The Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife ( es, link=no, 'Puerto de Santa Cruz de Tenerife') in

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz (), is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and capital of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz has a population of 206,593 (2013) within its admi ...

, is used by fishing boats, commercial and passenger ships, and sports. Located on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

, it is managed by the Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, who also manage all commercial and leisure ports of the

Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, also Province of Santa Cruz ( es, link=no, Provincia de Santa Cruz de Tenerife), is a province of Spain, consisting of the western part of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. It consists of abou ...

(

El Hierro El Hierro, nicknamed ''Isla del Meridiano'' (the "Meridian Island"), is the second-smallest and farthest-south and -west of the Canary Islands (an autonomous community of Spain), in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, with a populat ...

La Gomera La Gomera () is one of Spain's Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. With an area of , it is the third smallest of the eight main islands of this archipelago. It belongs to the province of Santa Cruz de Ten ...

La Palma La Palma (, ), also known as ''La isla bonita'' () and officially San Miguel de La Palma, is the most north-westerly island of the Canary Islands, Spain. La Palma has an area of making it the fifth largest of the eight main Canary Islands. Th ...

and

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

islands). Next to this port is the famous building of the

Auditorio de Tenerife The Auditorio de Tenerife "Adán Martín" (commonly referred to as the Auditorio de Tenerife) is an auditorium in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. Designed by architect Santiago Calatrava, it is located on the Avenue of the Constitu ...

. The Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the most important of the Canary Islands ports in terms of passengers, as 23% of passenger transport by sea of the islands is through this port. Apart from hosting interisland ferry connections, the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a staging post of numerous shipping lines, linking it with the main ports in Europe, Africa and America. The Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife stretches from the fishing dock of San Andrés until ''muelle de Hondura'', with an area of about twelve kilometers, this makes the port more extension of the Canary Islands. In 2016, the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife was included among the three major ports in the world for cruise traffic by ''Seatrade Cruise Med''. It shares this consideration with the

Port of Southampton The Port of Southampton is a passenger and cargo port in the central part of the south coast of England. The modern era in the history of the Port of Southampton began when the first dock was inaugurated in 1843. The port has been owned and ...

( UK) and the cruise terminal Kai Tak, the

Port of Hong Kong The Port of Hong Kong (), located by the South China Sea, is a deepwater seaport dominated by trade in containerised manufactured products, and to a lesser extent raw materials and passengers. A key factor in the economic development of Hong ...

( China).

Characteristics

Under Spanish maritime regulation, several ports are bundled together on technical, political and historical reasons under the structure of ''Autoridad Portuaria'' (Port Authority), and full statistics sometimes only refer to Port Authorities, rather than individual ports. However, a brief description of the strengths and weaknesses of the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is included here, based on statistical data published by the Port's Authority: * It has a significant relevance in two categories: Cruise Passengers (#1 of the Canary Islands, 607.000 cruise passengers in 2011, second of Spain, only surpassed by the

Port of Barcelona Managed by Spanish Government The Port of Barcelona ( ca, Port de Barcelona, ; es, Puerto de Barcelona) has a 150-year history and great contemporary commercial importance as one of Europe's major ports in the Mediterranean. It is also Spain's th ...

) and in Fresh Fish caughts (ranking No. 1 in the Canary Islands, although quantitively the latter represents a minor category, only 5.400 Tonnes in 2011). * Due to the importance of interinsular maritime transport, it also holds a dominant position in Passenger Transport (1.750.000 in 2011), followed by the Port of Los Cristianos, located in the south of

and main maritime gateway to the Western Canaries. * Although self-proclaimed as a relevant hub in the Europe-Africa-America maritime freight traffic, transhipment remains as the main weakness of the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. According to recent figures, the Port handled in 2011 a total amount of 330.000 TEUS, being the transit a mere testimonial share of it (0,011% of total cargo). Therefore, the Port has been downgraded (when compared to the nearby

Port of Las Palmas Port of Las Palmas (also called La Luz Port) ( es, Puerto de Las Palmas Puerto de La Luz) is port for fishing, commercial, passenger and sports boats in the city of Las Palmas in the north-east of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. For five cen ...

, in the island of

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that co ...

, and excluded from the TEN-T Trans-European Transport Network (selected by the European Commission-based ''ob quantitative'' criteria, e.g. handling >1% of total European maritime cargo). However, new developments are expected, following the expansion project of the Dársena del Este and the concession for container handling operations extended to OHL. * The Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has the most modern cruise terminal in the region of

Macaronesia Macaronesia (Portuguese: ''Macaronésia,'' Spanish: ''Macaronesia'') is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the North Atlantic, off the coasts of Africa and Europe. Each archipelago is made up of a number of Atlantic oceanic island ...

. It has an area of 9,000 square meters and capacity to serve up to 10,000 cruise passengers. The building integrates several functions including: checking, control, waiting for passengers and luggage and local distribution. It also has parking areas for buses and taxis, and areas of logistics and procurement. It has 50 seats billing; waiting area with 520 seats; cafeteria and phone and internet area, and a VIP room; security agencies; policing; officiates dockers; office for conducting tours of the island of

; toilets and wardrobe staff. The port's facilities include a border inspection post (BIP) approved by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

, which is responsible for inspecting all types of imports from third countries or exports to countries outside the European Economic Area. Some of the world's largest ocean liners like the ''

Queen Mary 2 RMS ''Queen Mary 2'' (also referred to as the ''QM2'') is a British transatlantic ocean liner. She has served as the flagship of Cunard Line since succeeding ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' in 2004. As of 2022, ''Queen Mary 2'' is the only ocean liner ...

'' (2004) and ''

Queen Elizabeth 2 ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' (''QE2'') is a retired British ocean liner converted into a floating hotel. Originally built for the Cunard Line, the ship, named as the second ship named ''Queen Elizabeth'', was operated by Cunard as both a transatlantic ...

'' (also 2004) have stopped in the Port. The proximity of two international airports backs up its position as a base for cruises. On September 26, 1993

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

Dangerous World Tour The Dangerous World Tour was the second world concert tour by American singer Michael Jackson to promote his eighth studio album '' Dangerous.'' The tour was sponsored by Pepsi-Cola. All profits were donated to various charities including Jack ...

stopped in the port of Santa Cruz in front of 45.000 people.

Sisters ports

Port of Shenzhen The Port of Shenzhen is a collective name of a number of ports along parts of the coastline of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China. These ports as a whole forms one of the busiest and fastest growing container ports in the world. The port is h ...

, China.El puerto de Santa Cruz y el de Shenzhen, en China, hermanados
/ref>

References

External links

*
Puertos del Estado

Webcam of the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife
{{Coord, 28, 27, 37, N, 16, 14, 47, W, region:ES-TF_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title

Santa Cruz de Tenerife