The sailors from Mallorca, worried for the management of the mooring buoy fields

This Wednesday was celebrated at the Sea Council and Water Cycle a gathering among the representatives of the principle sailor associations of Mallorca, ADN Mediterráneo and ANNM (Asociación de Navegantes del Norte de Mallorca) the General Directorate of Ports and Maritime Transport as well as the General Directorate of Coasts and Coastal Areas.

Being a first contact, the meeting took place in an atmosphere of cordiality and by the President of ANNM, Maria Moncada Ozonas and Lorenzo Pons, member of ANNM, has been delivered a document with the main objectives and demands of this newly created association that was born as a protest during a demonstration in the summer of 2023, in response to the arbitrariness and suffocation to which the previous executive had subjected the sailors and recreational boating in the north of Mallorca.

Likewise, on behalf of the association ADN Mediterráneo, Carlos Hellín, member of the board of directors, has emphasized the need for sailors to reformulate all regulations concerning the buoy fields, as they understand that the time slots marketed, prices for night and daytime anchoring, as well as the safety of these buoys have to be reviewed to set rates of use that allow ease of payment, possibility of short stays and are of symbolic cost and / or subsidized for local boats of resident boaters. Likewise, it has also moved the need for buoys to ensure safe anchoring in all weather conditions, and not only up to 10 knots of wind intensity as established by current regulations.

In addition, the sailors insisted that recreational boating is not criminalized, nor the sailors as long as the observed behaviors are civic. If there is a real threat to the Posidonia meadows, as has been demonstrated in recent years, it is for other reasons and not for the anchoring of boats. That is why it has been requested that if for any reason a field of buoys has to be installed, these should not be on sand, but on posidonia meadows and with ecological anchors that avoid damaging the plant and the meadows. 

For its part the Conselleria has informed the associations present that there is a willingness to reach agreements on issues of deep significance for both associations as the possibility of generalizing the free anchoring on sand, which although it is covered by current regulations, in practice is not allowed if there is a field of buoys installed. It has also been indicated from the Department the need to amend regulatory aspects that directly affect recreational boating, although it has been moved that is working on a legislative package to improve the current regulations, since as has been moved by several associations, it has been observed that current buoy field projects do not comply with Decree 25/2018 of July 27th, on the conservation of Posidonia oceanica in the Balearic Islands, since they do not provide for the delimitation of anchoring areas on sand as established by the decree in articles 7 and 8. In the same way, buoy field projects such as the one in the Bay of Formentor are previous to the above mentioned decree and therefore do not comply with the current regulations.

The meeting ended with both parties agreeing to continue dialogue on matters that improve and promote recreational boating as a unique activity in our islands, while the representatives of the Government have requested time to take all appropriate measures, indicating that they hope to enter into force and observe the first positive results for the tourist season of 2025.