• 3 min de lectura
• 3 min de lectura
The Port of Algeciras moved over 9 million tons in July, 5.2% more than in the same month last year, traffic especially boosted by the growth in liquid bulk discharge, which, with over 3 million tons, grew by more than 19%. Based on these figures, the total accumulated traffic in the first seven months of the year exceeded 59 million tons (-0.6%).
Of that figure, 16.6 million correspond to liquid bulk (+1.1%), reversing the decreasing trend that this type of merchandise had maintained since the series of storms.
Similarly, fuel supply to ships or bunkering closed July positively thanks to anchorage activity, leaving the volume of refuelings since January at 1.7 million tons (-0.1%).
General cargo, with 38.2 million tons (-2.2%), and container traffic, with 2,760,325 TEU (+1.1%), are other figures for the period.
Strait crossings from Algeciras and Tarifa totaled 3,186,538 passengers (-2.7%) and 698,893 vehicles (-2.9%), while ro-ro movement with import/export goods between the European Union and North Africa accumulated 329,132 trucks, 1% more than last year.
The Port of Tarifa, despite limitations due to not having direct access, accumulated 8% and 18% more passengers and vehicles, respectively, embarked on the line with the Port of Tangier Ville, the only one connecting the Moroccan city with Europe.
This performance since the beginning of the year is being replicated this summer in both the outbound and return legs of Operation Strait Crossing (OPE), with the Port of Tarifa positioned as the one growing the most in absolute terms, becoming the second preferred option for passengers to cross the Strait, after the Algeciras-Tangier Med line.
Given this growth, the President of the Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA), Gerardo Landaluce, based on data from the first half of 2026, insisted on the urgent need for the competent administration to "execute as soon as possible the project to duplicate National 340 between Algeciras and Tarifa, as well as direct access to the Port of Tarifa, thus guaranteeing road accessibility to a port that is the third in the Peninsula in passenger traffic after Algeciras and Barcelona, and the fourth in vehicle embarkation."
Landaluce also recalled that this continuous flow of passengers and vehicles throughout the year will be reinforced in 2027 with the entry into service, by Balearia, of what will be the first intercontinental green maritime line.
This is an investment by the Spanish shipping company of nearly USD 200 million that will operate on the Tarifa-Tangier Ville line with two electric fast ferries currently under construction at the Armón shipyards in Gijón. To this must be added the necessary improvement in accessibility that the area will require for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
