The Port of Santander Presents its Logistics Potential to the Chinese Ambassador in Spain to Promote New Commercial Collaboration Avenues

July 7, 2026

The visit allowed for showcasing the competitive advantages of the Cantabrian dock, with special attention to its strategic role in automobile traffic.

The President of the Port Authority of Santander, César Díaz, emphasized “the importance of this meeting” to strengthen economic relations between the Port and the Chinese market.

Santander, July 7, 2026. The President of the Port Authority of Santander, César Díaz, received this morning at the institution's headquarters the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China in Spain, Yao Jing. The objective, as explained by Díaz, is to “strengthen commercial ties and foster logistics cooperation, thereby strengthening economic relations between the Port of Santander and the Chinese market.”

The diplomat, who showed particular interest in the strategic role of the Santander dock in automobile traffic, visited the main infrastructures dedicated to this cargo and learned about the APS's development plans in this area.

Díaz explained to the Asian country's representative in Spain Santander's strengths, positioning it “as a national and international reference port for vehicle traffic, with top-tier logistics operators, a privileged geographical location, and solid infrastructures capable of hosting new projects.”

He also emphasized “the Port of Santander's commitment to this traffic,” highlighting the investments being made by the APS to increase the efficiency and capacity of the automobile terminal, in what is “strategic” traffic.

These include the expansion of the automobile silo, the improvement of rail connectivity, the Ro-Ro ramp at Raos 7, Raos 9 quay, as well as the heel and ramp for this infrastructure, and the creation of new logistics activity areas such as the curvilinear triangle, which has made 37,000 new square meters available for this traffic, and the Santander Transport City (CITRASA), which will provide another 100,000 square meters.

The Port of Santander “is not only a leader in rolling cargo movement, number of intermodal transport units, and rail-port intermodality rate within the northern Spanish facade,” but, in addition, the APS president added, “it has regular maritime connections for rolling traffic with the United Kingdom and a container terminal, which is among the top ten in the Spanish Port System by traffic volume.”

According to Díaz, these qualities “make us ideal” for establishing new forms of cooperation between the logistics hub offered by Cantabria and the Chinese market. “We are also a hardworking, friendly, and trustworthy partner, and I am sure we can reach mutually beneficial agreements,” he stated.

*Automobile Traffic

The Port of Santander's automobile terminal has grown sustainably over the last 25 years, exceeding nine million vehicles transited through the Cantabrian infrastructure.

In 2025, the volume of vehicles moved through the Port of Santander grew by 5.8%, reaching 336,868 transported units, of which 199,891 were for export (2.4% more than in 2024) and 136,997 for import (11.1% more than in 2024).