Ro-ro traffic in Spanish ports in 2024: the year in review

Spanish ports handled 72.7 million tonnes of ro-ro traffic in 2024, 1.1% more than in 2023 (819,027 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: 2024 was 2.7% below it and ranks 2nd of the 14 years with data. At the end of 2024 it was the highest figure in the series, which starts in 2012; it was later exceeded in 2025.

In the 2024 ranking, the ports moving up on 2023 are Valencia (from 3rd to 2nd); those moving down are Bahía de Algeciras (from 2nd to 3rd).

In transport units (lorries, trailers and platforms): 3.12 million transport units (lorries, trailers and platforms) in 2024, 4.1% more than in 2023. Baleares ranks first on this measure, with 687,146 transport units (lorries, trailers and platforms).

Baleares ranks first among port authorities with 14.8 million tonnes in 2024 (6.2% more than in 2023). It is followed by Valencia (13.7 million) and Bahía de Algeciras (11.9 million). Together, the three account for 55.7% of the total.

The largest increases were recorded by Bilbao (+27.8%), Vigo (+23.2%) and Almería (+12.9%); the steepest falls by Bahía de Algeciras (−11.6%) and Santander (−2.4%). 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, 11.7 million, +0.9%), Las Palmas (5th, 5.2 million, +7.4%), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (6th, 4.62 million, +6.5%), Santander (7th, 2.31 million, −2.4%), Vigo (8th, 1.6 million, +23.2%), Bilbao (9th, 1.22 million, +27.8%) and Bahía de Cádiz (10th, 923,773 tonnes, +12.6%).

At the bottom of the table are Cartagena (4,031 tonnes), A Coruña (600 tonnes) and Gijón (27 tonnes), out of a total of 28 port authorities with data.

The distribution is highly concentrated: the top five account for 78.9% of the total and 6 port authorities are enough to reach 80%, while the other 18 port authorities further down share the remaining 6.4%. 14 of the 24 port authorities with a comparison grew compared with 2023, 6 of them by double digits, and 10 fell.

Of the 12 months of 2024 with data, 8 are above the same month of 2023 and 4 below; over the last three months (October, November, December) the figure is up 3% on the same months of 2023; the largest year-on-year difference was in March (down 8.2%); the highest point in the series was May, at 6.99 M, and the lowest August, at 5.34 M.

Between 2012 and 2024 the figure went from 41.7 M to 72.7 M, an increase of 74.4% over 12 years (+4.7% 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.