Port of Barcelona: New port governance model necessary

A new strategic framework of the port system is essential to continue creating prosperity according to Mercè Conesa, president of the Port of Barcelona.

She asked Puertos del Estado to speed up preparations for a new strategic framework and pointed out the port needs “a new governance model that will allow us to have the same tools as other European ports”.

Speaking at a ceremony celebrating the 150^th anniversary of the port, she emphasised the importance of fast and efficient hinterland connections to respond to the needs of the logistics chain, energy transition and facing up to digital transition as a disruptive element of service improvement.

“Working in consensus with the port community and in harmony with the area in which we are located” was also highlighted.

The port authority is working to create “long overdue” rail and road land accesses and has launched the process for the electrification of wharves, the introduction of renewable energy and the use of environmentally-friendly fuels, as well as working in the field of digitalisation to become a smart port.

Conesa also requested dialogue to overcome the current “political and socially complex situation.

She stated: “We would have liked this event to be held in a context of greater political and social harmony. Because the event that we are commemorating today was precisely the result of dialogue: the birth of the port works committee.”

Currently, the Port of Barcelona handles 25% of Spain’s maritime foreign trade and 74% of Catalonia’s, annually receiving more than 9,000 ships from around the world.