# Proposed ferry from Cork to Gijon, Spain



## macnas (17 Jul 2008)

I noticed this in the IT on Saturday, July 12, 2008



First ferry service between Ireland and Spain proposed


RONAN McGREEVY
SHIP ROUTE: THE PORT OF Cork is to seek financial support from the EU for the first ferry service between Ireland and the north of Spain.

The Ro-Pax (freight and passenger) ferry service, with a journey time of 24 hours, would run between Cork and the northern Spanish city of Gijón around three times a week.

It would put Alicante and other resorts on Spain's Mediterranean coast within a day's drive of the port.




[broken link removed]


----------



## orka (18 Jul 2008)

macnas said:


> First ferry service between Ireland and Spain proposed.


 
It says this would be the first ferry service between Ireland and Spain but does anyone else remember a Cork-Santander service some time ago or is my memory going?


----------



## annette mac (18 Jul 2008)

I would be delighted if this service came into being, we usually spend most of the month of August in Spain and car hire can work out expensive.  It would be just brilliant to be able to load up the car and go.  I've checked a route planner and it's approx 18 hours between Gijon which is in Asturias and the Costa Blanca where I'd be headed.  Costs on the Plymouth - Santander route are prohibitive, hope they won't be on this one, if it happens!


----------



## macnas (18 Jul 2008)

AFAIK, there never was a ferry from Cork to Santander.   To swansea  yes?


----------



## Mumha (23 Jul 2008)

annette mac said:


> I would be delighted if this service came into being, we usually spend most of the month of August in Spain and car hire can work out expensive. It would be just brilliant to be able to load up the car and go. I've checked a route planner and it's approx 18 hours between Gijon which is in Asturias and the Costa Blanca where I'd be headed. Costs on the Plymouth - Santander route are prohibitive, hope they won't be on this one, if it happens!


 
I've driven from San Sebastian to Madrid and that was about 4.5 hours. It looks about the same from Madrid to Alicante. The AA route planner says it is 940kms from Gijon to Torrevieja, so that it puts it at around 8 hours, with another 4 hours for breaks would put it about 12 hours tops. Not bad.


----------



## aislingc (16 Feb 2009)

Bring back the Swansea Cork Ferry



Keep up the people power in the Peoples Republic of Cork!!


----------



## Paulone (17 Feb 2009)

An Ireland-Spain Ferry service would be a Godsend.

I drove from Dublin to just north of Barcelona using the Rosslare to Cherbourg boat and it was a great crossing alright, just it didn't keep on going right down the Bay of Biscay.

Driving in France isn't hard, but the tolls were nearly €100 and there was another €45 or so in petrol consumed. Plus there's the time factor. I left Dublin at noon on a Wednesday to get the 4:30pm boat, which docked at about 12:30pm (French time) on Thursday, and I finally arrived at my destination at 4am on Friday.

I was travelling alone, had brought some food and drink with me and had a sound route plan marked out with a car which is well able for motorway speeds, so the conditions were favourable and I only stopped four times for petrol and the loo.

I cannot imagine trying to do the same trip with my family - there would  have to have been another overnight stop and proper mealbreaks/ comfort stops/ leg stretchers etc.

There was a Cork-Santander boat, but its been deceased about 5 years or longer. I tried to organise the return trip using that service, Santander being about 700km from Barcelona along the southside of the Pyrenees, but found I could only get the distance of Plymouth. Flights were booked and the car remains to this day in the care of relatives in Spain!

Gijon looks like its about another 160k along the A8. I think I'd be using that route at least once or twice a year.


----------



## Paulone (8 Jul 2009)

Anyone heard anymore about this at all?

It's a year now since it was first mentioned and the latest seems to be six months ago when it was suggested that negotiations were continuing and it would be 2010 before it begins...

I don't care as long as it begins!!!


----------



## The Bride (1 Sep 2010)

Anyone know any more on this??


----------



## dingoxh (7 Nov 2010)

I'd say it's been long fingerred unfortunatly...Pity


----------



## miguel (7 Nov 2010)

I spoke to cork official 3wks ago they say everything is done from spain and irish official but they just need to find a boat from whether to buy or convinced investers that it will work.


----------



## dingoxh (8 Nov 2010)

tough job there convincing investors.......I dounbt we'll see a boat in Summer 2011....what a pity


----------



## Slaphead (5 May 2011)

still no news about this? Hope it happens, brother is moving to santander next yr, would be a great way to get over


----------



## queenlex (5 May 2011)

This would be great would be handy if there was a train preferably a fast one to Madrid or somewhere else closer to the Med coast... So you could just connect with the fast train to Alicante or Barca...


----------



## queenlex (5 May 2011)

PS been on the ferries recently across the Irish sea and they were quiter than usual which shocks me considering they're value for money and timewise very good especially the fast ones to say Liverpool, manchester Birmingham or even London or Glasgow with the fast trains....could be just bc I wasnt going close to match times or on BH's but was still surprised you'd basically get to L'pool or Man as fast overall by fast ferry if you were coming from anywhere south of the Liffey over here...


----------



## Slaphead (1 Dec 2011)

Google translate this

http://www.elcomercio.es/20111118/asturias/gijon/cork-201111180630.html

seems like a once a week cork-gijon may be on the cards for 2012


The highway of the sea is about to take a new step in its development. By the end of this year will enter service the second ship of the maritime connection between El Musel and Nantes-Saint Nazaire. But not the only novelty, and that the second ship will also cover the line between Gijón and the port of Cork, located in the South of Ireland. This will be the first direct maritime connection between the island and the Iberian Peninsula.


----------



## smiley (2 Dec 2011)

slaphead...thanks for the information and links..this is great news for me.


----------



## Slaphead (6 Dec 2011)

smiley said:


> slaphead...thanks for the information and links..this is great news for me.



yeah, me too, brother is moving to Santander or Gijon in may, viva Espana.


----------



## seantheman (22 Feb 2012)

Cracker. said:


> There's one problem:
> 
> This would be a magnet for illegal immigrants and asylum seekers (For those of you who don't know lookup Sangatte in France).


 
Never looked upon assylum seekers as being a problem, have you?
 Sangatte is totally different in that it is the gateway to the channel tunnel and has hundreds of trains a week passing through.
somehow i can't see a big swathe of "illegal immigrants" lining up to stowaway on the one boat a week to Cork


----------



## Leper (23 Feb 2012)

I note this thread started in 2008.  There is a huge ferry moored in the Cork Quays at present which was supposed to do the "school-run" to Wales.  Even this never materialised.  And some of us still think there will be a ferry between Cork and Gigon. Dream on.


----------



## gillarosa (27 Feb 2012)

Cracker. said:


> No it's not! If they find a weak link, they will exploit it.
> 
> 
> 
> They don't line up - they hide in the backs of trucks. The Irish customs at Cork aren't prepared enough for this. Spain has millions of illegal immigrants from Africa and beyond who would use Ireland as a gateway to Britain or worse stay here.


 
Is your username a reference to the slang term in the US by any chance? I ask as you seemed concerned about "they"


----------



## silverwake (5 Mar 2012)

Well, guys, no need to worry about the immigration anymore:

First of all, the ferry service will cover Rosslare / Gijon, and not Cork, and then, it won't carry any passengers as the route won't be direct between Ireland and Spain (it does a stopover in Nantes).

http://www.elcomercio.es/v/20120123/gijon/trafico-hacia-rosslare-orienta-20120123.html

Sorry, I couldn't find any article in English.


----------

