Managed by

Spanish Government gl, Goberno de España eu, Espainiako Gobernua , image = , caption = Logo of the Government of Spain , headerstyle = background-color: #efefef , label1 = Role , data1 = Executive power , label2 = Established , d ...

The Port of Barcelona ( ca, Port de Barcelona, ; es, Puerto de Barcelona) has a 150-year history and great contemporary commercial importance as one of Europe's major ports in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

. It is also

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

's third and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

's ninth largest

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

port, with a trade volume of 3.42 million TEUs in 2018. The port is managed by the Port Authority of Barcelona. Its are divided into three zones: Port Vell (the Old Port), the commercial/industrial port, and the logistics port (Barcelona Free Port). This is not the only port in Barcelona, as there are also two additional yacht harbors/marinas: Port Olímpic and Port Fòrum Sant Adrià to the north.

Overview

The Port Vell area comprises two

marinas A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ship ...

or yacht harbors, a fishing port, a maritime station for ferries travelling to the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

and other destinations in the

and other stations or landing areas cruise ships, and it abuts the industrial port. In the central area, it also houses "Maremagnum" (a shopping mall and nightlife complex), a multiplex cinema, the

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme ...

Port Vell (large-format cinema complex), and Europe's largest

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

, containing 8,000 fish and 11 sharks in 22 basins filled with 6 million litres of sea water. Because it is located in a designated tourist zone, the Maremagnum is the only commercial mall in the city that can open on Sundays and public holidays. Next to the Maremagnum area are the "Golondrines", small ships that take tourists for a visit around the port area and beyond. The Barcelona industrial port is to the south and comprises the Zona Franca, a tariff-free industrial park that has developed within the Port of Barcelona, across the flat land of the

Llobregat Delta The Llobregat Delta ( ca, Delta del Llobregat) is the delta of the Llobregat river, located near the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, northeastern Spain. The current delta has been altered by farming, urban development, industrialisation and transp ...

between the city of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and that of

El Prat de Llobregat El Prat de Llobregat (), commonly known as El Prat , is a municipality of Spain located in the ''comarca'' of Baix Llobregat in Catalonia. The Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport largely lies within the municipal limits. It is part of ...

and the

Barcelona International Airport Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

to the south. A good place to view both the industrial and pleasure port is from

Montjuïc Montjuïc () is a hill in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Etymology Montjuïc translates to "Jewish Mountain" from medieval Latin and Catalan, and remains of a medieval Jewish cemetery have been found there. Some sources suggest that Montjuïc ...

, and more specifically, from Montjuïc Castle, as well as from the aerial cable car connecting Barceloneta with the Ferry Station and Montjuïc.

Information

In common with much of

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

, the older traditional industries in

, such as

textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

, declined in the face of foreign competition. The surviving companies closed their factories in the city or along the rivers, leaving industrial wastelands or abandoned workers' colonies. In many cases within

, these industries moved to the Zona Franca ( ca, Polígon Industrial de la Zona Franca). The

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

zone is located within the port area, not far away from downtown

, and is easy to access. It is away from the

and connected via highway and railway. Port of Barcelona at Night

Business investors here rent offices or

bonded warehouse A bonded warehouse, or bond, is a building or other secured area in which dutiable goods may be stored, manipulated, or undergo manufacturing operations without payment of duty. It may be managed by the state or by private enterprise. In the ...

s. They can also elect to purchase land to erect their own buildings. The free trade zone offers a series of services. It is divided into a comprehensive service area, truck/lorry area, reception area, and sports facilities area. It has a

customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

duties service, bonded warehousing service, advanced telecommunication and computer system, security system, combined multiple transport system, and so on. On 17 January 1977, a landing craft being used as a liberty boat by and , was run over by a freighter. The Mike8 boat capsized and came to rest against the fleet landing pier. Crew-members from both vessels were on hand to assist with rescue operations. There were over one hundred sailors and marines on board the landing craft. 49 sailors and marines were killed. A memorial is erected at the landing pier in memory.

History

In 1978, the Ministry of Public Works declared

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

Huelva Huelva (, ) is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is between two short rias though has an outlying spur including nature reserve on the Gulf of Cádiz coast. The ria ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

and Barcelona autonomous ports. It became then known as the ''Autonomous Port of Barcelona'' ( ca, Port Autònom de Barcelona, es, Puerto Autónomo de Barcelona) and while remaining a government body, it was able to function as a commercial enterprise subject to private law. Opening the Bosch i Alsina wharf in Port Vell (also known as the Moll de la Fusta) to the public in 1981 marked the start to transform the Northern part of the port. This gained much momentum with the decision in 1986 that Barcelona would host the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

. In the subsequent years, the run-down area of empty warehouses, railroad yards, and factories was converted to an attractive harborfront area in a huge

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

project. Also neighbouring Barceloneta and its beaches have been transformed to open the city up to the sea. During the Olympics the port hosted up to 11 cruise ships that served as floating hotels. In November 1992, the central body Ports of the State ( es, Puertos del Estado) was created by the Spanish government which brought the end to the ''Autonomous Port of Barcelona''. Since then the port is operated by Barcelona Port Authority ( es, Autoridad Portuaria de Barcelona, ca, Autoritat Portuària de Barcelona, APB). The ''Logistics Activity Zone'' ( ca, Zona d'Activitats Logístiques, es, Zona de Actividades Logísticas, ZAL) is a multimodal transport centre that was set up in 1993 with an initial area of 68

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre i ...

s in the first phase. The second phase then saw an extension of 143 hectares into

. In July 1999, the World Trade Center was opened. Between 2001 and 2008 the port underwent an enlargement that doubled its size by diverting the mouth of the

Llobregat The Llobregat () is the second longest river in Catalonia, Spain, after the Ter. It flows into the Mediterranean south of the city of Barcelona. Its name could have originated in an ancient Latin word meaning 'dark', 'sorrowful' or 'muddy', or ...

River to the south and slightly pushing back the Llobregat Delta Nature Reserve.

Passenger ferries

The three passenger terminals ''Terminal Drassanes'', ''Terminal Ferry Barcelona'' and ''Grimaldi Terminal Barcelona'' are located in Port Vell. While Baleària and

Trasmediterránea Trasmediterránea operates passengers and cargo ferries between mainland Spain and the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, and northern Africa's Spanish territories. Since 2017 the majority of the company belongs to Naviera Armas. History Th ...

operate connections to the

, the companies

Grimaldi Lines The Grimaldi Group is a private shipping company owned by the Grimaldi family (Emanuele Grimaldand based in Naples, Italy. Grimaldi operates a large fleet of ro-ro, ro-ro/multipurpose, con-ro multipurpose, PCTC (Pure Car and Truck Carrier), r ...

and

Grandi Navi Veloci Grandi Navi Veloci (''GNV'') is an Italian shipping company, based in Genoa, that operates ferry, ferries between mainland Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, France, Albania, Morocco and Tunisia. It was established by Aldo Grimaldi in 1992. History GN ...

serve destinations in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

Accidents and incidents

* On 31 October 2018, a 8:00am local time, the

(GNV) line ferry ''Excellent'' crashed into the Port of Barcelona after a gust of wind drove it into the cargo pier, smashing into a

gantry crane A gantry crane is a crane built atop a gantry, which is a structure used to straddle an object or workspace. They can range from enormous "full" gantry cranes, capable of lifting some of the heaviest loads in the world, to small shop cranes, us ...

, which tipped over onto containers holding flammable chemicals, which caught fire, causing toxic smoke, and setting the pier ablaze. The ''Excellent'' had been trying to dock, but was prevented from doing so due to bad weather.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control

Ports and harbours of Catalonia Economy of Barcelona Buildings and structures in Barcelona Transport in Barcelona Tourist attractions in Barcelona