2020 total
117,829 merchant ship calls
First port · 2020
30,494 merchant ship calls
Series high, 2012–2025
170,944 merchant ship calls
Month with the highest figure
12,341 merchant ship calls
The 2020 balance
Spanish ports received 117,829 merchant ship calls in 2020, 31.1% less than in 2019 (53,115 merchant ship calls 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 2019, with 170,944 merchant ship calls: 2020 was 31.1% 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 Valencia (from 7th to 6th) and Huelva (from 10th to 9th); those moving down are Barcelona (from 6th to 7th) and Tarragona (from 9th to 10th). The top three positions are unchanged.
Baleares ranks first among port authorities with 30,494 merchant ship calls in 2020 (42.4% less than in 2019). It is followed by Bahía de Algeciras (18,322 merchant ship calls) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (12,143 merchant ship calls). Together, the three account for 51.7% of the total.
The steepest falls were recorded by Almería (−43.0%), Baleares (−42.4%) and Bahía de Algeciras (−37.0%). 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, 11,271 merchant ship calls, −19.3%), Ceuta (5th, 7,219 merchant ship calls, −34.9%), Valencia (6th, 6,851 merchant ship calls, −13.2%), Barcelona (7th, 6,724 merchant ship calls, −24.5%), Bilbao (8th, 2,338 merchant ship calls, −17.0%), Huelva (9th, 2,216 merchant ship calls, −11.0%) and Tarragona (10th, 2,189 merchant ship calls, −14.0%).
At the bottom of the table are Motril (522 merchant ship calls), Marín y Ría de Pontevedra (443 merchant ship calls) and Vilagarcía (315 merchant ship calls), out of a total of 28 port authorities with data.
The distribution is concentrated: the top five account for 67.4% of the total and 8 port authorities are enough to reach 80%, while the other 18 port authorities further down share the remaining 15.3%. 0 of the 28 port authorities with a comparison grew compared with 2019 and 28 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 24.5% on the same months of 2019; the largest year-on-year difference was in May (down 58%); the highest point in the series was January, at 12,341, and the lowest April, at 6,070.
Between 2012 and 2020 the figure went from 133,582 to 117,829, a decrease of 11.8% over 8 years (−1.6% a year on average). The best year was 2019 (170,944) and the worst 2020 (117,829).
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 | Baleares | 30,494 | −42.4% | 52,936 | 25.9% | Port |
| 2 | Bahía de Algeciras | 18,322 | −37.0% | 29,070 | 15.5% | Port |
| 3 | Santa Cruz de Tenerife | 12,143 | −24.7% | 16,132 | 10.3% | Port |
| 4 | Las Palmas | 11,271 | −19.3% | 13,959 | 9.6% | Port |
| 5 | Ceuta | 7,219 | −34.9% | 11,084 | 6.1% | Port |
| 6 | Valencia | 6,851 | −13.2% | 7,891 | 5.8% | Port |
| 7 | Barcelona | 6,724 | −24.5% | 8,901 | 5.7% | Port |
| 8 | Bilbao | 2,338 | −17.0% | 2,818 | 2.0% | Port |
| 9 | Huelva | 2,216 | −11.0% | 2,491 | 1.9% | Port |
| 10 | Tarragona | 2,189 | −14.0% | 2,545 | 1.9% | Port |
| 11 | Cartagena | 1,982 | −8.6% | 2,169 | 1.7% | Port |
| 12 | Castellón | 1,629 | −7.4% | 1,759 | 1.4% | Port |
| 13 | Vigo | 1,542 | −7.9% | 1,674 | 1.3% | Port |
| 14 | Santander | 1,329 | −17.7% | 1,614 | 1.1% | Port |
| 15 | Almería | 1,213 | −43.0% | 2,128 | 1.0% | Port |
| 16 | Gijón | 1,127 | −5.1% | 1,187 | 1.0% | Port |
| 17 | Málaga | 1,103 | −41.0% | 1,870 | 0.9% | Port |
| 18 | Bahía de Cádiz | 1,079 | −9.6% | 1,193 | 0.9% | Port |
| 19 | Ferrol-San Cibrao | 1,002 | −7.7% | 1,086 | 0.9% | Port |
| 20 | Sevilla | 948 | −6.0% | 1,009 | 0.8% | Port |
| 21 | Melilla | 905 | −43.6% | 1,606 | 0.8% | Port |
| 22 | Pasaia | 846 | −9.3% | 933 | 0.7% | Port |
| 23 | A Coruña | 841 | −30.7% | 1,213 | 0.7% | Port |
| 24 | Avilés | 690 | −13.2% | 795 | 0.6% | Port |
| 25 | Alicante | 546 | −21.6% | 696 | 0.5% | Port |
| 26 | Motril | 522 | −60.5% | 1,323 | 0.4% | Port |
| 27 | Marín y Ría de Pontevedra | 443 | −12.6% | 507 | 0.4% | Port |
| 28 | Vilagarcía | 315 | −11.3% | 355 | 0.3% | 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 2020?
Baleares, with 30,494 merchant ship calls in 2020, 25.9% of the total.
What was the merchant ship calls figure for Spanish ports in 2020?
117,829 merchant ship calls in 2020, 31.1% less than in 2019.
Was 2020 a record year?
No: the high point of the 2012–2025 series is 2019, with 170,944 merchant ship calls; 2020 was 31.1% below it.
Source
Puertos del Estado. To explore the data in detail, use PortStats · ships by port or see the original source.