The Port of Barcelona and the city council of the Catalan capital have today showcased their agreement regarding the reorganization of cruise terminals, one of the sectors that generates the most controversy due to its contribution to the city’s tourist overcrowding. The agreement, formalized through the signing of a protocol, plans to reduce the number of cruise terminals at the Adossat Wharf from seven to five by 2030, demolishing terminals A and B in 2028, while the new Terminal C, designed for homeport cruises and smaller vessels, will become operational that same year. This infrastructure will be publicly owned.
The presentation of the protocol was led by the president of the Port of Barcelona, José Alberto Carbonell, and the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni. Carbonell explained that the agreement updates the pact signed between the port and the Barcelona city council seven years ago, when Ada Colau was mayor. That agreement simply established the need to articulate a new organization of the city’s port spaces. In fact, cruise ships are currently located at the Adossat Wharf, along with a plan to make port traffic more environmentally friendly. Seven years later, the Barcelona City Council and the port have agreed for the first time to reduce the number of terminals, which will lead to a decrease in the infrastructure’s capacity to accommodate docked cruise ships.
Carbonell noted that the process of reducing terminals will be carried out progressively, with a timeline ending in 2030. Thus, next year, the terminal at the Barcelona South Wharf will close, and the current Terminal C will be demolished. In 2028, while terminals A and B are demolished, Terminal C will begin operations. In 2029, a roadway will also be launched to integrate the port and the city, with the urban corridor connecting Plaça de les Drassanes with Marina del Prat Vermell and the Zona Franca becoming operational. By 2030, the new Terminal C will be fully operational, with a maximum capacity of 7,000 passengers.
Prioritizing homeport cruises
Regarding the new Terminal C, which will be fully operational within five years, Carbonell stated that “we will prioritize homeport cruises, not those making stopovers, as we have found that 25% of dockings at the Port of Barcelona are ships with fewer than 1,000 passengers.” The president of the Port of Barcelona recalled that this new cruise terminal, unlike the recently inaugurated MSC terminal or the one under construction by Royal Caribbean, will be publicly owned, meaning it will be open to any operator. The estimated investment for the new infrastructure will be between 35 and 40 million euros.
For his part, the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, thanked the Port of Barcelona for “its commitment and sensitivity in understanding that current economic growth involves sustainability and a reduction in activity.” The mayor emphasized that “this is the first time action has been taken to limit overcrowding caused by cruises, with a tourism policy aimed at better management.”
Collboni acknowledged that reducing the number of cruise terminals is “a difficult decision for the Port of Barcelona, but it must be made.”
Although the mayor has admitted that the effects of this reduction in passenger numbers will not be immediately noticeable, he has described the signing of the protocol with the port as a “major decision, surpassing the 2018 agreement.” According to statistics provided by the city council, over the past seven years, the number of cruise passengers has increased by 20%, while the forecast is that by 2030, in the next five years, the port’s capacity to accommodate cruises could be reduced by 17%.
From the Barcelona City Council, they have positively valued “the port’s efforts to decarbonize its operations and prioritize homeport cruises over port-of-call cruises, which are the ones that generate wealth for the city.”
Protocol Actions
The protocol also includes an ambitious sustainable mobility plan, with three key actions:
