The rule that will allow the hire of private boats is pending of its technical development

During the recent finished edition of the Boat Show in Barcelona, the national nautical employers' organization, ANEN, has celebrated the traditional encounter of its associates with the team of the General Directorate of the Merchant Navy where they have resolved some of the doubts about the soon legislative developments.

In this event, the general director of the DGMM, Benito Núñez Quintanilla, has talked about the entry into force of the Marine Ordinance Regulation (RON), scheduled for July 2024, and on the possibility to temporarily change the use of recreational craft (in list 7) to commercial, as provided for in Article 9(a) of the RON. In this sense, the general director remembered that the measure will not be immediately applicable with its entry into force in July 2024, as this will require technical regulatory development, in which safety, prevention of professional intrusion, compliance with fiscal and tax regulations, as well as all other regulations applicable to boats for hire, must be a priority.

Furthermore, within the Marine Ordinance Regulation, the DGMM is preparing a new Service Instruction which introduces the creation of the figure of the administrative nautical license. It consists of an administrative agent, which, after registration in a specific register, will be authorized to carry out and speed up administrative procedures on behalf of third parties by means of electronic signatures, such as the issuing of certain certifications in order to be able to navigate, without having to wait for conventional administrative procedures. This is one more way to provide a rapid response to certain administrative needs of the sector.

During the gathering they also tackled about the future Ley de reforma del Texto Refundido de la Ley de Puertos del Estado and of the Merchant Navy and the Ley de Navegación Marítima, whose new innovation it the incorporation of the specific regulation of recreational sailing. In this sense, Núñez Quintanilla has clarified that his transaction is pending a process of the government with full powers to approve its referral to Parliament.

As Benito Núñez Quintanilla has explained, the current inflow of its users of nautical activities, specifically in the segments of boats of less length and jet skies, that can generate situations of conflict between nautical users and the rest of tourists on beaches, requires a maximum involvement and collaboration between the agents of the nautical sector and the administration.