Barcelona Claims to be Europe’s Fastest Growing Port

Spain's Port of Barcelona closed financial year 2018 with a 15% increase in container traffic and record results in the main traffic indicators.

According to a press release, the results also confirm the increase in intermodality, with significant growth in rail transport and Motorways of the Sea, helping to boost the sustainability of the logistics chains that pass through the Port of Barcelona.

During financial year 2018, the Catalan infrastructure channelled 67.7 million tonnes of traffic - involving all cargo modes - representing a year-on-year increase of 10% and setting a new record for the Port.

"This result was driven largely by the excellent progression in container traffic, the most representative of the surrounding economy, which was over 3.4 million TEU, marking a 15% increase. This growth is even more significant if we take into consideration that it comes on top of the significant increase experienced in 2017 (+32.5%), when Barcelona became the fastest-growing European port," claimed the port.

"Here, we would point to the good results of transhipment containers - unloaded then re-shipped to their final destination -, which increase by 35%. Foreign trade containerised cargo also performed well, particularly exports. Thus, the Port of Barcelona channelled 752,915 export TEU, marking an increase of 6.6% year on year. Imports (580,892 TEU) also increased by 3.5%," it said.

The Port of Barcelona also posted record results in terms of intermodality and, specifically, rail transport - both of containers and vehicles that arrive and leave the port area - and the goods transported on the Motorways of the Sea.

During year 2018 the Port of Barcelona received a total of 4.4 million passengers (+8.6%), a figure that marks a new record for the facility. Of these, 1.4 million passengers (+2%) were users of regular ferry lines (with the Balearic Islands, Italy or North Africa), and 3 million were cruise passengers (+12%). It is worth noting the increase experienced in two types of cruise passengers: those in turnaround (starting and ending their route in Barcelona) and those that arrive in low season.

The number of passengers in turnaround, who spend more in the surrounding area, grew by 16%, which is double the growth of those staying only one day on shore (+8%). In addition, the number of cruise passengers arriving during the low season increased by 17% and already account for 44% of cruise passengers visiting the city.