Why sailings are cancelled, and where
The levante mainly affects the fast ferries from Tarifa. On 2 January 2026, with gusts of more than 50 km/h, Baleària and AML suspended five sailings from Tarifa while Algeciras kept to its timetable for Tanger Med and Ceuta. In early March, another storm stopped the Tarifa route for several days.
The practical lesson: when Tarifa closes, Algeciras usually stays open. The Algeciras ships are bigger and sail in rougher seas.
Your rights under the European regulation
Regulation (EU) No 1177/2010 applies to services departing from a port in the European Union and to those arriving at one from outside if the carrier is European.
- Information: the ferry company must inform you of the situation no later than 30 minutes after the scheduled departure time.
- Choice: if the sailing is cancelled or departure is delayed by more than 90 minutes, you can choose between a refund of the ticket, within seven days, and re-routing at no extra cost.
- Assistance: food and drink in proportion to the wait. Accommodation, if an overnight stay is needed, may be limited to €80 per night per passenger, for three nights at most.
- Compensation for delay in arrival: 25% of the ticket price from 1 hour's delay on crossings of up to 4 hours, and 50% if the delay is more than double that.
What bad weather does take away
If the ferry company proves that the cancellation or delay is due to weather conditions that make sailing dangerous, it does not owe accommodation or financial compensation.
What does not disappear is your right to choose between a refund and re-routing: the article governing it is not among the bad-weather exceptions.
Another important exception: these rights do not apply to open tickets with no departure time set.
What to do at the time
Do not wait until you reach the ticket desk to decide.
- Look at the real-time departures board for the port of Algeciras and Tarifa before leaving home.
- If your sailing from Tarifa is suspended, ask your ferry company whether it will move you to Algeciras – Tanger Med. We have not found any document that guarantees this as a policy: ask for it as re-routing.
- At Tanger Med, if a sailing to Algeciras is cancelled, the port helps passengers board other companies' ships after a two-hour wait beyond the scheduled time.
- If you would rather not travel, ask for the refund in writing and keep the ticket and any cancellation notice.
How to complain
First, to the ferry company: you have two months from the date of the service. The company must acknowledge receipt within one month and give a final answer within two.
If it does not reply or you disagree, in Spain complaints about assistance and compensation are a matter for the consumer authorities; the Dirección General de la Marina Mercante (Spain's merchant shipping directorate) is only competent for safety and accessibility. Spain's Ministry of Transport publishes a form and the procedure on its online portal.
Frequently asked questions
Do I get my money back if the ferry is cancelled by a storm?
Yes, if you choose that: you can opt between a refund of the ticket within seven days and re-routing at no extra cost.
Will my hotel be paid for if the wind leaves me stranded?
Not necessarily: if the ferry company proves that bad weather made sailing dangerous, it is exempt from providing accommodation.
Is there financial compensation for the cancellation?
Not when it is due to dangerous weather conditions or unavoidable extraordinary circumstances.
How long do I have to complain?
Two months from the date on which the service was provided or should have been provided.
Are the Algeciras ferries cancelled too?
Less often. In the storms of January and March 2026, Algeciras kept its sailings going while Tarifa suspended them.
Sources (9)
Every figure on this page comes from a source consulted on the date shown.
- Reglamento (UE) n.º 1177/2010, 2026-11-11
- Your Europe · derechos de los pasajeros de barco, 2026-11-11
- Ministerio de Transportes · reclamaciones de pasajeros por mar, 2026-11-11
- Forbes España · la borrasca Francis (comparison site), 2026-11-11
- Hespress · suspensión de travesías (comparison site), 2026-11-11
- Tanger Med Passagers · informaciones útiles, 2026-11-11
- APBA · información al pasajero, 2026-11-11
- AEMET · OPE, 2026-11-11
- AML · reservas y billetes, 2026-11-11
