The five most important ports in Spain

Fishing, commercial, passenger or marinas... these are the different types of ports that Spain has and can boast of. And that is why our country is ranked 11th after the Asian giants, the United States, Germany and Holland as a world port power. 

Our country has around 8000km of coastline, which makes port activity one of the most important for the economy, representing around 20% of the GDP (Gross domestic product) of the transport sector, which represents 1.1% of Spain's total GDP.

The importance of ports as part of the logistic and transport chains is of vital importance because: about 60% of exports and 85% of imports pass through them. This represents 53% of Spanish foreign trade with the European Union and 96% with third countries.

Although the number of Spanish ports is 46, in this post we will talk about the 5 main ones. We are sure that many things will surprise you!

Port of Valencia

The first port we are going to talk about is the second with the highest volume of goods in Europe and the second largest in Spain. It has a surface area of more than 13,000m. This port is ranked 30th in the world, the most important in the Mediterranean and the fifth in Europe.

Although it practically accepts goods of any type of economic sector, the main ones include furniture, textiles, footwear, livestock, energy, chemicals and automobiles.

Port of Algeciras

Situated four places after the port of Valencia, it occupies the 34th position in the world ranking. It is the largest in Spain and the third largest in the Mediterranean. It handles an estimated 70 million tonnes of cargo a year, and is the epicentre for the commercialisation of tobacco, fishing, agriculture and oil.

Port of Barcelona

Although it is far from the two previous ones, in the world ranking it appears in 77th place. In Europe it is 15th and in the Mediterranean it is seventh. But if we move on to other rankings, in terms of passenger transport it is the largest port in the Mediterranean in terms of cruise traffic and the fourth in the world, behind only the ports of the Caribbean!

It is divided into five areas: citizen, commercial, tourist, energy and logistic port; and each of these activities has its own space and specialised staff.

Port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

One of the main points to bear in mind about this port is its privileged location, situated between Europe, Africa and America. This port is the most important in the mid-Atlantic due to its size, infrastructures, quality and variety of services.

The berthing line has almost 16 kilometres of mooring line. 

In addition, the total freight traffic of this port in 2020 exceeded 15.2 million tonnes, and all this in a pandemic!

Port of Bilbao

Located at the mouth of the Nervión estuary with the Cantabrian Sea, it is the most important port in the north of Spain. It is one of the most important transport and logistics centres of the European Atlantic Arc.

Today, this port has become the gateway to the trade routes of the European Atlantic Ocean. It is also the main port for trade with the United Kingdom.

This port handled a total of 29.6 million tonnes in 2020. Of this total, 61% was liquid bulk cargo.

Now that you know which are the five main ports in Spain and why, you need to know that at Globalmar, whatever port you are in, we can bring you everything you need. Our wide range of products is available anywhere in our country and the world thanks to our thousands of collaborations with different manufacturers and experts. So, don't hesitate to count on us at any time if something goes wrong.

You can check our product catalogue on our website

Email: globalmar@globalmarvigo.com
Phone number: 986 468980
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