Cruise passenger numbers shoot up in Las Palmas and Santa Cruz

The ports of Las Palmas (Gran Canaria) have received 854,560 cruise passengers in the first seven months of this year, which represents an increase of 92.9% compared to 2022, while those of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has had 619,348 cruise passengers, which is 97.9% more, according to data published by the Port Authorities on Friday.

Between January and July, 371 cruise ships have called at the ports of the eastern province (Las Palmas) and 303 at those of the western province (Santa Cruz de Tenerife).

Meanwhile, in Spain as a whole, 6.1 million cruise passengers passed through the country's ports in the first seven months of the year, which represents an increase of 74.8% year-on-year, exceeding the record figures of 2019.

Taking regular line passengers into account, total passenger traffic in the 46 Spanish ports maintains a strong upward trend, with growth of 27.6% up to July, representing 20.8 million passengers.

In July, a total of 287 cruise ships arrived at Spanish ports, which represents a slight increase compared to the 285 registered in July of 2022.

As regards the accumulated data, these decreased in the first seven months of the year, reaching a total figure of 2,357 vessels compared to the 2,388 registered in the same period of 2022.

The growth registered in the number of ships in the port of Alicante stands out, which until July received a total of 43 ships, 72% more than in 2022, as well as that of Tarragona, which increased the number of ships by 78.6% with 25.

In total figures so far this year, the cities of Barcelona (424), Las Palmas (371), and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (303), are the cities that received the greatest number of cruise ships.

Passenger numbers grew by 74.8%.
The data from the Port Authorities show how in the first seven months of 2023 the number of cruise passengers has skyrocketed by 74.8%, exceeding 6.1 million, compared to the 3.49 million registered in the same period of 2022.

The ports of Barcelona (1.8 million cruise passengers) and the Balearic Islands (1.2 million) lead the number of passengers received in the first months of the year, followed by the ports of Las Palmas (854,560), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (619,348), and Valencia (378,213).

In percentage comparison with respect to the same period of 2022, the greatest increases in number of passengers occurred in the ports of Ceuta (656.4%), Motril (582.4%), Vilagarcía (232.6%), Tarragona (140.4%), and Alicante (122.8%).