Barcelona Port is once again first in Europe and fifth worldwide in number of passengers

Barcelona (ACN).- The Port of Barcelona is once again the leader in European in the number of transported passengers in 2011, according to data released by the Spanish Ministry of Transport. Barcelona was also the fifth port at world level. 2,642,493 people passed through the Catalan capital’s port in 2011, which represents a 12.69% increase compared to the previous year. Barcelona is among the world’s top 5 ports. The ranking is led by 3 ports located in Florida (United States), those of Miami, Port Everglades and Port Canaveral. Barcelona is just behind Cozumel in Mexico. 

Within Spain, Barcelona is followed by the Port of Palma de Mallorca, which experienced a 4.78% increase in traffic and reached 1,614,499 passengers. Behind them are Tenerife, Las Palmas and Malága. All five Spanish ports are in the world’s top 50. The number of cruise passengers visiting Spain increased by 11.8% last year, reaching a total of 7,997,893 people. Furthermore, the number of cruise ships increased by 7.7% in relation to 2010, reaching a total figure of 3,900 boats.

The Mediterranean ports of Spain accumulated 70% of passengers, mainly in the ports of Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca. The area experienced a 9.4% increase. However the number of passengers travelling through Barcelona increased by 12.69%, which reasserts the Catalan capital’s leadership with 2,642,493 transported passengers. The Port of València is far from Barcelona’s figures with a total of 378,463 passengers, but experienced a 50% increase compared to 2010.

The top 50 ports of the world in total transported more than 60 million passengers in 2011, which represents a 4.3% increase. 42% of these ports (21) are located in the Caribbean Sea. They transported 31 million passengers, 51.5% of the total. This represented an increase of 1.1% on figures from 2011. However, European ports, despite transporting a total of 23.9 million passengers, experienced passenger growth of 9.8%. This means that Europe is the second market in the world, with a 39.7% market share. Of all passengers in Europe, 85% sailed in the Mediterranean Sea, which represents 20 million people.