CLIA Europe has announced the establishment of CLIA Spain. The new national association will be headquartered in Madrid and will be chaired by Belen Wanguemert, the general manager in Spain and France for Royal Caribbean International, Azamara Club Cruises and Celebrity Cruises. The association will be managed by Alfredo Serrano, CLIA Spain’s new national director.
This follows the establishment of similar associations throughout Europe this year in Germany, UK & Ireland, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium and Luxembourg. Spain becomes the thirteenth association operating under the industry organization’s global structure.
Spain is described as the fourth largest cruise market in Europe with 576,000 passengers last year, while 1.2 million embarked on cruises from Spanish ports.
CLIA Spain’s Leadership Council will be led by Wanguemert; Emiliano Gonzalez, general manager of MSC Cruises in Spain, as vice chairman; and Alfredo Serrano, as national director. As part of CLIA’s unified structure, along with Spanish cruise lines, all relevant European regional and global association members will have membership on Spain’s Leadership Council. The CLIA Europe secretary general will also take part.
