Almeria Port Braces for Record 700,000 Moroccan Travelers in Summer Transit Operation

"Our expectations for the starting Marhaba Operation are quite good. We hope to be around 700,000 passengers, thus exceeding the 2022 traffic and even the pre-pandemic summer when a passage of 580,000 travelers was recorded for the outward and return phases," said Rosario Soto, the president of the Port Authority of Almería (APA).

The ship Las Palmas de Gran Canaria of the shipping company Trasmediterránea left the port of Almería bound for Melilla on June 15, the launch date of the operation during which around 52 weekly departures are planned. The Baleària and GNV companies, which are also participating in the Operation, will make 13 weekly departures to Melilla and Nador where 37 weekly departures are announced, the APA specifies.

The port of Almería has made direct investments of more than 210,000 euros to improve its facilities. They were notably used for the installation of tents, the replacement of luggage trolleys, the improvement of the vehicle management service at embarkation and disembarkation. During the outward phase of the Marhaba Operation in 2022, 239,976 people arrived at the port of Almeria.

"With this investment, we intend to strengthen the quality of service we offer during the Marhaba Operation to continue to be a reference. The port of Almería is the second in Spain, after Algeciras, in terms of passenger departures and we will continue to be at the forefront, since 60% of the Port Authority’s revenues come from the Marhaba Operation and it is these revenues that allow us to invest in other actions," adds Rosario Soto.