The Port of Gijón embraces commercial activities as well as nautical sports, tourism, fishing and shipbuilding, and covers an extensive coastal strip from the present-day marina in the city center (old local port), to the El Musel and Aboño area.
The old city-center port handled shipping activity exclusively until 1907, the year in which the commercial exploitation of El Musel began, mainly with iron ore and coal export. The new port continued to expand with its docks and quays until in the forties it became the main Spanish port in traffic movement.
Curiously, industrial activity in Asturias had in the Port of Gijón its main ally from the beginning (mid-nineteenth century) with solid bulk shipments from the Caudal and Nalón mining basins (in the case of coal), and the Carreño area (in the case of iron ore).
Currently, the Port of Gijón is Spain’s main bulk carrier port and one of the most important of all the Atlantic Arc, thanks mainly to imports of coal and iron ore from countries such as the United States of America, Brazil, Russia, Canada for the steel plants and thermal power stations. Also important are the inbound shipments of liquid bulk, as well as a wide variety outbound shipments including cement and general merchandise, represented mainly by container transport.
One of the main expansions of the port took place between 2005 and 2010 with the construction in El Musel of the Enlargement Project, which, starting from Cape Torres, has allowed 170 hectares of land to be gained and 175 hectares of calm waters, approximately doubling what had been carried out since 1892-1893, while at the same time increasing the draft to more than 23 meters deep.
The evolution of the Port of Gijón has been a constant in recent years as regards its different services, facilities and commercial activities, and its traditional services have seen the addition of fishing, cruise ship traffic, and water sports, while not forgetting shipbuilding (shipyards).
The Port of Gijón is also responsible for the management and operation of the maritime signals in half (eight) of the lighthouses of Asturias: Peñas, Candás, Torres, Tazones, Lastres, Ribadesella, Llanes and San Emeterio.
As a continuation of the above, further information refers to different historical dates and periods to give an idea of its development from its beginnings to the present time: The local port, El Musel, The construction work of the North Seawall and the Ribera docks, the Transatlantic El Musel, Industrial Diversification and capital invested by returned emigrants (“Indianos”), Consolidation of the Industrial Nature of the Port, Eastward Seawall Project and Urban Growth since the mid-twentieth century.