As a result of Royal Decree 2100, in 1985, the ports of Sagunto and Gandía became part of the management area of the then Autonomous Port of Valencia, currently the Port Authority of Valencia.
The coastline of Valencia, lacking any natural shelter, was a serious obstacle to the start of maritime trade exchanges.
It all began in 1483, when King Ferdinand the Catholic granted Antonio Joan the privilege to build a wooden bridge on the Grao beach, known as the "Pont de Fusta".
From the time of its construction until the 19th century, various projects were carried out to build and improve the facilities, but they were not very successful due to the Turia river and the growth of the beach. However, the port's traffic did not stop growing and in 1679 it obtained the privileges to trade with other kingdoms and with America in 1791.
The growth was so strong that it became established as the sixth maritime province of Spain.
During the 20th century, improvement works continued on the buildings, warehouses and the extension of the quays - with specialised facilities for each type of goods.
These extensions were very important because they led to the emergence of container traffic in recent years which led Valenciaport to maintain its current leading position among the commercial ports of the western Mediterranean.
The management of the port passed through several bodies but with the last granting of the statute of autonomy in 1978, the management was transferred to the Autonomous Port of Valencia which, with the entry into force of the 1992 Ports Act, became known as the Port Authority of Valencia - a name which is still used today.
The Port of Valencia is currently undergoing a new phase of expansion which will enable it to handle container traffic of up to 10 million TEUs and to have state-of-the-art facilities for tourist cruise traffic.
Valencia channels traffic of practically any type of goods from all sectors of the economy.
Its main clients include the following sectors: furniture and wood, textiles, footwear, agriculture, livestock and food, energy, chemicals, automobiles, construction, machinery, etc. It also handles regular passenger traffic with the Balearic Islands and Italy.
The Port of Valencia has two berths capable of handling the largest cruise ships. This terminal is located in the Muelle de Poniente and it has two berthing lines of 395m and 379m attached to the Terminal.
This Maritime Station serves the regular services with the Balearic Islands, offering passengers all the necessary services for their transit and embarkation or disembarkation in the Port of Valencia.
This Passenger Terminal, like the rest of the terminals in the Port of Valencia, complies with all the requirements and specifications of the ISPS Code (Security of Ships and Port Facilities) for international maritime traffic of goods and passengers.
The concession of the port of Sagunto dates back to 1902 when the Sierra Menera Mining Company granted an administrative authorization to build a wharf on the beach, in order to market and load the minerals that came from the mines of Ojos Negros and Setiles in Teruel. However, the roots of maritime trade in this city date back to the time of the Iberian and Roman civilizations.
After a few years in operation and following the approval of a Royal Decree in 1985, the management of the port of Sagunto was taken over by the Port Authority of Valencia -or “Puerto Autónomo de Valencia”, as it was formerly known-.
Since the construction, the port of Sagunto has focused mainly on the commercialization of steel products, and during several years there have been different expansions to meet the increase in traffic of these products. At present, the Port intends to create a Marina, which will become the economic engine.
At the same time, it is also focused on trading with different types of goods and intends to act as a complementary port to Valencia. In addition, seven sidings are currently under construction to improve freight traffic.
Today the port plays an important role in four types of traffic, such as vehicles. The Port of Sagunto has about 50 hectares focused on automobile logistics, and in 2011, the National Association of Vehicle Manufacturers chose the Port of Sagunto as the best port in Spain.
In relation to Liquid Bulk traffic in recent years, to be specific since 2006, this port has become the main entrance of natural gas to the Peninsula and what it intends is to diversify and trade especially with third countries. The third type of traffic of the Port of Sagunto will focus on short sea shipping as it is located in the ideal place for such traffic. And finally, it will continue to focus on the marketing of steel products, as it is currently consolidated as the main steel cluster at national level.
Therefore, this site has been focused on the traffic of steel products, who it is currently characterized by its polyvalence.
Thanks to all this we will find different news about how the improvement of the infrastructure and the improvement of the port traffic in the last years, have achieved that the Port has obtained a very positive evolution in the general merchandise.
And due to the increase in the traffic of steel products, the port authority of Valencia has been forced to improve the maneuvering area of the south dock to improve operational safety, moreover, it is also improving the maritime terminal where it intends to include a dock of 509 meters of maximum length to project a terminal, whose capacity is to provide services to two ships at the same time with general merchandise.
Related to all of the above, thanks to the great increase in goods traffic in the Port of Sagunto, several works are being carried out, such as the improvement of the Valencia-Teruel-Zaragoza railway line.
This bet that began with the agreement in 2017 and whose actions began in 2018, aim to link the Cantabrian corridor with the Mediterranean in order to facilitate such traffic, thus achieving a higher level of export/import activity of the port to the north and all this can be seen reflected in the data showing that traffic began to grow in an upward line. So once all these works are completed, a greater number of goods transported will be available, the competitiveness of cargo services will be increased and travel times will be reduced.
This means a great advantage for the port of Sagunto to position itself as the industrial port of reference in the field of innovation, sustainability and competitiveness. We see it reflected today with the implementation of the main shipping companies that are including in their routes the València-Teruel-Zaragoza route.
Another clear example is the MSC shipping company that launched a rail service dedicated exclusively to reefer (refrigerated) transport between Valencia and Zaragoza.
The construction of the port of Gandia dates back to 1883, when the Royal Order of authorization for the construction of the port was approved.This authorization is granted to the deputy and undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Sinibaldo Gutiérrez, who from his seat would support the construction of the port of Gandia and the Alcoy-Gandia railroad, so in June 1886 works began on what is now known as the port of Gandia.
However, three years later the ownership was transferred to "the Alcoy and Gandia Railway and Harbour Company Limited", a company established in London in 1889, in order to develop the railroad concession together with the concession of the Port of Gandia.
During 1934, the areas of the port were enlarged in such a way that it became the second fruit port in Spain, reaching 250,000 tons.
But this ownership lasted until 1946, that after the Second World War and due to the decrease of the activity of the port, the State declared the Port of Gandia of "general interest", making effective the purchase in October of that same year and in 1961 it became part of the Administrative Commission Group of Ports of Valencia, finally in 1985 the Port Authority of Valencia decided to incorporate the Port of Gandia in its management.
In 1985 important improvements were made to boost the traffic of coils and pulp, wood and agricultural products, in addition to the fact that the port was linked to Alcoy by a railway line, which created an important commercial network in the area.
Recently the Port Authority of Valencia (APV) has ceded some fruit sheds 6, 7 and 8 of the Port of Gandia for the UPV to expand the facilities dedicated to marine research. Since a few years ago, the sheds of the Port of Gandia have a Joint Unit of R+D+i, in this Unit of Technology for Maritime Studies is dedicated to develop plans, projects and actions with the aim of promoting oceanography, the marine environment and the sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture resources.
Lastly, the merger and specialisation of the ports of Gandía and Sagunto have managed to improve the capacities of Valenciaport to make it a port of great importance and of great economic importance in terms of transoceanic relations and the traffic of goods.
For example, the port of Valencia represents around 40% of containers destined for Spanish foreign trade. And more than 60% of containers in the Madrid area are operated by Valenciaport, converted into the first Spanish port in terms of import/export container traffic and the second Spanish port in terms of total traffic.
In conclusion and overall, knowing this part of the history of the port authority of Valencia, and knowing how over the years the different ports of Sagunto and Gandía have been united, we can see the great economic impact that this has on the whole Region of Valencia and Spain.
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