Absence of cruise calls to Valencia costs the city €56m

The cruise community generates a turnover of €25.3m annually for Valencia. Of this, €17.5m is attributable to cruise passengers, €7.2m to the companies involved — including pilots, tugboats, shipping agents, terminal, tour operators and the Port Authority — and €0.6m to the crew. An additional turnover of €30.7m is generated by spending on hotels, transport, cultural services and food and similar settings. 

With the exception of the Canary Islands, which relaunched coastal cruises last winter, Spain has not welcomed cruise passengers since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, but cruise passengers who disembark at the Port of Valencia — 383,000 in the consolidated financial year of 2017 — typically spend an average of €146.5.

The Polytechnic University of Valencia claims cruise ships arriving at the Port of Valencia generate 637 jobs in the city, mainly in hotel and catering services, but also in commerce, transport, cultural and recreational trades. The research by UPV indicates the average length of stay is 4.1 hours for cruise passengers who have booked an excursion and 4.7 hours for those who disembark without a guided tour.

Restart plans

The port is preparing new safety protocols and routes that diversify the range of excursions offered in order to be able to resume normal operations when authorities permit.

Among the measures could be ‘bubble’ excursions — exclusively guided trips, with no possibility for passengers to enter the destination independently — small groups and more outdoor experiences.

New terminal

A new 100,000-square-meter passenger terminal is currently underway at Valencia port, which will cut its emissions. According to the port, 100% of the electrical energy necessary for the operation of the terminal will be produced by the facility and will be of renewable origin.  

Berthing lines will supply electricity to ships, facilitating the shutdown of ships’ engines while docked.