The Port of Gijon lies on the shores of the Bay of Biscay in the province of Asturias in northwest Spain. It is Spain’s leading international seaport and an important industrial center. With a long history of human habitation, it was an important city for the Roman Empire.

The modern Port of Gijon (called El Musel) is an important exporter of coal and iron from Asturian mines, and it has a busy fishing industry. Other industries include manufacturing of chemicals, iron, and steel and petroleum refining, food processing, and distilling of liquor. Its beautiful beaches make the Port of Gijon a popular summer resort. In 2007, over 274 thousand people called the Port of Gijon home.

While people have lived in the area surrounding the Port of Gijon for thousands of years, its documented history dates to the time of the Romans. Early settlements were village forts with defensive walls, moats, and round stone huts. As the Roman Empire expanded, the Port of Gijon was on Rome’s Via de la Plata Route and a part of the empire.

Those early settlements grew and merged to form Santa Catalina, a center for ancient trade. However, the area was attacked frequently, and growth was limited until the 7th Century and the rule of the Visigoths.

Now named Gijon and thoroughly Christian, it remained safe from the Muslims that attacked much of the rest of Spain. The Port of Gijon was a sleepy, little-known town through several centuries, uninvolved in most of Spain’s political life.

In the early 14th Century, the Port of Gijon was the base for rebellion against the Spanish crown and the scene of a fierce battle. The siege lasted many months and at its end, the town was all but destroyed, and many of its residents lost their lives. Again, it disappeared from the annals of history. Spain’s kings and queens took little notice of the town, and other ports received royal permissions for trade and commerce.

In the early 17th Century, Gijon began to emerge as an important city. Fortifications were constructed, and great palaces arose. The city received permission to trade with the New World in the 18th Century, and the city began to grow in both wealth and political status.

The industrial revolution brought large-scale industries that replaced craft-based enterprises. In the latter 19th Century, the city won a railway link to Madrid, and manufacturing industries making a range of products from beer to tobacco were created as the city economy continued to grow. Unfortunately, in its rush to modernity, the Port of Gijon lost many of its ancient and medieval heritage.

The Port of Gijon continued to thrive into the 20th Century until the Spanish Civil War. Aligning itself with the forces of General Franco, the city paid for its actions with material damage and death. Much its population fled the city during that period.

Since Spain’s constitutional monarchy was restored, the Port of Gijon began to recover with heavy industry and iron and steel manufacturing leading the economic way. It has become the leading Spanish port for the transport of coal, and its population has growth to over 250 thousand. The modern Port of Gijon has a diversified economy and busy international trade.

The Port of Gijon’s El Musel was born in the mid-19th Century. Based on the city’s iron and steel industry and the export of coal, its industrial base grew. With awkward road and rail transportation routes, its role as a port became more important. Projects were undertaken to install modern port facilities and to deepen the harbor. In the 1879, the Society of Fomento de Gij’on was formed to construct and operate wharves and docks. In 1888, the first shipyard and drydocks were created. Today, the Port of Gijon has modern facilities that can handle all types of ocean-going traffic and cargoes.

El Instituto Portuaria de Gijon is an independent agency created to manage, operate, and promote the Port of Gijon.

The Port of Gijon contains several specialized terminals for solid bulk cargoes, including terminals for coal, iron coal and minerals, cement, and cereals. Terminals devoted to liquid bulk cargoes handle asphalt, butane, propane, and gasoline. Terminals specializing in general merchandise include a container terminal, a roll-on/roll-off terminal, and a terminal for iron and steel products. Multi-purpose terminals handle solid bulk, roll-on/roll-off cargoes, talc and general merchandise, and iron and steel products.

The Port of Gijon’s Container Terminal is privately-owned by Barcelona’s Group TCB, and it handled a new high of three million containers in 2006. Located on the Oso Wharf, it has five thousand square meters of covered storage, 40 thousand square meters of open storage, and a dock of 210 meters with alongside depth of 11.5 meters. It includes facilities for refrigerated/frozen cargo and can handle a minimum of 26 containers per hour. It has direct railway connections serving Madrid twice weekly.

The Port of Gijon’s Solid Bulk Terminal, operated by European Bulk Handling Installation (EBHI), handles up to 16 million tons per year with capacity for 100 thousand tons per day. With docks of 920 meters, it can accommodate two ships of 500 thousand tons at one time. The solid bulks terminal operated by OLIGSA (Operador Logistico Integral de Graneles SA) contains an automated part with capacity for one million cubic meters of cargo and rail and road connections to the country’s transportation networks. The Port of Gijon has two terminals specializing in cement cargoes. Other wharves handling solid bulk cargoes contain warehouses of almost 27 thousand square meters with capacity to handle two thousand tons of cargo per hour.

The Wharf Moliner, managed by Ceferino Crossbowmen and Children, handles cereals. With docks of 310 meters with alongside depth of 14 meters, the wharf includes covered storage of ten thousand square meters and capacity to handle 1300 tons per hour.

Several terminals in the Port of Gijon handle liquid bulk cargoes. The Terminal de Repsol Butano SA contains storage for 44.5 thousand cubic meters and direct rail connections as well as a pipeline for loading/unloading cargoes. The Terminal of CLH, handling gasohols, gasolines, and fuel oil and has storage capacity for 120 thousand cubic meters and direct rail access. The AGIP Terminal, handling gasohol and gasolines, has storage capacity for 62.5 thousand cubic meters of cargo and direct rail access. Two Asphalt Terminals can accommodate ships to 500 thousand DWT and can handle 350 thousand tons per hour.

The Port of Gijon’s fishing terminal has docks of 789 meters with alongside depth of 6 meters and dedicated open zones of 18.3 thousand square meters. The terminal also has an ice factory, cold storage warehouses, area for the fish market, and complete support facilities.

The Port of Gijon has several areas that serve passengers and cruises. The Moliner wharf has a berth of 313 meters with alongside depth of 14 meters. Wharf 7 has berth of 326 meters with alongside depth of 12 meters. Peak II has 360 meters of berth with alongside depth of 9 meters. Only four kilometers from downtown, the passenger terminal has easy transportation connections to the city’s cultural, commercial, and gastronomical treats.

The Port of Gijon has joined with the ports of A Coruna, Santander, and Bilbao to form the Green Coast Cruise, a fantastic adventure for tourists that takes them along the Spanish Cantabrian coast to visit a range of sites that include natural, pre-historic, and cultural sights in luxury.

The City of Gijon, located on the shores of the Cantabrian Sea, combines a long seafaring history and cosmopolitan growth with beautiful beaches. Its major historic buildings recall the city’s Roman past and 16th Century Spanish kings.

The city’s historic quarter began on the hill of Santa Catalina, and it includes the old fishing neighborhood of Cimadevilla. This is where the first settlers came, and it is the site of the Elogio del Horizonte (Spanish), a work by Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida. From here, visitors can take in wonderful views of the city, the sea, and Costa Verde.

The streets between the marina and San Lorenzo beach are lined with Roman ruins, big mansions, and fishermen’s ancient abodes. In the Campo Valdes area, visitors will discover the Valdes palace, the 16th Century Tobacco Factory, the Church of San Pedro, and Roman baths.

The Port of Gijon boasts a four-thousand square meter casino hosting restaurants, meeting places, and artwork. While enjoying games of chance, visitors can attend exhibits, conferences, view some great artwork, or have a wonderful evening in a modern nightclub.

The Aquarius of Gijon offers 60 salt- and fresh-water aquariums with plants and animals from all of the world’s seas. With over two thousand cubic meters of water, you can see salmon, eels, penguins, bull sharks, and turtles, just some of the five thousand animals on view at the facility. Children will love the small pools full of starfish, sea cucumbers, and other sea life that they can touch.