Barcelona is planning to reduce the number of cruise passenger arrivals starting in 2027, Catalan News reported.

The initiative is part of a previously announced plan, which will reorganize cruise operations in the Spanish port while decreasing the number of guests and cruise terminals.

According to the Spanish news source, the port’s President José Alberto Carbonell said that the plan is not expected to have an immediate effect on guest operations.

“At the end of next year, we will start demolishing the first maritime station in a process that will finish in 2030, with an investment of around 200 million euros,” he was quoted as saying to public broadcaster TV3.

Barcelona’s ultimate goal is to reduce the number of cruise terminals from the current seven to five, with three of them set for demolition.

The port is also planning to build a new and more modern cruise terminal, which will partially replace the capacity of the ones being closed.

Carbonell told TV3 that the changes are not expected to have a significant impact on the number of tourists visiting Barcelona.

“Cruise ship passengers are only five percent of the overall number of tourists,” he said, mentioning the town’s extensive air connectivity with towns in North America.

Catalan News noted that forecasts point to Barcelona welcoming over four million cruise passengers this year.

The local news source stated that the Spanish port serves as a destination for a wide range of cruises, including itineraries to the Western Mediterranean and the Adriatic.

A recent study by the University of Barcelona concluded that Barcelona welcomed 2.8 million cruise passengers in 2024. The guests were said to have contributed over 705 million euros to the region’s economy, generating nearly 10,000 jobs.

Carbonell previously stated that the new planned cruise terminal will be essential for future cruise operations in Barcelona, as the port focuses on homeporting operations.

He explained that the state-of-the-art facility was designed to host 7,000 guests per day, with a focus on turnaround calls. The facility is expected to open partially in 2028.