Barcelona port fastest growing in Europe

Traffic at the Port of Barcelona increased by 26% in 2017, compared to the previous year, according to data released by the Catalan capital’s Port Authority, exceeding a total of 61 million tonnes for the first time, making it the fastest growing port in Europe.

The president of the port, Sixte Cambra, described the figures as “more than extraordinary,” at a press conference held on Thursday, calling it a “jump in the scale” of commercial activity at the maritime facility.

Cambra showed data that indicates how the port has broken annual records in 2017, in relation to the previous 5 years. “This is a new level of activity that consolidated by these figures,” he said.

With regard to container traffic at the port, nearly 3 million twenty foot containers were handled last year.

China remains the main commercial partner with the Port of Barcelona, both in terms of imports (44.3% of all foreign trade) and imports (11.6% of the total). All in all, the port deals with a diverse variety of different countries, according to its president.

With regard to passenger movement, the port recorded a historic 4 million passengers passing through the facility last year, including 1.4 million freight users and 2.7 million cruise ship passengers.

In months considered to be “low” season, cruise passengers increased by 13%, while in other months the flow of human traffic actually decreased by 2%.

The net turnover generated by the port reached 167 million euros, 7% more than 2016.
This “massive jump” is not a normal growth, according to Cambra, but it puts Barcelona port up there in the same lists of activity as such major ports like Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.