Urban Planning, Ecological Transition, Urban Services and Housing

Barcelona is a leading European port in the Mediterranean region and cruise ship activity has followed an upward trend of 7% growth per year on average, leading to a figure of 3.1 million passengers in 2019. A report analyses the social, economic, cultural and environmental aspects of cruise ship traffic at the port, pointing out that without any restrictions or limitations, Barcelona could reach the figure of 900 cruise shops and over 3.5 million passengers a year by 2030.

The document also concludes that the largest number of passengers arrive in the city during the high season, between May and October, accounting for 80% of passengers for the whole year. During this period, the volume of passengers can reach 400,000 people a month and 15,000 a day, rising to 25,000 a day on fifty days of the year.

Over 60% of passengers spend just a few hours in the city, stopping off on their way to another destination, a formula which results in much less income for the city’s economy compared to cruise ships choosing Barcelona as their starting point.

Occupation of public space, waste and other externalities

Other externalities mentioned in the report are:

• Socio-cultural impact: there is an impact on the occupation of public space and the city’s most iconic places, resulting from a very high volume of tourists in a short space of time. In this respect, Ciutat Vella and L’Eixample account for over 50% of tourist beds in the city. The report also points to the danger of significant changes, as in the case of commerce.
• Environmental impact: maritime traffic generates air and water pollution, and causes various types of waste, including harmful types such as batteries.

Different experiences with regulation in Europe

The report has been sent to the rest of the administrations. The experience of the government in the Balearic Islands also provides relevant information after they introduced their own regulations to limit the activity of cruise shops. Other places in Europe which have introduced similar processes are Venice (Italy) and Dubrovnik (Croatia).

The full report is available here.