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ARCHIVED - No cruise ships on the horizon for Cartagena
A pilot scheme is underway in the Canary Islands but there will no cruise ships in the port for months to come
The whole tourism sector has been absolutely flattened by coronavirus and here in the Region of Murcia, the port city of Cartagena has been very quiet without the normal bustle of thousands of foreign tourists pouring into the centre of the city when cruise ships dock.
Millions of euros have been spent over the years investing into building a cruise ship tourism industry in the port in order to create work and long-term business opportunities, but all this ground to a halt last year when the Spanish Government decided to prohibit cruise ships from docking in Spanish ports due to the growing spread of coronavirus.
Local businesses have certainly noticed the lack of money flowing into their tills, to say nothing of the loss of work for tour guides and those working in museums and tourist attractions.
At the moment, there are no cruise ships visiting the port for the remainder of the year and the Ministry of Development and Foreign Health has not authorized the docking of any cruise ships in Cartagena for next year.
The only ports in Spain currently permitted to dock cruise ships are those in the Canary Islands, and last week German operator TUI operated its first cruise around the islands since the covid pandemic forced cruise ships to stop sailing.
This is a pilot scheme and is only possible due to the “safe tourism corridor” opened between the Canary Islands and Germany.
Sadly, the UK had also agreed a safe travel corridor just a week before the decision was taken to once again lock down in England and ban foreign travel for non-essential reasons, but once the lockdown is lifted, holidaymakers will be able to safely travel to the Canaries for a spot of winter sun.
President of the Port Authority in Cartagena, Yolanda Muñoz, said that Cartagena will request authorization for cruises to resume in Cartagena , “however, it will be impossible for this to be done before 2021,” she said this week.