According to data from Puertos del Estado, the total cargo traffic in Spanish ports of general interest reached 177.1 million tons between January and April 2025, marking a 1.8% decrease compared to the same period last year. The decline was mainly concentrated in liquid bulk goods (58.8 million tons; -3.7%), due to lower traffic in crude oil and fuel oil, which was not offset by notable increases in products such as gasoline, natural gas, and chemicals.
Solid bulk cargo also fell (26.9 million tons; -1.3%), impacted by a drop in cereal traffic, although significant increases were registered in other categories, such as non-metallic minerals, cement, and iron ore.
General cargo, at 91.4 million tons (-0.7%), remained relatively stable: 62.2 million tons were moved in containers (-2.4%) and 29.2 million tons as conventional general cargo (+3.3%). Within this group, in addition to chemicals, there were notable increases in feed and forage. However, there was a strong decline in goods associated with the steel and metallurgy sector.
Passenger traffic on regular routes continued to rise, reaching 6.8 million travelers (+4.2%) between January and April 2025. In April alone, more than 2.3 million embarkations and disembarkations were recorded. Ro-ro traffic also maintained its positive trend, with a total of 24.8 million tons moved, an increase of 2.9% compared to the same period last year.
The external cargo traffic totaled 93.2 million tons between January and April, a decrease of 2.6% compared to the same period the previous year. Imports, which account for 70% of the total, dropped by 1.8%, to 64.8 million tons, due to a decrease in liquid bulk (-4.1%) and solid bulk (-0.5%), while general cargo grew by 2.6%. Exports, on the other hand, fell more sharply (28.4 million tons; -4.3%), driven by a significant decline in liquid bulk (-23.4%), despite strong performance in general cargo, which increased by 6.2% and now represents more than half of total exports.