Not a great year for the cruise industry ion the Balearics. | Photo: Majorca Daily Bulletin reporter
Humphrey CarterPalma22/10/2026 15:36
Balearic ports handled 1.96 million cruise passengers between January and September, representing a 7.2 per cent fall compared with the same period last year.
According to figures published by the state port authority Puertos del Estado, these passengers travelled on 640 ships, a 2.4 per cent decrease. In September alone, 327,484 cruise passengers arrived in the region on board 121 cruise ships.
Including scheduled services and cruise ships, total passenger traffic stood at 7.9 million, down 3.9 per cent compared with 2025. Nationwide, passenger traffic totalled nearly 33 million movements up to September, representing a fall of 1.1 per cent compared with the same period last year.
The decline is mainly due to a 2.5 per cent fall in the number of passengers travelling for transport purposes, which totalled just 22.6 million journeys, partially offset by a 2 per cent increase in cruise passengers, who numbered 10.5 million.
Meanwhile, during the same period, the ports of the Balearic Islands recorded freight traffic of 16.5 million tonnes, 1.4 per cent less than last year. General cargo fell by 0.6% in the first nine months of the year, with 11.9 million tonnes handled. Containerised cargo, by contrast, rose by 4.8% in the archipelago, reaching 240,602 tonnes.
Liquid bulk cargo fell by 5.9 per cent to 1.2 million tonnes, whilst solid bulk cargo fell by 8.5 per cent to 230,642 tonnes. Across all the state’s ports of general interest, freight traffic totalled 420 million tonnes, an increase of 1.2 per cent.