This year an estimated 80'000 Spaniards will embark on a Mediterranean cruise holiday and the figure is expected to grow to 125'000 by next year as the cruise market has finally taken off in Spain. Ports such as Palma, have invested substantial amounts of money over the past few years in improving facilities and services for cruise ships in order to fuel the cruise boom, which was initially sparked by the UK market and then followed by the Germans. However, now the idea of cruising the Mediterranean has rubbed off on the Spanish. Representatives from the Spanish cruise industry have been meeting this week in Malaga and all have agreed that the domestic market offers tremendous growth potential. The seven-day cruise is being aimed at the middle class market and it also appears that the Spanish market is broadening out with consumers realising that the cruise industry is not only focused on the months of July and August and that the season is much longer, until November, in the Mediterranean.
Spanish taking to Med cruises