No, Barcelona Hasn’t Banned Cruise Ships

Barcelona closes port to cruise ships: Many of the headlines on social media have been breathless.

But let’s take a deeper breath. While, yes, the city pier called Muelle Barcelona Norte and another small commercial dock will no longer be available for cruise ships to book, Barcelona’s large and best-known port complex  is actually going to be upgraded to accommodate extra ships.

The shift in docks affects only smaller ships from lines including Azamara, Oceania, Regent Seven Seas and Virgin Voyages, whose ships could fit into the smaller piers directly south of the city center that are more convenient to the tourist zone of La Rambla. Just one or two of the smaller ships ever docked at Barcelona Norte port on the same day. Instead, all cruise ships will use the Moll Adossat, where the biggest cruise ships dock, and guests will still be able to take cabs or shuttle buses that take about 20 minutes to reach the tourist areas.

(A note to the ecology lobby behind this change: Why is the steep and busy looping bridge that connects the Adossat port area to the shore so pedestrian and cycling unfriendly? The main advantage of Barcelona Norte is you could walk right into the action.)

Barcelona has become Europe’s busiest cruise stop, attracting 2.5 million passengers a year, according to cruise industry association CLIA. The restrictions are part of changes that have been in progress since a 2018 agreement between city officials and the Port of Barcelona to reduce emissions, noise and crowding in the city center.

The shift is  part of a wider trend by over-touristed European cities, most notably Venice, to limit or relocate cruise ships from their crowded cores. In 2021 Venice approved a ban on large cruise ships in its city center after a multi-year campaign. Small and mid-sized ships are still using the city’s piers, while large ships are using commercial piers out of the city or relocating to Trieste. And Amsterdam has announced plans to relocate its cruise terminal out of town to reduce crowding and air pollution.

In Spain, some cruise lines have shifted some of their stops for Barcelona to the historic city of Tarragona, about an hour’s drive south along the coast. The city recently expanded its cruise terminal to accomodate  multiple ships.Costa Cruises, MSC Cruises, Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Silversea and Windstar have occasionally made it a port “for Barcelona” on itineraries.

In 2026, a lesser-known Barcelona South terminal, where about 70 ships call annually, will also close, concentrating all cruise operations at Adossat, which is getting an investment of more than $283 -million in extra facilities, including installation of shore power to reduce emissions. The city plans to repurpose the port being shuttered in the city center as  45,000 square feet of landscaped public space.

Cruises are not the only kind of travel Barcelona is targeting to combat over-tourism and reduce noise pollution. In 2022, it limited the size of tour groups in the city center to 30 and banned the use of megaphones on tours.

Story by Wallace Immen, Executive Editor, The Cruisington Times

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