CARRY ON CRUISING: Passengers numbers up in Spain but ships down

THE number of cruise passengers visiting Spanish ports has grown by 7.9 per cent so far this year.

The figures show more cruise passengers travelled in January 2019 than in the same month the year before.

Earlier this year, a total of 575,134 passengers passed through Spain’s ports despite a 5.8 per cent decrease in the number of ships stopping in the country.

While the number of vessels fell from 221 to 208, a boost in travellers visiting Valencia and Bahia de Cadiz brought the overall figure up.  Only Santa Cruz de Tenerife lost visitors, with an annual fall of 2.2 per cent and an overall figure of 134,766 passengers.

Valencia doubled the number of travellers it received in January 2019 compared the January 2018, with 11,713 passengers; an increase of 119 per cent.  Bahia de Cadiz received 53.9 per cent more travellers with a total figure of 21,768. The Balearics also boosted their figures, up 3.3 per cent to 69,564.