More Spanish visitors are now taking the ferry to Rosslare than they are to the UK

Last year, Brittany Ferries more than doubled the number of passengers travelling by sea between Ireland and Spain. In total 57,000 passengers made the voyage across the Irish Sea and Bay of Biscay, a 116% increase compared with 2022.

The surge in volumes followed the re-scheduling of the company’s newest cruise ferry Salamanca on the Rosslare Bilbao route. It’s also just five years since the first-ever seaborne link connecting Ireland with Spain was opened. Despite the relative newness of the route, more Spanish visitors are now taking the ferry to Ireland than they are to the UK. Nearly twice as many Spaniards travelled to the Emerald Isle last year, just under 6,000, compared with 3,400 holidaying in the UK. This is even though services have been running from Spain to the UK for 45 years. Brittany Ferries says the news is evidence that the Celtic connection is alive and well. Furthermore, Spain is a rich seam for inbound tourism, to be nurtured with Tourism Ireland in the years ahead.