The Port of Barcelona's board of directors has granted MSC the concession to build and operate a new cruise terminal at the Adossat Quay. This project will involve an investment of 33 million euros and reaffirms the will of this giant of the cruise business to continue having Barcelona as one of its main home ports in the Mediterranean in the future.
With the collaboration of the Ricardo Bofill architecture studio, MSC will build a new terminal of 11,670 square meters distributed over three levels, which is expected to come into service during 2024. The public concession is for a period of 31 years and allows progress in the agreement signed by the port and the Barcelona City Council to move the cruise terminals as far as possible from the city center and concentrate them all at the Adossat Quay, thus freeing up spaces that can be used for new citizen uses.
In parallel to the construction of the new terminal, MSC commits to operating in Barcelona with a fleet of newer and more sustainable LNG-powered ships. The idea is that once they dock at the Adossat Quay, the cruise ships will connect to the electricity grid, thus eliminating polluting emissions during their stay in port. The electrification of the quays is one of the main priorities of the infrastructure chaired by Mercè Conesa.
According to Conesa, MSC's commitment to Barcelona "will allow the creation of a considerable volume of jobs" and will facilitate the port's performance of its environmental and sustainability strategy.
For his part, the executive president of MSC Cruises, a group based in Geneva (Switzerland), Pierfrancesco Vago, emphasizes that the "new state-of-the-art terminal" will become "another benchmark for the beautiful city of Barcelona" and will increase the economic impact on the Catalan capital, as capacity in the number of boarding operations is gained. Vago recalls that, being a home port, visitors, a good part of them international, stay several days in the city and in its hotels, before or after the cruise, which translates into greater tourist spending.
"Barcelona is not only an important port for our cruise operations, but also for all maritime activities of the MSC Group. This new terminal once again affirms our commitment to Barcelona, Catalonia and all of Spain," concludes the group's president.
International cruises will be able to dock again in Spanish ports starting next June 7, albeit complying with strict health protocols.
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