Cruise passenger numbers grew by 4.8%, to 10.66m, while vessel calls dipped 2.6% to 4,250.
Over half visited two destinations
The two largest ports, Barcelona and the Balearic Islands, accounted for 5.8m passengers, more than half of the Spanish total.
The Canary Islands, including Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, added another 2.6m, bringing the ‘Big Four’ to a total of 8.4m. The top six cruise ports all recorded fewer port calls than during 2018, notably at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, down by 6.9% to 511 calls, and Barcelona, which slipped by 4.9% to 800 visits.
Topping the list of passenger numbers as usual, Barcelona recorded a modest increase of 3.3% to 3.14m. The Balearic Islands came second, with a robust 9.3% gain to 2.66m visitors on 818 port calls, taking the lead in the latter category.
Santa Cruz 4.6% gain
Third ranking went to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, with 1.49m passengers, up by a strong 11.5%, aboard 560 calls, down by 4.4%. In fourth position, Santa Cruz de Tenerife handled 1.07m cruise customers, a 4.6% gain.
Number five place was held by Bahia de Cadiz, moving 477,387 passengers, up by a comfortable 12.3%, aboard 333 calls, a minuscule 0.3% slip.
Standing sixth, Málaga dropped by 6% to 477,000 passengers, on a 3.7% decline to 288 port calls.
In seventh position, Valencia served 435,000 voyagers, up 3.3% on 203 port calls, an increase of 4.6%. Number eight was Cartagena, with a nine per cent increase to 250,000 passengers aboard 167 calls, up by 10.6%.
Standing ninth, A Coruña slipped 10.4% to 160,000 passengers, despite a 14.9% gain in port calls, implying smaller vessels or lower occupancy.
Tenth position was divided. Vigo held this slot by passenger count, down 10.6% to 141,00, while Seville took tenth place in vessel calls with a resounding 26.7% increase to 95 visits.
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