Barcelona, Feb 21 (IANS): Activity in Spanish ports grew by 3.5 per cent last year, almost matching the record levels of traffic reached before the pandemic began.

According to Spain's national port authority, Puertos del Estado, the country's 46 ports registered 563.3 million ton of goods traffic in 2022. This was just under the record of 564.5 million ton seen in 2019.

Puertos del Estado reported that the Port of Algeciras in southern Spain saw its traffic increased to 108 million ton, a 3-per cent hike compared to 2021, while the Port of Barcelona registered 70 million ton, a 6.9 per cent increase year-on-year, Xinhua news agency reported.

It was a record recovery for Barcelona, which announced on February 14 a historic turnover of 181 million euros ($193 million) in 2022. This represents an increase of 20 per cent compared to 2021, and five per cent more than the year before the pandemic began.

"It's a result that shows that the Port of Barcelona has recovered its volume of business, and it puts us in a privileged position to continue developing our future projects," said Lluis Salvado, President of the Port of Barcelona.

The results were especially strong when viewed "in the context of a convulsive international crisis," Salvado added.

In Spain as a whole, traffic in solid bulk cargo, mainly coal, coke, cereals and flour, grew the most, with a rise of 10.8 per cent compared to 2021. Meanwhile, traffic in liquid bulk cargo, natural gas, gasoline and crude oil grew by 6.9 per cent.