Барселонский порт: от индустриального центра к туристическому магниту

Seaport in Spain
It is the third largest container port in the country and the ninth largest in Europe, with a trade volume of 3.42 million TEUs in 2018. It is also the cruiser port with most passengers in the Mediterranean. The city has two additional yacht harbors/marinas: Port Olímpic and Port Fòrum Sant Adrià to the north.

The Port Vell area comprises two marinas or yacht harbors, a fishing port, a maritime station for ferries travelling to the Balearic Islands and other destinations in the Mediterranean and other stations or landing areas cruise ships, and it abuts the industrial port. In the central area, it also houses "Maremagnum" (a shopping mall and nightlife complex), a multiplex cinema, the IMAX Port Vell (large format cinema complex), and Europe's largest aquarium, containing 8,000 fish and 11 sharks in 22 basins filled with 6 million litres of sea water. Because it is located in a designated tourist zone, the Maremagnum is the only commercial mall in the city that can open on Sundays and public holidays. Next to the Maremagnum area are the "Golondrines", small ships that take tourists for a visit around the port area and beyond. The Barcelona industrial port is to the south and comprises the Zona Franca, a tariff free industrial park that has developed within the Port of Barcelona, across the flat land of the Llobregat Delta between the city of Barcelona and that of El Prat de Llobregat and the Barcelona International Airport to the south. A good place to view both the industrial and pleasure port is from Montjuïc, and more specifically, from Montjuïc Castle, as well as from the aerial cable car connecting Barceloneta with the Ferry Station and Montjuïc.

In 1978, the Ministry of Public Works declared Bilbao, Huelva and Valencia and Barcelona autonomous ports. It became then known as the Autonomous Port of Barcelona (, lang es) and while remaining a government body, it was able to function as a commercial enterprise subject to private law. Opening the Bosch i Alsina wharf in Port Vell (also known as the Moll de la Fusta) to the public in 1981 marked the start to transform the Northern part of the port. This gained much momentum with the decision in 1986 that Barcelona would host the 1992 Summer Olympics. In the subsequent years, the run down area of empty warehouses, railroad yards, and factories was converted to an attractive harborfront area in a huge urban renewal project. Also neighbouring Barceloneta and its beaches have been transformed to open the city up to the sea. During the Olympics the port hosted up to 11 cruise ships that served as floating hotels. In November 1992, the central body Ports of the State (lang es) was created by the Spanish government which brought the end to the Autonomous Port of Barcelona. Since then the port is operated by Barcelona Port Authority (lang es, , APB). In July 1999, the World Trade Center was opened. Between 2001 and 2008 the port underwent an enlargement that doubled its size by diverting the mouth of the Llobregat River to the south and slightly pushing back the Llobregat Delta Nature Reserve.