The port of Palma puts out to tender the management of the Golondrinas terminal, where the Bus Nàutic will also operate
The tender expressly prohibits the operation of vessels known as Party Boats
Palma
11/12/2025- Transport and infrastructure
- Socio-economic development
The Board of Directors of the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) agreed yesterday, in a meeting held in the port of Palma, to call a public tender for the management of moorings in the Local Traffic terminal for vessels popularly known as "golondrinas". The concession also includes the management of two moorings for the Bus Nàutic service.
The new concession, located on Palma's Paseo Marítimo, will only provide service to second list vessels, i.e. merchant vessels for the transport of people, and expressly excludes those included in the tourist register of the Consell Insular de Mallorca that allow them to organise parties or dances on board with music, known as Party Boats.
This decision, taken by the APB, responds to the commitment made by the port to the residents of the area, who in recent months have been referring complaints of noise and nuisance caused by some of the tourists using the golondrinas to the port authority. In line with this commitment, the APB plans shortly to approve a civic ordinance regulating the behaviour of people in the public areas of the port. The draft ordinance is currently on public exhibition.
The president of the APB, Javier Sanz, declared that "acts of vandalism, the feeling of being crowded and the poor image of the port and the city, are other complaints that residents have made to us and which, from the APB, we have set ourselves the task of tackling".
The operating surface area corresponds to the local traffic quay and the water body where the maritime excursion boats dock, which means a total of seventeen thousand square metres of port public domain. The concessionaire will have to provide two mooring places for the Bus Nàutic, the public service that the APB is going to set up to connect areas of the port of Palma with the city by sea. In addition to two other posts for transit vessels embarking and disembarking passengers.
Social activities
As a novelty in this tender, the company awarded the contract will be obliged to programme cultural and family activities for all audiences with the aim of making the Local Traffic terminal more dynamic, especially in the low season. As a proposal, the tender documents include the possibility of offering free trips for children's groups, exhibitions, children's theatre with a port or maritime theme, among others.
In the evaluation of the bids, priority will be given to environmental improvements proposed by the winning bidder, such as the reuse of surplus construction materials, the installation of materials that favour the development of marine flora and fauna on the docks, electrical self-sufficiency or the self-generation of renewable energies in the installations, among others.
The term of the concession may not exceed ten years. The occupancy rate to be improved is €192,177.97 per year and the activity rate corresponds to four percent of turnover.
