By
Laura Hyde |
Cruise Atlantic Islands (CAI), the international association for the port authorities of Macaronesia, which includes the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and Cape Verde, has recorded the highest number of cruise visitors to the islands in 2025.
Just over 4.7 million passengers visited the region, which is a 12.64 per cent increase on 2024. It is also the highest recorded numbers since the organisation began tracking statistics in 1994, when just 286,082 cruise passengers visited the islands.
“These figures confirm the excellent momentum currently experienced by the Atlantic island ports and reflect the coordinated work carried out by the port authorities that make up CAI,” said Beatriz Calzada, president of CAI. “Alignment in promotion, planning and operational standards enables us to offer cruise lines a strong, complementary and increasingly competitive destination in the Atlantic.”
The Port Authority of Las Palmas attracted the most cruise visitors, welcoming 2,080,042 passengers in 2025, accounting for a 44.3 per cent market share. The Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife came in second, with 1,616,490 passengers, followed by the Port Authority of Madeira with 746,257 visitors.
The biggest year-on-year gains saw Santa Cruz de Tenerife passenger numbers grow from 971,918 in 2024 to 1,126,092 in 2025, an increase of 15.86 per cent. Las Palmas grew from 881,674 visitors in 2024 to 994,954 in 2025, up 12.85 per cent. Growth was evident across the wider Canary Islands port system with visitors to La Estaca in El Hierro increasing by 211.9 per cent from 1,450 passengers in 2024 but 4,523 in 2025. Santa Cruz de La Palma recorded a 42.9 per cent increase, welcoming 363,325 visitors in 2025, compared to 2024’s 254,126 passengers while visitors to Arrecife in Lanzarote increased by 8.72 per cent (663,396 passengers in 2025 compared to 610,176 in 2024). Puerto del Rosario in Fuerteventura saw numbers rise from 379,804 passengers in 2024 to 430,692 in 2025, and San Sebastián de La Gomera’s numbers rose from 88,876 in 2024 to 122,193 passengers in 2025, an increase of 37.49 per cent.
Across the Azores, total passenger traffic rose by 3.63 per cent, reaching 157,685 in 2025 compared to 152,155 in 2024. Terceira’s cruise visitor numbers grew from 24,997 in 2024 to 27,607 in 2025, up 10.44 per cent, while Corvo rose from 30 to 209 passengers, a 596.67 per cent increase from a relatively small base.
Across the Cape Verde archipelago there was gradual expansion across multiple ports, with the Port of Praia in Santiago attracting 48,090 passengers in 2025, up 14.65 per cent from 2024’s 41,945 passengers. Visitor numbers to Porto Novo in Santo Antão rose by 4.77 per cent (from 1,741 passengers to 1,824), while Palmeira on the island of Sal welcomed 1,158 passengers (up 4.89 per cent). Tarrafal in São Nicolau almost doubled 2024’s numbers, welcoming 1,037 passengers in 2025 up from 694 in 2024, and Furna in Brava recorded a 220 per cent increase, with 112 passenger visits in 2025 compared with 35 in 2024.
“The sustained progress of recent years demonstrates that CAI’s shared strategy is delivering measurable results,” said Calzada, who is also president of the Port Authority of Las Palmas. “We have enhanced connectivity between archipelagos, secured a presence on new itineraries and positioned Macaronesia as a complementary Atlantic region within the wider European cruise offering. This achievement not only strengthens the Atlantic’s standing as a strategic area on the global cruise map but also confirms the ability of Macaronesian ports to work in close coordination, diversify port calls and meet growing international demand.”