MSC Cruises says that record-high hotel prices across Spain are driving a meaningful shift in holiday behaviour, with the cruise giant claiming that three-quarters of its new passengers in the country are coming directly from the hotel market. Fernando Pacheco, Managing Director of MSC Cruceros and Explora Journeys in Spain, made the comments during a recent interview in Formentera, where he also discussed the company’s sustainability work with the Vellmari Foundation on the restoration of posidonia seagrass meadows.
“The value proposition of the product is unbeatable in Spain right now,” said Pacheco. He argued that as hotel and resort costs continue to rise sharply — especially in cities such as Barcelona, Madrid, and coastal destinations like the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands — cruises are increasingly seen as a cost-effective all-inclusive alternative for Spanish holidaymakers.
The timing is significant. Barcelona recorded 26.1 million visitors in 2025, and Spain as a whole welcomed more than 118 million international arrivals that year — both records. The resulting pressure on accommodation has been severe. From 2026, guests staying in hotels in Barcelona now face tourist taxes of between approximately €10 and €15 per night, more than double the previous rate, as the city tries to manage overtourism and rising housing costs. Several regional governments, including Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, have also introduced or raised their own visitor levies. These compounding costs are making a week in a Spanish city or beach resort noticeably more expensive for domestic and European travellers alike.
Pacheco was careful to frame the trend as a transfer of demand rather than a boom in the overall cruise market. MSC Cruises is not planning a sharp rise in passenger volumes this year. “We do not have a growth project in volume in 2026,” he said, explaining that the company completed its main expansion step in 2025 with the inauguration of its dedicated cruise terminal at the Port of Barcelona. Instead, the focus for 2026 is on refining the guest experience and translating last year’s infrastructure investment into smoother, higher-quality operations.
The MSC Terminal at Barcelona‘s Adossat Pier — the first cruise terminal 100% owned by MSC Cruises — opened in April 2025 and has been described by the company as the safest in Europe. The facility holds LEED Gold certification, incorporates solar panels and rainwater collection, and handles around 190 ship calls per year across the MSC Cruises and Explora Journeys fleets. For the summer 2026 season, five MSC vessels — MSC World Europa, MSC Seaview, MSC Seaside, MSC Magnifica, and MSC Orchestra — are operating Mediterranean sailings from Barcelona.
Pacheco also used the interview to highlight how underdeveloped the cruise market still is in Spain relative to comparable European countries. The country currently accounts for around 600,000 Spanish cruise passengers annually, compared with more than two million in Germany and roughly eight million in the United Kingdom. That gap, he suggested, represents a long-term growth runway for the sector — even if MSC is not rushing to fill it all at once.
The company is also taking steps to make booking easier. Since 1 April 2026, MSC Cruises has been offering a reduced deposit of just €50 per person for new reservations, lowering the initial financial commitment for prospective passengers. Meanwhile, Spanish market demand has remained firm enough that MSC has not needed to cut its average selling prices, despite some wider price softening from other cruise lines following geopolitical disruption in the Middle East. The Iran crisis earlier this year stranded the MSC Euribia in the Persian Gulf for seven weeks, leading to the cancellation of two early-May departures from Copenhagen and Kiel. But Pacheco noted that this actually helped shift some European travellers towards Western Mediterranean itineraries departing from Spain, partly offsetting any lost confidence in other regions.
Pacheco also pushed back against criticism of cruising’s environmental and social footprint in Spain, particularly in Barcelona, where anti-tourism sentiment has been growing among local residents. He pointed out that 600,000 Spanish cruise passengers represent a small fraction of the country’s overall travel market, and that the industry’s footprint should be considered proportionately. He added that MSC is investing heavily in sustainability across its fleet, including the use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), advanced water treatment systems, and shore power connections at equipped ports, with a stated goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050. The company says it has already met the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 2030 carbon intensity target — five years ahead of schedule.
On the luxury side, Pacheco noted that Explora Journeys, the premium brand also under his remit in Spain, now operates three ships covering the Western Mediterranean, the Eastern Mediterranean, and Northern Europe. Penetration of luxury cruising in Spain remains limited, but the addition of remote itineraries for 2028 and 2029 — including the Amazon and Alaska — is helping to attract a new category of high-end traveller that had not previously considered a cruise.
For the broader travel industry, the message is pointed. With hotel costs rising, tourist taxes multiplying, and some traditional sun-and-sea destinations becoming increasingly congested, cruise operators are positioning themselves as a coherent and competitive alternative. MSC Cruises may not be chasing volume in 2026, but if accommodation prices across Spain keep climbing, the demand may come to them regardless.
