Ro-ro traffic in Spanish ports in 2025: the year in review

Spanish ports handled 74.7 million tonnes of ro-ro traffic in 2025, 2.8% more than in 2024 (2.01 million more). This is the year-end balance according to Puertos del Estado’s monthly statistics, with December data for the 28 port authorities.

It is the highest annual figure in the 2012–2025 series.

In the 2025 ranking, the ports moving up on 2024 are Almería (from 11th to 10th). The top three positions are unchanged.

In transport units (lorries, trailers and platforms): 3.2 million transport units (lorries, trailers and platforms) in 2025, 2.7% more than in 2024. Baleares ranks first on this measure, with 711,825 transport units (lorries, trailers and platforms).

Baleares ranks first among port authorities with 15.5 million tonnes in 2025 (4.2% more than in 2024). It is followed by Valencia (13.8 million) and Bahía de Algeciras (12.6 million). Together, the three account for 56% of the total.

The largest increases were recorded by Almería (+16.6%), Las Palmas (+12.3%) and Bahía de Algeciras (+5.4%); the steepest falls by Vigo (−13.5%), Santander (−6.1%) and Bilbao (−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, 11.8 million, +0.9%), Las Palmas (5th, 5.84 million, +12.3%), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (6th, 4.71 million, +1.9%), Santander (7th, 2.17 million, −6.1%), Vigo (8th, 1.38 million, −13.5%), Bilbao (9th, 1.19 million, −2.4%) and Almería (10th, 1.03 million, +16.6%).

At the bottom of the table are Ferrol-San Cibrao (14,284 tonnes), Castellón (5,687 tonnes) and Cartagena (366 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 6.4%. 13 of the 25 port authorities with a comparison grew compared with 2024, 3 of them by double digits, and 12 fell.

Of the 12 months of 2025 with data, 11 are above the same month of 2024 and 1 below; over the last three months (October, November, December) the figure is up 1.2% on the same months of 2024; the largest year-on-year difference was in March (up 7.9%); the highest point in the series was May, at 6.97 M, and the lowest August, at 5.42 M.

Between 2012 and 2025 the figure went from 41.7 M to 74.7 M, an increase of 79.2% over 13 years (+4.6% 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.