The Port of Gandía was planned by Rafael Yagüe on 30 April 1883  and the first stone was laid on 23 June 1886. Three years later, ownership was transferred to "The Alcoy & Gandía Railway and Harbour Company Limited". This company was responsible for extending the port and converting Gandía into the second largest fruit exporting port in Spain, reaching the amount of 250,000 Mt of fruit handled in 1934. Unloading forestry products In 1946, after the Second World War, in view of the fall in port activities, the State declared the Port of Gandía to be "of general interest", and bought it over on 21 October that year until, in 1961, it finally became the property of the Administrative Commission of Ports of Valencia. Valencia Port Authority (or prior to 1992 the "Autonomous Port of Valencia") incorporated the Port of Gandía into its management framework in 1985, undertaking important improvements and extensions of the facilities and boosting traffic to the point that, in 2002, it handled over 440,000 Mt of goods.