Morocco was Spain’s third-largest external trading partner through its ports in 2025, with 26.3 million tonnes of goods exchanged between the two countries. The figure comes from the 2025 statistical yearbook published by Puertos del Estado, the Spanish public body that coordinates the country’s general-interest ports. Spain has 46 such ports managed by 28 port authorities.
The United States ranked first, with 42.6 million tonnes, followed by Brazil with 28 million tonnes.
Morocco was the only country among Spain’s 10 biggest external trading partners where Spanish exports were higher than imports. Spain sent 15.6 million tonnes of goods to Morocco and received 10.7 million tonnes.
North Africa was Spain’s second-largest regional trading area, with 90.3 million tonnes, equal to 16.7% of total port traffic. The European Union ranked first with 196 million tonnes, or 36.3%, followed by North America with 63.1 million tonnes, or 11.7%.
Traffic between Spanish ports accounted for another 103.8 million tonnes, or 19.2% of the total.
Spain’s port system handled 556.2 million tonnes of goods in 2025. The figure was 0.3% lower than in 2024. Puertos del Estado linked the fall to global economic and geopolitical instability.
Container traffic moved in the opposite direction. Spanish ports handled 18.62 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up 2.8% from 2024.
Transshipment accounted for 51.6% of those containers. These are containers moved from one ship to another without entering or leaving Spanish territory.
Passenger traffic also reached a record 42.49 million people, an increase of 4%.
Algeciras remained Spain’s busiest port by total cargo, handling 100.69 million tonnes, or 18.1% of the national total. Its traffic fell 3.3% from 104.13 million tonnes in 2024. It was also the port’s lowest annual volume since 2016.
Valencia ranked second with 80.69 million tonnes, down 0.7%. Barcelona followed with 69.45 million tonnes, down 0.4%. Las Palmas handled 36.51 million tonnes, up 14.9%, marking its second straight year of growth.
Valencia led Spain in container traffic, handling 5.66 million TEUs, up 3.4%. It was the port’s highest annual container volume since 2016.
Algeciras handled 4.74 million TEUs, while Barcelona handled 3.73 million.
The two leading container ports have different business models. Transshipment made up 86.2% of containers handled at Algeciras, compared with 45.1% at Valencia.
Passenger growth was mainly driven by cruise traffic. Spain’s ports handled 14.1 million cruise passengers in 2025, up 9.9%.
Regular ferry and other scheduled services carried the remaining 28.4 million passengers, meaning about two out of every three passengers travelled on regular services.
The Balearic Islands handled the largest number of passengers, with 9.92 million. Santa Cruz de Tenerife followed with 7.45 million.
Algeciras recorded 6.35 million passengers, up 6.7%. The figure includes traffic through Tarifa and La Línea.
Barcelona received nearly four million cruise passengers, an increase of 9.4%.
Crude oil was the largest category of goods handled by Spanish ports, with 60.8 million tonnes, or 11.2% of total cargo. Chemical products followed with 51.3 million tonnes. Empty container weight, known as container tare, accounted for 38.5 million tonnes.
Ro-ro ships, which carry vehicles and other wheeled cargo, made 80,061 port calls. They represented 47.6% of all vessel movements and 33.7% of total gross tonnage.
Cruise ships made 5,288 port calls, or 3.1% of all movements. They accounted for 14.4% of gross tonnage because they are much larger on average.
Spain’s 46 general-interest ports have almost 395,000 metres of quay space and around 100 million square metres of land used for storage and port operations.
The port authorities also manage 2,145 navigation aids, including 204 main lighthouses and lights.
Maritime transport plays a major role in Spain’s foreign trade. Data from the Spanish Tax Agency shows that ships carry nearly 71% of the country’s imports and 52% of its exports.
The latest figures point to continued growth in 2026. Provisional data shows that Spanish ports handled 373 million tonnes of cargo in the first eight months of the year, up 1.1% from the same period in 2025.
