The waiting list for obtaining a mooring in the Balearics lengthens by the month. At present there are 4,105 people who are waiting to get a place at the thirteen ports and six secondary facilities that are managed by the regional government. And moreover, some of the requests go back fourteen years.
The government is attempting to “debug” this waiting list and is confident that in 2016 the nineteen ports in all will find their lists being revised. Xavier Ramis, the director of Balearic Ports and Airports, says that the government is striving to offer a public service and meet demand outstanding over several years.
He notes that the first socialist-led government undertook a revision of eight ports between 2001 and 2002 and that this work continued with the revision of waiting lists at the ports of Sant Antoni (Ibiza) and Fornells (Minorca) in 2011. Now, there is to be a revision of nine others. He also draws attention to the fact that every three years there have to be renewals of authorisations, something that is not done in every case.
During this year the ports department will be undertaking a total analysis of the situation, with the aim of getting the bugs out of the waiting lists, while there is to be a precise survey in order to remodel ports.
Sant Antoni is the port which has the longest waiting list: 580 requests. In this port there are only 53 base moorings but 333 for transitory usage. In this instance, the goal of achieving 75% of base moorings - which is a general objective for all ports - will not be met.
In Majorca, it is Colonia Sant Jordi where the list is the longest. It has a total of 2,667 places and 453 people who are waiting. Ramis observes that many of these have not been reviewed and so the applicant may no longer be interested. This all needs checking, bearing in mind that there will always be ports with higher demand than others.
As far as the 75% base moorings’ objective is concerned, Ramis says that this will be a major benefit for users who, until now, have had to make use of more expensive transitory moorings. He is less concerned with revenue generation than with there being a public service. “We are not questioning that there will now be a reduction in revenue.”