The Operation Crossing of the Strait (OPE) faces its official closure this Monday, September 15, with the return as the main indicator of the final stretch. According to the report from the General Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergencies corresponding to September 13, the accumulated Operation Return reaches 1,745,102 passengers and 415,908 vehicles since July 15, with a growth of 2.9% and 2.6%, respectively, compared to the same phase of 2024. Only on the day of the 13th, 16,206 travelers and 4,098 vehicles passed through.
The Campo de Gibraltar is once again positioning itself as a reference for the operation. Adding the routes Ceuta–Algeciras, Tangier Med–Algeciras, and Tangier Ville–Tarifa, the Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA) registers 1,291,959 passengers and 303,120 vehicles in the return phase until September 13. In year-on-year terms, this represents an increase of 5.8% in travelers (70,414 more) and 4.5% in cars (13,179 more) compared to the same cut of 2024. The share of the total national Operation Return is around 74% in passengers and 73% in vehicles.
By routes, the behavior is heterogeneous. In Ceuta–Algeciras, the accumulated return sums 260,248 passengers and 59,356 vehicles, with a slight decline compared to 2024 (–0.5% and –2.0%). The Tangier Med–Algeciras connection contributes 722,433 travelers and 193,470 vehicles, with positive variations of 2.4% and 3.2%. In Tangier Ville–Tarifa, the increase is more pronounced in relative terms: 309,278 passengers (+21.5%) and 50,294 vehicles (+19.9%).
The flow through corridors confirms the centrality of the Tangier Med–Algeciras route in the movement of cars, with 46.5% of the return vehicles, followed by Ceuta–Algeciras (14.3%) and Nador–Almería (13.2%). Tarifa concentrates 12.1% in its link with Tangier Ville.
In the rest of the operation, Nador–Almería advances to 228,999 passengers and 54,777 vehicles (+6.7% and +5.0%), while Melilla shows declines in its connections with Almería and Málaga compared to 2024. In traffic with Algeria, Oran–Alicante and Mostaganem–Valencia maintain growth in travelers and cars, and Algiers–Alicante raises its figures compared to the previous campaign.
The photograph of September 13 allows updating the comparison with the national total: while the Operation Return adds 2.9% more passengers and 2.6% more vehicles than in 2024, the routes of the APBA move in the vicinity of 5.8% and 4.5%, respectively. The differential keeps Algeciras and Tarifa above the average in this phase, with special contribution from the route with Tangier Med and with the proportional rebound of Tarifa in its link with Tangier Ville.
The consolidation of the data at the closure of Monday will set the final result of the OPE 2025. With the update of September 13 already incorporated, the provisional balance of the return positions the ports of the Campo de Gibraltar as the main contribution to the operation, and leaves the nine ports integrated into the OPE with a volume of travelers and vehicles that exceeds the comparable records of the previous year in this phase.