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The Port of Barcelona, one of southern Europe’s main transport infrastructures, continues to bring positive results. Over the last year the Catalan harbour unveiled two new container terminals, an investment to consolidate the trend of attracting greater container traffic, as the 8.7% increase shows. In addition, the number of cars transported increased by 9.8%. These figures are to be added to the 12% increase in container exports and 25% growth of car exports through Barcelona’s harbour in 2011. Besides, the port in the capital of Catalonia continues to lead the cruise ship sector in Europe, transporting 2.4 million passengers and almost reaching last year’s record high of 2.6 million cruisers.

The Catalan capital hosts the largest and most modern container terminal of the Mediterranean Sea, a true gate for cargo ships, linking Europe with the Middle East, Northern Africa and Asia. BEST, which stands for Barcelona Europe South Terminal, represents a €515 million investment by Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH). This week it has unveiled the first part of the project: 100 hectares to store containers, 1.5 kilometres of docking space for cargo ships, 98 cranes and a provisional international-width railway connection to compete with northern European harbours. However, the Spanish Government has not started the definitive railway connection yet, despite many promises.