More than a thousand illegal charter yachts in the Balearics

Legitimate yacht charter businesses in the Balearics are facing increasing competition from services that are operating illegally.
The commission for yacht charter (APEAM) says that there are more than 1,000 boats, the majority of them with foreign flags, which now threaten the ongoing viability of legitimate businesses which, in some instances, have been providing charters for more than thirty years.
In addition to this “unfair competition”, charter companies have to bear the “very high” costs of mooring and of 21% IVA (VAT); costs which the boats that operate in an irregular fashion do not have.
The “pirate” foreign boats, says the commission, do not need moorings when, as it is claimed, their clients come via ports’ fuel stations, while they don’t pay tax in any country.
The commission also points out that the some 400 boats belonging to the companies which it represents have employees who are contracted for the whole year - while they are at sea in the summer, they spend the rest of the year preparing the craft for the following season.  Furthermore, the rental of moorings is also an annual cost: in some instances 9,000 euros per annum.