The Port of Barcelona has bid farewell to the last cruise ship to operate at the Barcelona North wharf, located in the World Trade Center, and will transfer all existing cruise activity to the Adossat wharf, an area much further away from the city’s residential areas.
With the departure of Mystic Cruises’ World Navigator, the Port has stopped its operations at Barcelona North, moving around 340 annual cruise ship and ferry calls to the Adossat wharf. Baleària services with the Balearic Islands were already transferred to the Adossat wharf last April.
By closing the Barcelona North wharf to cruise ship and ferry operations, the Port of Barcelona has taken a further step towards fulfilling the commitments it made in 2018 to the City Council to move cruise activity away from urban areas, concentrating them on the Adossat wharf and making them more sustainable.
Today is a historic day because no cruise ships or ferries will be seen at this wharf again, as the Port of Barcelona will be opening this area to the city and making it available to all of our residents next autumn, once the 37th America’s Cup ends
… said Lluís Salvadó, the president of the Port of Barcelona
To remind, a recent study by Transport and Environment (T&E) found that the city of Barcelona had a major pollution phenomenon due to cruise ships, as seen in the graph bellow:
Lluís Salvadó also recalled that “the closure of the Barcelona Nord wharf for cruise operations is a new step in complying with the agreement signed in 2018 with Barcelona City Council to eliminate the negative externalities that this activity can produce for residents. And it is clear proof that the Port of Barcelona respects its commitments.”
Transferring all cruise operations to this area of the port, further away from urban areas, involves investments of over EUR 270 million, of which 152 million correspond to public and 125 million to private investment.
On top of these investments are those already begun by the Port of Barcelona to electrify the Adossat wharf, adding a further EUR 80 million. Electrifying this wharf means that ships will no longer produce emissions while berthed at the port.
As well as reducing emissions and immission from ships, transferring this traffic from the World Trade Center area to the Adossat wharf will allow the Barcelona North wharf to be opened to the public, freeing up 630 metres of quay line and providing the city with more than 13,600 square metres of new public spaces.
