204 FOREIGN TRADE ZONES for the principal commodities in volume have already been indicated. Figures for the total imports and exports during 1927 and the twO preceding years are indicated by the following table: pn. IMPOrE8 oem [ORe10) 4 1 REE EE Total ooevcmcccmcmnamanns 1027 Metric tons! 3,011, 000 I, 048, 000 ‘© 050 Per cent 1926 Metric tons 7,00 “8 ote Per cent [Metric tons| Per cent mE 85 Ik JR +53 CL 1925 During 1927 the total volume of shipping at Stettin reached only approximately 65 per cent of its volume for the year 1913. FREE PORT OF ALMERIA, SPAIN [From Austin C. Brady, American consul, Malaga, Spain] Brief history of port.—The port of Almeria is one of the oldest of the Mediterranean coast of Spain, having been used successively bY the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, and Moors. The Romans gave it the name of Portus Magnus because of its size. It was one of the most important Mediterranean ports during the Moorish occupation, and vessels were outfitted there to prey on the commerce of Cataluna and Italy, and to attack the ships of the crusaders: In 1147 it was taken from the Moors by Spanish and Italian troops under the Emperor Alfonso VII of Castile, but 10 years later it was recaptured and remained a Moorish port until 1489, when the city and port were definitely wrested from the Moors by the Catholic rulers, Ferdinand and Isabella. The name Almeria is derived from the Arabic words “Meria’ and ‘“Albahri,”” meaning “Mirror of the sea.” The city of Almeria is the capital of the Province of the same name, which was definitely established as a territorial division of Spain in 1833. Modern advancement has been confined to a period of less than 20 years; the city has now about 12,000 buildings and about 50,000 inhabitants. The port of Almeria is noted for iff export trade in table grapes produced in that Province, nearly 36,000,000 barrels, or approximately 750,000 metric tons of fru having been shipped in the last 22 years. Large quantities of ro? ore mined in the Province of Granada are exported through Almeri# two British mining concerns having loading piers at that port. The other principal exports are esparto grass, which goes to Britis! markets for paper making, and salt. Direct imports are smal consisting chiefly of coal, fertilizers, lumber, and sulphur.