Málaga was the first port in the Spanish Peninsula to host a cruise ship since the start of the pandemic. TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 2 visited the Port of Malaga on June 15. More calls by other ships have followed in June and July.

“Andalucía, the 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 afterward by Murcia, Comunidad Valenciana, Balearic Islands and Cataluña,” said the Planning Manager for the Port Authority of Málaga, Jesús Peña Martín, earlier in 2021.

“Málaga has implemented all necessary measures to guarantee a safe experience for cruise ships and guests,” he added.

A return to previous figures is expected in 2022. According to Martín, Málaga used to host half a million passengers prior to the current situation.

Current port improvements are mostly related to its Green Port Initiative, he said.

“The port is carrying out Green Port initiative, implementing projects to allow the port to improve its environmental quality. The initiative particularly pursues the following objectives: improving the air quality towards the port environment, reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the port environment through the improvement of the energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy and improving transition spaces between the port and the city,” Martín explained.

“To achieve these goals, different guidelines have been planned and are being carried out such as placing tree barriers in different locations within the port, launching cogeneration facilities using renewable energy and reducing emissions as a result of lower use of fossil fuels, supplying this energy with renewable sources, and increasing the energy efficiency in all the process,” he added.