Spain welcomed 2.9 million cruise ship passengers between January and May, which is 6% more than in the same period last year. These are the figures released by the State Ports. In May the country recorded 726, 315 cruise passengers, an increase of 10.5%.
In the first five months of the year 1,381 cruise ships docked at Spanish ports, which is 35 fewer or - 2.5% compared to last year. In May, the number of cruise ships decreased by 0.5% to 383.
Cruise passengers accounted for over 30% of all passengers landing in Spanish ports (9.3 million) in the first five months of the year, which is 1.47% fewer than the total number of tourists travelling by sea during the same period a year earlier.
Up to May, Barcelona led the rankings in cruise arrivals, with 736,832 passengers, 6.6% more than in the same period a year earlier, and the city reported an increase of 296,397 passengers in May. In the first five months, it received 243 cruise ships, declining by 6.2%.
Barcelona was followed by the port of Las Palmas, with 629,774 passengers, up almost 12%, after the number of arriving cruise ships fell by 0.74% to 267. Eight cruise ships docked there in May with 13,248 cruise passengers, up 4.7%.
436,163 passengers landed at the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, down 0.6%, after the arrival of 220 ships in the first five months of the year, a decline of 18.5%. In May it received seven ships with 14,409 passengers, down 34%.
The number of cruise passengers landing at the port of Baleares (taking the fourth place) fell by 2.4% up to May, making a total of 419,065 passengers, with a 7.4% increase in arrivals of ships of this type (203). In May 178,189 cruise passengers landed there, from 95 ships, 35.7% fewer than the fifth month of last year.
The Port of Baleares is followed by Málaga with a 6.2% increase in cruise passengers in the first five months of the year, with 171,540 tourists and cruise ships number rising by 8.9% to reach 98. In May, the number of cruise passengers increased by 12% to 35,621, with 29 ships, an increase of three.
The number of cruise passenger arrivals at the port of Tarragona grew 8.7 times to 670 during the first five months of the year. To be specific, in May it recorded 670 cruise passengers, i.e. nine times more than in the same month in 2014.
The biggest fall-off in passenger numbers is Motril (-78.7%), with a total of 2,033 cruise passengers and flat growth in the number of cruise ships during the first five months. Next in line for major declines in cruise ships is Almería (-63.2%), with a total of 1,885 tourists and five ships (-28.7%), while Bilbao (-32.8% cruise passengers) recorded a total of 19,583 arrivals, and 42.9% fewer cruise ships.