Valencia is the busiest port on the Mediterranean with contain shipping. For many years, shipping was the biggest revenue maker in the city; however, since the 1990s, tourism has moved into a spot to generate as many Euros.

In almost every port we were at in Spain, the topic of unemployment was brought up. Comments were never positive. Most of the college graduates were moving to Germany due to their better position for employment. That leaves those with less education and a higher unemployment rate.

Ford Motor Company has a large plant near Valencia and there were several auto transports loading vehicles to be shipped throughout Europe.

Other cruise ships were in port the same day. This is P & O Cruise Line's Oriana, with a passenger capacity of 1800.

Also in port was Oceania's ship Marina. Less then 2 years old, it has 80% of the cabins with balconies. It carries about 1250 passengers, similar in size to our ship ms Maasdam.

Away from the port area are many resorts (south of the city) with expansive beaches.

There is a lot of construction in the city of Valencia. Here is an apartment building with views for all.

A teaser for the next posting about Valencia. This is a view of some of the modern structures that are close to our pier. You'll see much more of this next time.