1972 was an important year for the development of the city of Valencia. A series of urban project were initially proposed but these proposals would have made Valencia a monster city, that is, a city with a destructive metabolism.
They even proposed the construction of a large highway over the bed of the Turia River but luckily, this was never carried out, making us fortunate spectators of the River.
The bed of the Turia River continues to be the green lung of Valencia, the most “de la terreta” meeting and leisure place that exists. Valencians and also tourists, surrender to the Turia, always ready to embrace you with freedom, sport, health and also history. In this context of development and modernity, the Norwegian ship “Sally Stove” arrived in Valencia with a capacity for 200 containers. In 1972, it triumphantly entered the port of Valencia after the necessary procedures put in place by the Council. Our port was thus inaugurated, perfectly meeting the necessary features required to operate at that time.
Up to that moment, the port of Cádiz was the only one that had received a ship specially created for loading containers and the city of Valencia was decked out and dressed up elegantly to celebrate this chapter in the history of our port. In 1972, the city’s first terminal, Marítima Valenciana, was also built. This entity will always be linked to the development and evolution of our port. The company was founded in 1969 but it was in 1972, when it began operating as a stevedoring company. Together with its container crane, it facilitated shipping companies such as Evergreen, Sea-Land, or UASC, among others, to operate in our Valencian waters.
Currently, the port of Valencia moves an average of 80 million tons per year and its quota covers 40% of the traffic in the Spanish port system.
Who knows if it was thanks to decisions made in 1972 that we are here today!
