MARITIME

COUNTRY REPORT: SPAIN
(Photo: ASTICAN)
The Spanish Maritime Heritage
By Joseph R. Fonseca
With a coastline of 4,964
km and a vast majority of
the country’s population
living along the coast,
Spain’s economy has a direct bearing
on its ocean related activities. The importance
of sun and sand tourism, of the
energy sector – for which oil and gas are
supplied by sea – and the ever-increasing
role of sea trade are the key economic
factors.
Being largely surrounded by water,
Spain is heavily dependent on maritime
transport and international trade as was
evidenced in the middle ages when the
closure of Constantinople by the Ottoman
Turks led to voyages of discovery
for new sea routes for trade.
Today, more than four-fifths of the
imports and not less than two-thirds of
exports pass through its ports. Spain is
regarded as a large merchant marine, as
well as one of the world’s most important
fishing fleets.
General traffic is very heavily concentrated
in relatively few of Spain’s many
ports, most notably in Algeciras (province
of Cádiz), Barcelona, Bilbao, Las
Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tarragona,
and Valencia. Most of the fishing
fleet is concentrated mainly in Galicia
and the Basque Country.
Currently, the network of primary
ports in Spain is state-run, managed by a
public body which coordinates and regulates
the system having considerable operational
autonomy.
No one port stands out above the others
as Spain’s ‘great’ port. Only in terms
of Free Zone storage can any ‘one’ be
considered to have a major share of business.
Ports are, more than ever before, seen
as operational centers capable of generating
technological exchange and fostering
new industrial localization and extensive
development potential.
Shipping & Fishing
Shipping in Spain is hassle free as
the country is well-connected by road,
rail and air besides the vast waterways.
Spain has the advantage of its geographically
strategic location that links
it very convenient to other countries of
the world especially those in Africa and
Europe. A highly vibrant ferry service is
functional connecting the various ports
of the country as well as ports of other
countries. Because of its very dynamic
The shipyard in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Repnaval. SA, belonging to the
group Zamakona Yards in the Canary Islands, is operating a new slipway. The
slipway will double the existing capacity is it can accommodate vessels up to 120
x 20 m beam and 5,500 tons.
Photo: Zamakona Yards Group
coastline with a number of highly proactive
ports, shipping in Spain has now
made relocation easy.
More than 145 Spanish shipping companies
operate from Spain mostly from
Canary Island, Madrid, Barcelona, Vigo,
Bilbao, Cadiz, Valencia, Corunna Gijon
and Algeciras. (The Compañía Transatlántica
Española is known as one of the
first giant shipping companies that was
established 1849.)
The Spanish fishing fleet is made up
of almost 14,400 vessels. It is one of the
biggest in the European Union in terms
of tonnage. Half the fleet, both in terms
of numbers of vessels and tonnage is registered
in Galician ports. Around 1,100
vessels are registered in the Canary Islands.
Spain’s long, narrow continental shelf
is rich in fisheries resources. Spain’s
jurisdictional waters viz. the country’s
Economic Exclusion Zone, are its National
Fishing Grounds. The bulk of the
Spanish fleet fishes in four fishing zones:
the Cantabrian Sea-Northwest, Gulf of
Cadiz, the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean.
Despite the rich fishing waters - according
to the FAO, Spain is Europe’s
second biggest consumer of fish products
(40.5 kilos per person / year, behind
Portugal’s 59.8 kilos) and the world’s
third biggest importer behind Japan and
the United States. It has become clear
50 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • SEPTEMBER 2015