The Port of Cartagena is an autonomous community in the Murcia Province and Spain’s main naval base in the Mediterranean. With the best harbor on the east coast of Spain, Escombrera Island shelters its outer bay. Throughout history, the Port of Cartagena has been an important center for trade and commerce. However, competition from other Mediterranean ports brought a decline in ocean-going traffic during the 20th Century.

The Port of Cartagena has important smelting works as well as glass and fabric manufacturers. Exports from the Port of Cartagena include olive oil, minerals, dried fruits, and esparto fiber. It is also a naval base with an arsenal and large dockyards. In 2007, over 207 thousand people lived in the city.

Carthaginians founded the Port of Cartagena in 227 BC, calling it Qart Hadast, and it was abase for their expansion into Iberia. It was the capital of their new province. Hannibal waged war on Rome with silver from the mines here. The Port of Cartagena was conquered by the Romans in 209 BC, and they renamed it Carthago Nova. During that era, it was one of the world’s richest cities.

In 1873, the Port of Cartagena’s Spanish Navy turned against the First Spanish Republic, and the Federalist government declared them pirates and asked foreign countries to destroy them.

During the 20th Century Spanish Civil War, the Port of Cartagena was the Republic’s only naval base, and it was the last city to fall in 1939. In the second half of the 20th Century, the Port of Cartagena’s industrial sectors in energy and fertilizers grew rapidly, as did the naval yards.

The Port of Cartagena is Spain’s 6th busiest commercial port, despite its decline in the later 20th Century. It has and is undergoing significant expansion and improvement efforts to provide better services and links to the nation’s road network. In the last few years, the port has built a Container Terminal, General Cargo Terminal, Fruit and Vegetable Terminal, and Border Inspection building. In 2006, plans were begun for a new marina and new terminals for containers, general, and roll-on/roll-off cargo.

The Autoridad Portuaria Cartagena (APC), a state-owned organization, is responsible for managing port services, developing and operating port facilities, overseeing cargo-handling, granting concessions and hiring port services, collecting fees, and reporting on port activities.

The Port of Cartagena contains almost 218 hectares of commercial water surface and 1.7 million square meters of land area, including 521.6 thousand square meters of warehouses. It also operates 4.8 hectares outside the basin area.

Cruise traffic has increased dramatically in the Mediterranean area over the past few years, and the Port of Cartagena is committed to providing outstanding services to its passengers. To this end, it has added a new berth for cruise vessels located in the marina near the city center. The berth accommodates vessels to 300 meters long with 12.5 meters draft, an esplanade of over three thousand square meters, and four ship mooring dolphins.

The Alfonso XII Quay has become a valuable commercial and leisure center for the Port of Cartagena. Providing underground parking, commercial offices, parks, gardens, and restaurants, it is a showcase of the city’s heritage and culture.

The Cartagena Basin contains the Cruise Terminal and the Marina with capacity for 400 recreational vessels, the Yacht Club, and commercial areas. The new Alfonso XII Quay is 400 meters long with alongside depth of 9 meters.

Also in the Cartagena Basin is the Container Terminal at the Santa Lucia Quay. The quay is 385 meters long with alongside depth of 11 meters, and the terminal covers 127 thousand square meters. It includes a roll-on/roll-off ramp for containers and has the capacity to handle 25 containers per hour.

The General Goods Terminal at the San Pedro Dock in the Cartagena Basin contains 405 meters of multi-purpose quay with alongside depth of 11 meters. The terminal covers over 130 thousand square meters and includes refrigerated warehouses with capacity for seven thousand pallets and shed area of six thousand square meters.

The Port of Cartagena’s Escombreras Basin contains the Solid Bulk Terminal at the Principe Felipe and Isaac Peral Quays. The Principe Felipe Sur Quay is 350 meters long with alongside depth of 13.5 meters. It covers over 109 thousand square meters with alongside depth of 13.5 meters that can accommodate vessels of 75 thousand TPM.

With six thousand square meters of closed warehouse and warehouses and tanks of seven thousand square meters for chemical fertilizers, the quay is directly connected to Spain’s railway system. The Principe Felipe Oeste Quay’s berth is 180 meters long with alongside depth of 11.9 meters dedicated to solid and liquid bulk cargoes. The quay covers over seven thousand square meters.

The Port of Cartagena’s Isaac Peral Quay covers 164 thousand square meters, and its wharf is 480 meters long with alongside depth of 13.2 meters. It can accommodate vessels to 60 thousand TPM, and it contains five closed warehouses with capacity for 19.2 thousand square meters of cargo. The Quay also has direct connections to the nation’s rail network.

The Port of Cartagena’s Inflammable Cargo Terminal serves several quays. The Principe Felipe Norte Quay is a multi-purpose quay for solid and liquid bulk cargoes, and it can accommodate vessels to 200 meters long with 12.5 meters draft. The Bastarreche Quay, at 762 meters long with alongside depth of 21 meters, handles supertankers carrying fuel oil and gas.

The Maese Quay is 367 meters long with alongside depth of 10.6 meters. With 12 gas oil taps, it handles all kinds of gas oil, petroleum, and lubricant oil. The Pantalan Quay has two berths, one of them 225 meters long with alongside depth of 14.5 meters and the other 200 meters long with alongside depth of 11.1 meters. These berths serve butane tankers carrying petroleum, methanol, and liquefied petroleum gases.

The Espigon Quay, at 186 meters long with alongside depth of 8.6 meters, serves liquefied petroleum gases. The Sureste Berth is 250 meters long with alongside depth of 14.5 meters for liquid bulk. It also has a new pier with alongside depth of 16 meters for unloading gas. The Methane Berth is 445 meters long with alongside depth of 16 meters.

The Port of Cartagena’s Industrial Area covers 270 thousand square meters, and it includes a 4-hectare terminal for liquid cargoes. The Escombreras Expansion provides 600 thousand square meters to serve industries exporting cargoes.

In 2007, the Port of Cartagena processed over 17 million tons of cargo carried by 1114 vessels, including almost 13 million tons of liquid bulk cargos and more than 33 thousand TEUs of containerized cargo. The Port of Cartagena also served over 21 thousand passengers in 2007.

The Port of Cartagena is proud of its 2000-year history and the legacy it brings to Spain’s history. It has been inhabited at one time by most of the greatest empires of the Mediterranean. It has many archaeological sites and exemplary buildings, complemented by the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. It is a world-class tourist destination and a favorite calling port for cruise ships. Within its municipal boundaries is the holiday resort, La Manga del Mar Menor.

The City of Cartagena (Spanish) reflects the many different cultures that have lived there. Once, it had a reputation as a dirty, polluted port city. But the municipality has worked hard to eradicate both the reputation and its source. Today, the Port of Cartagena is a beautiful place to visit, full of historic, leisure, and romantic locales and adventures.

Archaeological sites within the Port of Cartagena include the Punic rampart built in 227 BC. The Roman Empire left several monuments visitors will want to see, including the newly-restored Roman Theater (and museum), the colonnade, the House of Fortune, the Decumanus, and the Augusteum, and the Torre Ciega. Some of the walls and parts of rooms that made up the 1st Century Roman Amphitheater are still visible under the stands of an abandoned bullring.

Other remains include those of the 13th century Santa Maria la Vieja Cathedral that was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War. Its crypt reveals a decorated floor from a 1st Century Roman house. Near the Roman theater and Cathedral is a Byzantine rampart. Reconstructed in the 13th Century, the Concepcion Castle is now the Center for the Interpretation of the History of Cartagena. Visitors will also enjoy seeing the Municipal Archaeological Museum and the National Museum of Maritime Archaeology.

Visitors will want to take advantage of the Tourist Catamaran that reveals the Port of Cartagena’s defensive system and sometimes stops at the Christmast Fortress lighthouse. A tourist bus also takes visitors on a panoramic route covering the major sights.

The municipal area of the Port of Cartagena includes part of La Manga del Mar Menor, a resort area shared with the nearby town of San Javier. According to the Instituto para la Calidad Turistica Espanola (Institute for Quality Spanish Tourism), the Port of Cartagena has more quality beaches than any other Spanish town, with 10 beautiful beaches waiting for sun- and sea- lovers.

Travelers wishing to visit the Port of Cartagena by sea can find a comprehensive list of scheduled cruises on the Cruise Compete website.