The cruise industry will return to the Port of Malaga in Spain on Tuesday, June 15 with the scheduled arrival of the Mein Schiff 2 from TUI Cruises at 8 a.m. local time.

It’s the first cruise ship to call in the port after 15 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This call by TUI Cruises will be followed by two more, also by the Mein Schiff 2, taking place later in June, and in July.

The port has also confirmed bookings from AIDA Cruises for the AIDAperla to call every two weeks for a total of nine calls, from July to November.

Currently, Spain may receive cruise ship calls as a part of national itineraries only, with the authorization of regional governments.

Andalucía, region where Málaga is located, was the first region in the Spanish Peninsula to approve a specific protocol for cruise ship calls in national itineraries, followed  by Murcia, Comunidad Valenciana, Balearic Islands and Cataluña. 

The President of Málaga Port Authority, Carlos Rubio, said: “This is truly important news, because we have been working for months to reach this moment with the application of all necessary security measures. From now on we hope to gradually recover the number of cruise passengers that we had in the past, who are a source of wealth and employment. A tourism that in the future will continue to grow and contribute to the economy of Málaga”.

More calls expected to be added in the future, the port said, in a statement.