Spanish ports ready for more cruises

The on-going – and unnecessary – row between Southampton and Liverpool has resulted in Britain’s leading cruise port deciding to delay work to create a fifth terminal. There may be similar north-south tensions in Spain, but they haven’t put a stop to progress.
On the Costa del Sol, Malaga this month opens a new building which alongside a berth which can accommodate ships of up to 200 metres in length.
Part of Quay Two’s Palmeral de las Sorpresas (Palm Groove promenade) is a picturesque walkway that incorporates gardens and shaded areas, as well as a children’s play area. The passenger terminal is located just outside the city centre and visitors can walk to the main high street and the cultural and commercial district in five minutes.
The port receives as many as five ships on busy days, and almost 70 have calls and turnarounds at the new terminal in the next few months. Quay One combines 14,000sqm of shopping and leisure space with numerous restaurants and stores along Malaga’s yacht port.
The city – Spain’s fifth largest – has a popular museum celebrating its most famous son, Picasso, and is also a stopping-off port for excursions to the Alhambra in Granada.
On the north Atlantic coast, Bilbao has signed a deal for a new €13.8 million terminal, expected to be in used by 2014, and in addition to the existing facilities for ships drawn to the city by attractions such as the Basque coast and the city’s Guggenheim Museum.
Further afield, the rapidly-growing Australian cruise business has welcomed the decision to allow passenger ships to share a naval base at Garden Island. Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 – the biggest ship to visit Australia – has been the only passenger vessel allowed to use the facilities until now. Celebrity Millennium and Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas will be allowed in for the next two cruise seasons.