The PSIB-PSOE Balearic socialist party complained today, Friday, that the amendment to the Ports Law being prepared by the centre right Partido Popular favours the expulsion of residents from access to moorings because it gives priority to economic interests over social interests, and has called for a requirement of five years’ residence to be eligible for mooring points.
The spokesperson for the socialist parliamentary group, Marc Pons, warned that the amendment to the Balearic Islands Ports Law, which has been in force since 2005, which is being processed by the PP government, will cause ‘a perverse change’ in the management of regional ports, the PSOE said in a statement.
‘One ultimate consequence is that it will favour the gradual expulsion of residents who currently have a mooring,’ as business will prevail over the social interest of regionally managed ports, he warned. The new wording proposed by the PP and far right party Vox extends concessions to private companies currently managing port spaces in the community to 75 years, whereas until now the law set a limit of 35 years.
Pons warns that ‘the PP wants to give private concessionaires more time and more business to manage moorings according to free market criteria,’ something that will have an impact when it comes to granting moorings to users. Added to this is a decline in transparency and greater obscurantism, as the law makes waiting lists for moorings secret, allowing for uncontrolled discretion on the part of the company managing the port, once again prioritising market criteria.
Faced with a model of ‘privatisation and business that excludes residents’ from access to moorings, the PSIB-PSOE proposes a model that ‘places resident mooring users at the centre of port policies and seeks to provide greater guarantees to the local population, with more public management and greater transparency in the allocation process’. The series of amendments proposed by the socialist group focuses on requiring a minimum of 5 years of residence for people to apply for a mooring in the ports across the Balearics.
They also demand that mooring waiting lists be public and transparent and avoid discretion; reserving 3% of moorings for traditional Balearic boats (such as llauts and lateen sailboats) by virtue of the Council of Mallorca’s heritage classification criteria. They also propose that, at the end of a concession period, its management and results should be analysed to assess whether it should be put out to public tender again or whether the direct management of the facility should be returned to Ports IB.
Another of their proposals is to maintain the maximum concession period at 35 years and only ‘in exceptional cases and given their social function’ allow yacht clubs to manage a port concession for up to 50 years. The PSIB also calls for the reform of the law to delve deeper into environmental issues, such as requirements for the care of Posidonia sea grass and the implementation of circular economy and recycling measures in port activity.