The Port of Algeciras lost the fifth position it held in Europe in port maritime connectivity in the first quarter of 2026 and moves to sixth place, according to the analysis of the attached data from the UNCTAD’s Port Liner Shipping Connectivity Index (PLSCI). The shift ends a sequence of stability that had persisted in the quarterly series since the quarter that began in July 2021. Since then, Algeciras had managed to remain continuously among the five best connected European hubs of regular container shipping networks.
The loss of this position has not occurred abruptly. UNCTAD data shows a gradual convergence process between both port facilities that has accelerated over the past year. In the first quarter of 2024, Algeciras was ahead of Bremerhaven by more than 105 points (535.34 compared to 430.09). That difference was reduced quarter by quarter: 72 points in the first quarter of 2025, barely 20 in the third, and only 4.85 in the fourth. At the start of 2026, Bremerhaven has completed the overtaking with a lead of 5.66 points. The German port has been, in fact, one of the ports with the most connectivity growth among the fifty best in the world in the last year, with a growth of 10.3%.
The behavior of the main European ports at the beginning of 2026 also indicates a partial reordering. Rotterdam remains the number one European port by connectivity, with 951.95 points, followed by Antwerp with 896.94 and Hamburg with 682.86. Valencia continues as the first Spanish port and fourth in Europe, with 569.61 points. Bremerhaven rises to fifth place with 518.83 and Algeciras is sixth with 513.17. Barcelona appears seventh with 471.62. The European picture shows that Spain maintains two ports among the top six and three among the top seven on the continent.
Valencia remains the fourth European port with 569.61 points, although it also records a significant year-on-year drop of 6.6%, down from the 610 points it reached a year earlier. It is followed by Bremerhaven (518.83) and Algeciras (513.17). Barcelona, the seventh European port with 471.62 points, shows the most moderate decline among the three major Spanish ports, with a decrease of 1.1%. The top ten positions are completed by Le Havre (447.66), Genoa (432.07) and Piraeus (431.57). The latter suffers the largest decline among the main ports on the continent, with a drop of 9.7% that places it far from the 494.28 points it held in the third quarter of 2021.
In the mid-ranking of European ports, notable movements occur. Bremerhaven leads the rises among the large ports with a growth of 10.3%. Felixstowe advances by 23.8% to 338.66 points. Southampton rises by 7.1% and La Spezia grows by 11.2% to 302.62. Among smaller ports, Aarhus rises by 34.6%, Gothenburg by 30.2%, and Trieste by 27.7%. On the decline side, in addition to Piraeus, Constanta loses 16.3%, London Gateway falls 12.2% while maintaining the eleventh position, and Sines drops 9.2% to 238.43 points.
Among Spanish ports, the most striking evolution corresponds to Bilbao, which with 147.13 points experiences a year-on-year growth of 56.7%, rising from the 93.87 points of the first quarter of 2025 to become the fifth Spanish port by connectivity. Las Palmas also records an increase of 38.3%, reaching 298 points that place it as the fourth national port and sixteenth in Europe. In the last two quarters, the Gran Canaria port has experienced a qualitative leap that brings it closer to the group of 300 points, a threshold it had not reached before. Vigo grows by 13% to 128.69, and Gijón rises by 73.1%, although from more modest absolute levels (from 32.44 to 56.16). On the opposite side, Cádiz loses 13.9%, Ferrol 28.1% and Marín 42.5%. Málaga, with 134.79 points, has more than tripled its index compared to 40.80 in mid-2021, although in the last year it records a slight decline of 4.9%.
One of the most significant movements in the new comparative framework occurs not within Europe, but in its immediate competitive environment. The analysis of the attached series confirms that Tanger Med surpasses Valencia for the first time in port maritime connectivity. In the first quarter of 2026, the Moroccan complex records 570.93 points, compared to Valencia's 569.61. The difference is minimal, at 1.32 points, but it carries significant symbolic weight as it had not occurred in any previous quarter of the examined series.
If we bring the comparison to the Strait of Gibraltar, the Moroccan port exceeds the port of Algeciras by nearly 58 points. The distance between the two ports has widened in recent quarters: in the fourth quarter of 2024, Algeciras briefly surpassed Tanger Med (551.79 compared to 543.53), but since then the Moroccan infrastructure has opened a gap of around 60 points. Globally, Tanger Med ranks 29th, one place ahead of Valencia (30) and nine above Algeciras (38).
This surpassing of both Spanish ports aligns with the recent evolution of the Moroccan port. Tanger Med closed 2025 with 11,106,164 TEUs, an increase of 8.4% compared to the previous year, and the authority of the complex attributed part of this growth to the commissioning of the latest expansion of the TC4 terminal operated by APM Terminals. The enclave thus maintains an expansive trajectory in capacity and containerized activity in the Strait.
The comparison with Valencia helps to better understand the scope of the change. The Port Authority of Valencia reported that Valenciaport closed 2025 with 5.66 million TEUs, a 3.41% increase and a new historical maximum for the Valencian facility. That is, Valencia continues to grow in traffic and retains the first Spanish position and the fourth European position in connectivity, but in this latest quarterly measurement, it falls slightly below Tanger Med in the UNCTAD index.
In the case of Algeciras, the contrast between connectivity and traffic is also revealing. The Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras reported that the port closed 2025 with 4.74 million TEUs, a 0.5% increase, within a fiscal year in which import and export containers grew while transshipment registered a slight decline. This nuance is relevant because port connectivity is closely linked to the density of services, stops, and direct links, and in a hub port like Algeciras, the evolution of transshipment has a direct influence on that relative position.
The rise of Tanger Med introduces an additional element of competition in the Strait and among Spanish ports. The Moroccan complex does not compete within the European framework, but in the immediate logistical space of the major East-West traffics, in transshipment, and in attracting stops from maritime alliances. Surpassing Valencia in connectivity for the first time confirms the acceleration of its trajectory and adds pressure to Spanish ports operating in the western Mediterranean and in the Strait area.
In the global ranking, Shanghai leads with 2,420 points, followed by Ningbo (2,087.66), Singapore (1,874.42), Busan (1,657.92), and Qingdao (1,432.23). Chinese ports dominate the top positions with sustained growth: Nansha rises by 7.3%, Qingdao by 5.9%, and Shekou by 5.1%. Southeast Asia shows a similar dynamic, with Haiphong (+7.9%), Ho Chi Minh (+4.1%), and Vung Tau (+7.9%) confirming Vietnam’s rise as a maritime connectivity power. Jakarta grows by 8.1% and Ambarli (Istanbul) by 8.2%. In the Middle East, Khalifa Port (Abu Dhabi) stars the biggest increase among the fifty best in the world, with a rise of 20%, while Jebel Ali (Dubai) falls by 7%. On the side of global declines among the major ports, alongside Piraeus (-9.7%), are Jebel Ali (-7%), Hong Kong (-4.1%), and Tanjung Pelepas (-4.4%).
In the Liner Shipping Connectivity Index by countries — which measures the aggregate connectivity of each state’s entire port network — Spain retains the first European position with 419.34 points, ahead of the United Kingdom (394), the Netherlands (380.96), Belgium (342.24), and Germany (320.72). The Spanish advantage over the second placed has narrowed, dropping from 36.85 points a year ago to 25.34 in the first quarter of 2026, as the Spanish index falls by 2.1% while the British rises by 0.7%. Italy ranks sixth with 288.27 points and France seventh with 267.28. Portugal, the tenth European country with 184 points, records the largest year-on-year increase among the major economies of the continent (+3.5%). Greece accumulates the steepest decline (-7.8%), in line with the fall of Piraeus. Among Nordic and Baltic countries, Denmark (+8.1%) and Sweden (+6.4%) show the most significant improvements.
That Spanish leadership is supported by a more diversified structure than that of other European countries. Valencia, Algeciras, and Barcelona bear much of the country's weight in liner connectivity, while ports like Las Palmas provide a complementary role as an Atlantic link and regional transshipment. The national data, therefore, cushions the strictly local reading of Algeciras' decline and places the issue on a broader scale: Spain retains the first European position by countries, although two of its major hubs lose a spot in the port ranking.
Globally, China leads with 1,322.63 points and a growth of 3.9%. It is followed by South Korea (635.72), Singapore (629.67), Malaysia (516.41), the United States (510.76), Vietnam (478.82), and Japan (421.91). Spain ranks eighth, one position less than a year ago, when it was seventh with 428.14 points. The loss of one position is due to Japan's rise, which with 421.91 points has slightly surpassed Spain. Vietnam achieves the highest growth among the top economies in the ranking (+9%), confirming its upward trajectory in recent years: since 2021, its index has grown by 36.9%. Egypt (+9%), Indonesia (+5.3%), and Colombia (+6.5%) also show significant advances. Morocco, Spain's main competing neighbor in the Strait, ranks twenty-third globally with 263.16 points, 2% more than a year ago and 20.4% above its 2021 levels.
The new connectivity map leaves, in summary, three main messages. First, Algeciras exits the European top 5 after maintaining it since the quarter that began in July 2021. Second, Tanger Med surpasses Valencia for the first time in the quarterly PLSCI series. And third, that Spain, despite these internal and regional movements, retains European leadership by countries in the UNCTAD LSCI.