Friday, July 18, 2025
Spain now united not just Italy, but the US, Croatia and France and the Netherlands in applying the chokehold on cruise pax with a new ploy which brings the boot in – Terminal cuts in Barcelona to help relieve lines of overtourism pressure and reduce tension on its fragile coastal infrastrucure as it creaks from the mass tourism. With an increasing number of cities around the world grappling with growing visitor numbers, Spain’s move reflects a broader urgency among leading cruise destinations to protect historic urban centers, preserve environmental quality and reclaim public space by imposing hard restrictions on how many ships can dock, how many tourists they can bring, and for how long they can all stay.
Spain: Passenger Numbers Up – Barcelona Scaled Down
This five-year Barcelona cruise reform is among the harshest in Europe. The city would eliminate two cruise terminals, going from seven to five, with the full demolition of Terminals A, B, and C at the Adossat Wharf. In their stead, an entirely new Terminal C will be constructed, complete with modern infrastructure and shore power capability, providing everything needed for a cruise ship to turn off its engines at berth — significantly reducing both air and noise pollution.
The new terminal, which will be publicly owned, is “expected to serve as many as 7,000 passengers at a time and is custom-built to accommodate homeporting and larger ships.” Construction will be completed by 2028, at which point the line will be fully operational by 2030. Meanwhile, the quay on the site where Terminals A and B once stood will also see a upgrade worth €50million. That will include renovated waiting areas for passengers, and complete connection with electrified power lines. There’s also €90 million being poured into the new Porta d’Europa bridge that will physically link the port the city using walking and cycle paths when it launches in 2027.
In addition to infrastructure, Barcelona is installing real-time digital displays around its tourism hot spots — including the Sagrada Familia and Las Ramblas — to spur tourists to other parts of the city. These changes are happening despite overall cruise passenger arrivals having increased 20% from 2018 to 2024, even after previous decentralization attempts that closed the North Terminal in the city centre. Now Spain is laying out its strategy in unmistakable terms: less access to port, fewer ships, stricter regulation.
Italy: Venice Reimagines the Rules of the Lagoon
Venice led the charge last year when it banned all large cruise ships from the fragile Giudecca Canal and from docking near St. Mark’s Square. The new policy prompted the ships to reroute to the industrial port of Marghera, or to offshore anchorages, altering the experiences of passengers — and of the city itself. But the decision was not only about managing a crowd; it was, more broadly, about safeguarding centuries-old infrastructure, controlling wave erosion and returning the lagoon to residents and local traffic.
Rome backed Venice’s move with a decree modificatory, or amendment, to national law, in what has been described as the country’s official turn away from high-impact tourism. Smaller ships are still allowed, and port options are still in evolution, but the limitation has significantly decreased congestion in Venice’s historic heart. Italy’s approach has been widely praised as a model for how to implement restrictions on surgical tourism without effectively dismantling the industry.
United States: Local Uprisings Transformed Into Policy
Cruise caps in the United States are also playing out city by city, through local organizers. In Key West, Florida, a voter initiative in 2020 aimed to ban ships with more than 1,300 passengers and cap total daily disembarkations. Though state-level preemption laws eventually weakened or partially struck down those restrictions, the city still restricts access at the majority of its three piers, and operators are increasingly forced to follow strict environmental rules.
Farther north, Bar Harbor, Me., became one of the strictest cruise-regulated towns in the country in 2023 when it imposed a daily cruise cap of 1,000 passengers. Mega vessels are out, and there is a great deal of community pride about keeping its small-town feel.
And in 2024, Juneau, Alaska, too, made headlines by forming an official compact with the five main cruise lines that call on the city to limit daily visitors to 16,000 persons on weekdays and 12,000 persons on Saturdays beginning in 2026. The deal followed a record influx of cruise passengers that overwhelmed the city’s infrastructure and pushed local residents’ patience. Monterey, California, on the other hand, ceased accepting cruise passengers altogether by suspending landing operations indefinitely.
Combined, the two cities signal a potent change in how tourism is being governed in the United States, with communities defining the terms by which ships can or cannot proceed inward.
Croatia: Dubrovnik Cuts Ship Numbers to Preserve Its Walls
In the Adriatic jewel of Dubrovnik, local officials have long grappled with the strain of being a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a cruise magnet. At its high point, Dubrovnik hosted more than 1.1 million cruise passengers a year — many crammed onto the tight streets of the Old Town in brief waves that overwhelmed local resources.
In an effort to block organized cruise tours, Croatia introduced a hard cap: no more than two cruise ships can enter port in Dubrovnik in a single day. That option, along with improved scheduling and coordination with the cruise lines, has resulted in a more balanced distribution of tourists throughout the week. Ridership has tapered off, and citizens’ complaints along with it. Dubrovnik’s stranglehold on cruise arrivals is among the strictest in the Mediterranean.
France: The Mediterranean Ports Thicken the Entry Rules
France is joining the battle for control over the cruise industry, and two marquee cities are leading the charge: Cannes and Nice. Cannes will cap the number of big cruise ships (those with more than 1,000 passengers) at one daily and reduce the total daily number of cruise visitors to 6,000, beginning in January 2026. Ships will also need to anchor offshore and ferry guests to shore in smaller ships to ease harbor congestion. The new regulation is designed to maintain the look and feel of the French Riviera.
Meanwhile, Nice is going a step further. Starting in July 2025, no ships with room for more than 900 passengers will be allowed to dock. Local leaders argue that thousands of short-term visitors are no longer tolerable for local infrastructure or local well-being. These French cities are all working to a clear strategy: minimize the strain, maximize the class, and keep tourism in check.
Netherlands: Amsterdam Seals It Off
Amsterdam’s city council has pursued aggressive measures to curb cruise tourism. Under one scenario, the number of ship calls in a year would be capped at 100 by 2026, compared with almost 190 currently. The city also said that cruise ships will be banned from docking in the historic center by 2035. The aim is to move operations to outer zones and persuade cruise lines to use shore power, which will be mandatory from 2027.
This was in response to air pollution, city overcrowding and the general decline of local quality of living. Amsterdam’s tourism rates are rebalancing and a city-centered model of urbanism is returning to residents and culture.
Spain has now united with Italy, the US, Croatia, France, and the Netherlands in a firm chokehold on cruise passenger numbers by cutting Barcelona’s port capacity to protect its coastline and combat overtourism. This coordinated move reflects a growing global push to reclaim city spaces and control the swelling tide of mass cruise tourism.
A Worldwide Re-Calibration of Cruise Tourism
In joining this league of shore-based nations, Spain’s arrival points the way to a different era in globalization, not of expansion but of incorporation. The trend is evident: From the canals of Venice to the piers of Alaska, cities are no longer treating cruise tourism like an endless goldmine. Instead, they are posing tougher questions about quality not just quantity, emissions not just profits, sustainability not just short-term gain.
Barcelona’s terminal reductions and public ownership model may offer a blueprint for how a world-class port can redevelop without destroying its tourism economy. With Italy, the USA, Croatia, France and the Netherlands already taking action, Spain’s move adds force to what is fast becoming a co-ordinated stranglehold on non-viable cruise tourism.
