Barcelona expects 3.2 million cruise guests and 830 cruise calls in a strong 2019 cruise season, said Mar Perez, cruise manager.
The numbers are up over 2018, including more homeport calls, a key objective for the Spanish port.
It’s a strategy that Perez said the port will continue with, as it tries to attract more turnaround calls while also hoping to attract the most efficient and greenest cruise ships.
Earlier this year, the AIDAnova made history when she bunkered LNG for the first time in Barcelona.
“We are working in the construction of two new cruise terminals in the Adossat Quay with the most modern facilities and ready to operate the newest cruise ships in the industry,” Perez said.
“Our main challenges are basically working to minimize the environmental impact cruises have in our port and surrounding areas,” she said. “We are studying actions in order to reduce air and water pollution, to optimize waste management and also working together with the city to avoid congestion in key tourist areas.
“Studying the orderbook, we believe in the near future we will have more berth requests and bigger ships,” Perez said. “We are working to increase the number of terminals that can take the big ships.”
The plans include not only taking more and larger ships, but simplifying and streamlining passenger and vehicle flow in the port area on busy days, she said.
