The Nautical Board insists on fighting disloyal competence in boat rental

The Conselleria del Mar y del Ciclo del Agua has held this Thursday, June 19th, the third session of the Nautical Board of the Balearic Islands, a meeting and dialogue space between administration and the main agents of the nautical field.

The reunion has been useful for inputs and assessments of the participants about different aspects related with boat rental and the evolution of the activity during the season.

During the session, a wide coincidence has been manifested within the necessity of reinforcing security, guaranteeing equity competence conditions and controlling the activity in the coast as key elements for an organized development of the field. In this sense, the Conselleria has transported the information about the general lines of the new autonomic decree in a matter of boat rental, still in a processing phase, and has recollected the expressed opinions of the participants.

The representatives of the field have signaled the risks associated with the use of non-regulated private ships for commercial activities and the necessity of avoiding the disproportionate growth of the nautical activity that could overgrow the load capacity of the ports and the Balearic coast. In addition, the importance of fighting against a submerged economy has been insisted upon.

The session also served to review the first edition of ‘Setmana Blava’, an initiative promoted by the Government to foster knowledge of the marine environment and bring nautical sports closer to educational centers in the Balearic Islands.

During the meeting, information was also provided about the launch of the new coastal water inspection and surveillance service, which will begin this summer with several boats distributed throughout the archipelago and coordinated jointly from a control center, along with the online reservation system.

In addition, the results of the coastal cleaning service were presented. This year, the service has increased its operational capacity with a total of 23 boats, a number not reached in years. Routes have been optimized and efforts reinforced in high-pressure areas such as the Bay of Alcúdia, Can Picafort, Fornells, and Ibiza.

The meeting also served to review the work of the five Technical Commissions created by the Nautical Board, which have submitted proposals in areas such as social boating, training and employment, facility management, sustainable anchoring, and regulatory simplification. The contributions reflect strong engagement from business associations, professional colleges, and environmental organizations, as well as a shared commitment to professionalize, organize, and make recreational boating more accessible in the Balearic Islands.

To improve their effectiveness, it was agreed to rethink the working rules of these commissions and to establish a new methodology to streamline the process of channeling sector proposals to the Administration.