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September 2, 2026
Santander, September 2, 2026. The President of the Santander Port Authority (APS), César Díaz, announced today the completion of the works for the second phase of the vertical car silo and its “immediate” commissioning to optimize the silo's operation, “while work on the third and final phase continues.”
This means that, with the first and second thirds of the work completed, the multi-story car park currently has 207,200 square meters of surface area and capacity for 9,328 vehicles, which are already being managed by the Port Authority.
The entire silo will become operational, as Díaz explained, “before next summer,” when the infrastructure reaches 322,000 square meters of surface area and a total capacity for 14,600 cars.
For the President of the APS, this is a “very important milestone” that requires “an equally significant investment effort,” undertaken by the APS. “It's almost 70 million euros to provide the port with more operational capacity and increase the efficiency of the vehicle terminal,” concentrating it in an area close to the docks and next to the railway siding. “We are thus also reinforcing our commitment to synchromodality and the promotion of rail transport,” he noted.
The president of the Santander dock also emphasized that “vehicle traffic is strategic for the port, with high added value and especially valuable for boosting the region's economy and employment.” He thus highlighted “the institution's commitment to all actions that contribute to its consolidation as a national and European benchmark.”
The expansion work on the car silo, as well as other prominent projects such as the new Raos 6 dock, the Raos 8 superstructure, or the urban access to the port, is included in the Port Authority's Investment Plan for the 2026-2030 period. A document with a 2030 horizon that, thanks to resources generated by the port administration itself, foresees public-private actions worth 245 million euros.
Car Silo
This facility, which has a surface area of 70,000 square meters on each of the first four floors and 42,000 on the last, will not only increase the capacity of the car terminal but also improve the management of vehicle flows due to its location between the dock and the railway siding.
The work is unique in terms of its typology and construction process, highlighting the choice of lightweight and reusable prefabricated elements to enable simultaneous operation of the terminal, reduce foundation costs, shorten execution times, reduce occupational risks during construction, and recycle materials once their useful life is exhausted.
Car Terminal
It is located in the Central Raos Pier, occupying almost its entirety, with the exception of the central and northern areas of its end. If other adjacent areas, also dedicated to the automotive sector, are added, we are talking about a surface area of almost 800,000 square meters, once the vertical silo works are completed.
Raos 8 and Raos 9 docks have one kilometer of berthing line for ro-ro vessels and car carriers, allowing up to four large vessels to dock simultaneously. They also have four ro-ro ramps dedicated to operations of vessels with their stern ramp. This configuration provides the terminal with capacity and versatility to serve both regular transoceanic lines and those dedicated to Short Sea Shipping (SSS).
The terminal consists of three main areas:
The first is dedicated to ship loading and unloading operations, where the car silo, currently undergoing expansion, stands out.
The second is for concessions granted to logistics and pre-delivery centers for cars.
In the reception and dispatch of vehicles transiting through the port, the role played by rail transport is also fundamental. Thus, the terminal has four railway tracks dedicated to car trains where wagon compositions up to 580 meters long can be operated.
The versatility of the terminal is completed with the presence of a space dedicated to UTI (Intermodal Transport Unit) traffic, a method of cargo presentation compatible with car traffic that complements the automotive sector, as it allows the transport and handling of its parts and components.
