Baleria was founded in 1998 in the eastern Spanish city of Dénia and has since developed into one of the largest ferry companies in the western Mediterranean. The company operates both conventional ferries and modern high-speed ferries, which travel at around twice the speed of conventional ferries, and from the departure ports of Barcelona, Valencia and Dénia on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, Balearia operates services to the islands of Mallorca and Ibiza. There are also connections from Mallorca to the smaller neighboring islands of Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera. From the southern Spanish ports of Malaga, Algericas and Almeria, the Moroccan ports of Tangier and Nador as well as the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta in North Africa are served. From the southern Spanish port of Huelva, Balearia sails twice a week to the Canary Islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife; these are the longest crossings with a journey time of 36 hours (to Gran Canaria) and 44 hours (to Tenerife). Since 2011, a subsidiary has also offered a connection from Fort Lauderdale in Florida to the Bahamas.
Balearia currently operates a fleet of 22 ships, eight of which are fast ferries; the latter are mainly used for connections between the Balearic Islands. The conventional ferries also have greater capacity for trucks and therefore represent an important part of the freight transport network from the islands to the mainland.
The equipment of the ships depends on their size and the duration of the journey. All ferries have catering facilities such as cafés and restaurants (mostly self-service, sometimes also a la carte) as well as play facilities for children, and there are also sun decks on the conventional ships.
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