Cruises and urban mobility in Mediterranean Spain

The question

How much do cruise flows weigh on the population and on urban and metropolitan mobility in the main port cities of Mediterranean Spain, and what mobility planning measures have been adopted to mitigate their effects?

The method

Indicator-based analysis of 7 port cities (2018 data from Puertos del Estado and the Observatorio de la Movilidad Metropolitana): ratio of cruise passengers to population, average daily peak, terminal-to-centre distances, estimated daily trips (2.7 per cruise passenger) compared with metropolitan mobility; review of mobility plans (SUMPs, tourist mobility plans) and of the impact of Covid-19 (2019-2020).

What the study finds

5.01 passengersa year per resident in Palma, in 2018In 2018 Palma de Mallorca recorded about five cruise passengers a year per city resident (5.01; 2.33 relative to the metropolitan area), the highest ratio of the seven cities studied; Barcelona's figure was 1.88.

up to 10,000cruise passengers a day at Malaga peaksThe authors warn that daily peaks computed from monthly averages fall short of reality: in Malaga, according to an earlier study, peaks reach about three times the average, up to 10,000 cruise passengers in one day.

2.4 kmfrom terminal to historic centre in MalagaThe cruise terminal lies 2.4 km from the historic centre in Malaga, 3.6 km in Barcelona and 3.7 km in Palma (Google Maps estimates): walkable for active people, according to the authors. Valencia is the farthest case (5.3 km).

1.18%of Palma's daily metropolitan trips, estimatedAssuming 2.7 daily trips per cruise passenger, estimated cruise trips in Palma (26,951 a day) equal about 1.18% of daily metropolitan mobility, where public transport covers only 7.2% of trips; in Barcelona the share drops to 0.35% (35,972 trips) with public transport at 25.1%.

According to the authors, in metropolitan areas with well-developed public transport (Barcelona and, to a lesser extent, Valencia) the effect of cruise passengers on mobility stays limited; in Mallorca it weighs more, owing both to the high share of estimated trips and to the small role of public transport.
All the cities examined have a sustainable urban mobility plan; Barcelona, Tarragona and Valencia have added a tourist mobility plan. The most frequent measure is better pedestrian links between port and historic centre, and Barcelona's plan proposes favouring walking over tour-operator coaches (p. 10).
With the pandemic, cruise passengers in Spain's Mediterranean ports dropped from a peak of 7,187,493 in 2019 to 450,408 in 2020; across Spain as a whole from 10,664,581 to 1,374,241.

Why it matters for ports and cities

It puts forward simple, repeatable indicators (cruise passengers per resident, daily peak, weight of cruise trips in metropolitan mobility) to compare cruise pressure across cities. The analysis suggests that a terminal close to the centre and strong public transport help absorb peaks.

Limitations

Cruise passengers' trips are estimated with a single parameter (2.7 trips a day) and peaks are derived from monthly averages, so they are underestimated; for some ports the data include all passengers, not only cruise passengers. No direct observation of behaviour.

Full reference and source

Grindlay, A. L., Martínez-Hornos, S. (2022). Cruise ships and urban mobility in mediterranean Spain. International Journal of Transport Development and Integration, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 12–24 (WIT Press).

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Summary written by the ODYBOAT Observatory in our own words. Tables and figures belong to the authors.