Ro-ro traffic in Spanish ports in 2023: the year in review

Spanish ports handled 71.9 million tonnes of ro-ro traffic in 2023, 1.3% more than in 2022 (956,078 tonnes 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 2025, with 74.7 million tonnes: 2023 was 3.8% below it and ranks 3rd of the 14 years with data. At the end of 2023 it was the highest figure in the series, which starts in 2012; it was later exceeded in 2024 and 2025.

In the 2023 ranking, the ports moving up on 2022 are Baleares (from 2nd to 1st), Vigo (from 9th to 8th) and Bahía de Cádiz (from 11th to 10th); those moving down are Bahía de Algeciras (from 1st to 2nd) and Bilbao (from 8th to 9th).

In transport units (lorries, trailers and platforms): 3.0 million transport units (lorries, trailers and platforms) in 2023. Baleares ranks first on this measure, with 659,600 transport units (lorries, trailers and platforms).

Baleares ranks first among port authorities with 14 million tonnes in 2023 (4.3% more than in 2022). It is followed by Bahía de Algeciras (13.5 million) and Valencia (13.3 million). Together, the three account for 56.7% of the total.

The largest increases were recorded by Vigo (+31.8%), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (+9.0%) and Bahía de Cádiz (+5.9%); the steepest falls by Bilbao (−8.8%), Bahía de Algeciras (−6.9%) and Almería (−6.2%). 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 Barcelona (4th, 11.6 million, −0.5%), Las Palmas (5th, 4.84 million, +2.4%), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (6th, 4.34 million, +9.0%), Santander (7th, 2.36 million, +2.4%), Vigo (8th, 1.3 million, +31.8%), Bilbao (9th, 951,482 tonnes, −8.8%) and Bahía de Cádiz (10th, 820,535 tonnes, +5.9%).

At the bottom of the table are Ferrol-San Cibrao (18,640 tonnes), Marín y Ría de Pontevedra (6,660 tonnes) and Gijón (1,856 tonnes), out of a total of 28 port authorities with data.

The distribution is highly concentrated: the top five account for 79.6% of the total and 6 port authorities are enough to reach 80%, while the other 18 port authorities further down share the remaining 6.8%. 12 of the 24 port authorities with a comparison grew compared with 2022, 6 of them by double digits, and 12 fell.

Of the 12 months of 2023 with data, 6 are above the same month of 2022 and 6 below; over the last three months (October, November, December) the figure is up 1.7% on the same months of 2022; the largest year-on-year difference was in March (up 13.6%); the highest point in the series was May, at 6.87 M, and the lowest December, at 5.31 M.

Between 2012 and 2023 the figure went from 41.7 M to 71.9 M, an increase of 72.4% over 11 years (+5.1% a year on average); the last year is the high point of the series and the low was 2012 (41.7 M).

Ro-ro (roll-on/roll-off) traffic is cargo that is driven on and off the ship: lorries, trailers, platforms and new vehicles. Puertos del Estado measures it in tonnes and in ITUs (intermodal transport units: each lorry, trailer or platform counts as one). It is the traffic of the Motorways of the Sea and of the lines to the Balearic and Canary Islands and North Africa.

Puertos del Estado. To explore the data in detail, use PortStats · ro-ro traffic by port, annual series or see the original source.