.6% | 2,743 | 1.7% | Port |
| 10 | Huelva | 2,191 | +19.1% | 1,839 | 1.4% | Port |
| 11 | Cartagena | 1,908 | +2.5% | 1,862 | 1.3% | Port |
| 12 | Castellón | 1,655 | +9.2% | 1,515 | 1.1% | Port |
| 13 | Melilla | 1,591 | +8.8% | 1,462 | 1.0% | Port |
| 14 | Almería | 1,574 | +14.2% | 1,378 | 1.0% | Port |
| 15 | Vigo | 1,546 | −8.3% | 1,686 | 1.0% | Port |
| 16 | Santander | 1,413 | +0.6% | 1,405 | 0.9% | Port |
| 17 | Málaga | 1,379 | +8.6% | 1,270 | 0.9% | Port |
| 18 | Motril | 1,273 | +37.3% | 927 | 0.8% | Port |
| 19 | A Coruña | 1,209 | +6.8% | 1,132 | 0.8% | Port |
| 20 | Gijón | 1,156 | −2.3% | 1,183 | 0.8% | Port |
| 21 | Sevilla | 1,134 | +7.9% | 1,051 | 0.7% | Port |
| 22 | Ferrol-San Cibrao | 1,054 | +0.4% | 1,050 | 0.7% | Port |
| 23 | Pasaia | 994 | +0.3% | 991 | 0.7% | Port |
| 24 | Bahía de Cádiz | 954 | −2.7% | 980 | 0.6% | Port |
| 25 | Alicante | 923 | +10.8% | 833 | 0.6% | Port |
| 26 | Avilés | 824 | +2.2% | 806 | 0.5% | Port |
| 27 | Marín y Ría de Pontevedra | 529 | −9.6% | 585 | 0.3% | Port |
| 28 | Vilagarcía | 301 | +12.3% | 268 | 0.2% | Port |
What this indicator measures
Every month Puertos del Estado counts the merchant ships calling at each port authority: container ships, bulk carriers, tankers, ro-ro vessels, ferries and cruise ships. A call is one entry into port, so a scheduled ferry adds many calls a month. The number of calls measures a port’s service activity (pilotage, mooring, towage, stevedoring); ship size is measured separately, in gross tonnage (GT).
Frequently asked questions
Which was Spain’s first port by merchant ship calls in 2016?
Baleares, with 41,871 merchant ship calls in 2016, 27.6% of the total.
What was the merchant ship calls figure for Spanish ports in 2016?
151,564 merchant ship calls in 2016, 3.3% more than in 2015.
Was 2016 a record year?
At the time, yes: at the end of 2016, 151,564 merchant ship calls was the highest annual figure in the series, which starts in 2012. It was later exceeded in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025; the high point of the 2012–2025 series is 2019, with 170,944 merchant ship calls.
Source
Puertos del Estado. To explore the data in detail, use PortStats · ships by port or see the original source.