News APB | Ports de Balears

The APB initiates the conversion of its terminals so that they are powered exclusively by renewable energy

07/09/2020

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) aims to convert all the passenger terminals in the five public ports it manages to run on renewable energy. This process has started with the design of the future passenger terminal in the Port of Ibiza for traffic to and from Formentera. The project is being developed so that it becomes a prototype for a self-sufficient building in terms of energy. The passenger terminals in Alcudia, La Savina and the EM6 in Palma are also moving towards sustainability, with work underway since June to make the energy they consume renewable. The projects, which began in June 2020 and are scheduled to be completed in six months, include improving building air-conditioning by using more efficient geothermal systems, fitting solar panels on roofs to produce electricity and installing water purification systems. In addition to the aforementioned projects, the construction of the new Botafoc terminal in Ibiza is also underway in which, as part of a project that is 100% funded by the European Union, experimental lignin batteries will be installed to store the photovoltaic energy generated by the solar panels that will be installed on the pergolas in the parking area. Towards decarbonisation With these actions, the APB aims to become a benchmark at regional and national level in terms of decarbonisation which is not incompatible with an optimum level of thermal comfort and high indoor air quality, as well as providing significant energy savings. The aim is for the energy required to run the terminals to be supplied by renewable energy sources. Five essential principles work together to guarantee the overall performance of a building: thermal insulation, high performance glazing and carpentry, the absence of thermal bridges, double-circuit mechanical ventilation systems and airtightness. The impact of this new construction method is highly significant, because it converts many of the procedures for the design, construction and management of buildings to greater energy efficiency. The APB’s sustainability policies are drawn up with a view to meeting the objectives set out in Law 10/2019 of 22 February on climate change and energy transition for the Balearic Islands and in accordance with Directive 2010/31/EU of the European Parliament and Council.

In 2019, the ports of the Balearic Islands handled 5.4% more passengers than in the previous year

04/09/2020

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands' (APB) 2019 Annual and Sustainability Reports, which were recently published and are available on its website, www.portsdebalears.com, show a new growth trend in both goods and passenger traffic, as well as in the investments made. In this context, the 2019 Report highlights that the APB has achieved its objective of remaining economically self-sufficient whilst undertaking an ambitious investment plan in terms of port infrastructure and of initiatives in the port-city interface. The amount of these investments totalled €20,103,379.67. In terms of port traffic, 2019 was another consecutive year of record highs with goods throughput of 16,523,691 tonnes (up 2% on 2018) and a total of 9,877,985 passengers between cruises and ferry services (up 5.4% on 2018). Likewise, the participatory process launched to draw up the new Strategic Plan, which was completed in 2019, deserves special mention. The plan applies to the five ports (Palma, Alcudia, Mahon, Ibiza and La Savina) and the maritime signals managed by the APB (34 lighthouses and over 25 coastal beacons), with an initial timeline of between five and ten years, which can be integrated into the planning system defined by the Spanish Port System's Institutional and Strategic Framework. Implementation of information technologies and systems Finally, and thanks to the implementation of information technologies and systems, the APB continues its efforts to be more transparent and useful to its stakeholders and Balearic society as a whole. In this regard, progress has been made in the shape of a catalogue of electronic services, open data and standardisation of document management. The Annual Report includes specific information on all the projects undertaken in 2019 and on the economic, social and environmental progress of the public ports managed by the APB, as well as on the functioning of the organization and its governing bodies, including infrastructures completed or under construction, a summary of investments, figures on the use of the port, regular shipping lines and port companies and services, as well as traffic statistics. Read the reports here.

"Every drop of water counts" in the Port of Mahon

02/09/2020

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) is launching a campaign in the Port of Mahon to raise awareness about the need to save water, aimed at recreational sailing users. This is one of the measures the APB has adopted as part of its commitment to support the United Nations Global Compact and 2030 Agenda. The campaign is aimed especially at home port moorings, under direct and indirect management, as well as at occasional recreational sailing users who call at the Port of Mahon during the summer season. The campaign includes the distribution of fifty hoses with an automatic water shut-off nozzle and five thousand flyers with the slogan "Every drop counts" in the six nautical facilities in the bay of Mahon: Amarres Poniente, Club Marítimo Mahón, Club Náutico Villacarlos, Marina Menorca, Marina Port Mahon and Mô Llevant. The campaign material will also be distributed around the Varadero Menorca industrial area and the official administration offices based in the port such as the Harbourmaster's Office, the Coastal Authority, the Government's Tourism Office and the APB's own facilities. Thirty banners, evenly spaced along the busiest quays on the south side, will also remind the citizens passing through this area of Mahon and es Castell of the importance of counting every drop of water that is consumed.

The ports of Ibiza and La Savina undertake to respond to a pollution control incident in less than 30 minutes

02/09/2020

Over the next four years, the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) will be allocating €866,000 to cleaning the water surface and the detection, control and clean-up of pollution caused by spills of any kind in the ports of Ibiza and La Savina. The company that holds the concession for the service, the Patena Ibiza - La Savina consortium, will be responsible for removing waste and other floating and semi-submerged waste in zone I of the ports of Ibiza and La Savina every day of the year. In addition, a maximum response time of 30 minutes has been set to begin to tackle pollution incidents - such as hydrocarbons and grey water - and to provide assistance in other emergencies. In this case, absorbent materials (barriers, absorbent cloths and authorised dispersants) will be used as an initial emergency measure to isolate the possible source of pollution, as well as the tools required to clean up the hydrocarbons (hooks, nets) and to collect bulky solid waste. At the same time, diving equipment will be used in port waters to monitor the seabed and quays. The waste collected from the water surface will be separated, hermetically bagged and transported to containers, while the hydrocarbons and oily waste will be pumped to temporary storage. For this purpose, two new purpose-built cleaning boats are available 24 hours a day, one in each port. These are the first electric vessels to be used for cleaning the water surface in the Balearic Islands, as well as the first electric boats to be used in the ports of Ibiza and La Savina. In addition, pumping, lifting and transport equipment, skimmers, barriers and cloths are also available. In areas where access is difficult, floating waste will be collected using drones. Moreover, the APB will review the functioning of the service on a monthly basis.

The APB will be putting out to public tender the management of the moorings in the small boat dock at the Port of La Savina and will be filing the concession request made by the Formentera Yacht Club

29/07/2020

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands' (APB) Board of Directors agreed today to put out to public tender the management of the moorings in the small boat dock at the Port of La Savina and file the concession request made by the Formentera Yacht Club. At the meeting held this afternoon in the Port of Palma, the Board of Directors also agreed to communicate this decision to the applicants and reply to the various letters in which some of the companies participating in the concession request procedure had requested information and clarification on the matter. This facility is currently being managed by the company Desarrollos Concesionales Insulares S.L. pursuant to the agreement reached by the Board of Directors in December 2018. This company's proposal was considered by the APB as the most advantageous solution for the granting of an administrative authorisation to operate a total area of 12,492.80 m2, the A service building, the Control Tower building and the adjacent changing rooms and toilets on the public port land associated with the fishing dock at the Port of La Savina. The amount plus improvements offered by Desarrollos Concesionales Insulares S.L. came to €813,936 per year for a period of one year plus an extension of another year.

The APB reopens the Portopí lighthouse Maritime Signals Exhibition and extends visiting hours

13/07/2020

Tomorrow, the Maritime Signals exhibition at the Portopí lighthouse will be opening its doors again, after cancelling all visits as a result of the measures taken by the Spanish Government when it declared the state of alarm. It has adapted its facilities to the health protocols to prevent COVID-19. The visiting hours have been extended to six days a week, with the aim of encouraging local residents to find out more about the Balearic Island lighthouses and their secrets. Thus, the exhibition, located in the Port of Palma, will be open from Monday to Friday from 10 am to 3 pm and from 4 pm to 7 pm, while on Saturday the exhibition will be open from 10 am to 3 pm. Visits are by appointment and can be booked on the websites www.portsdebalears.com and www.farsdebalears.com. Health protocol The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) has adapted the Maritime Signals Exhibition facilities at the Portopí lighthouse to comply with the health protocols required to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. In addition to the usual measures, the number of visitors will be reduced to 10 per session and the use of face masks will be compulsory throughout the entire visit. The Port Pí Lighthouse was the second lighthouse in Spain to come into operation and the third in the world. According to the information compiled through maritime signalling research, it was first mentioned in the will of King James II in 1300. In the will, the king entrusted the care of the lighthouse to his heirs. In any event, this central building, located at the end of Palma's seafront promenade, is a symbol of not only the city, but also the maritime communications of the Balearic Islands. A turning point in the history of the lighthouses and their keepers came in the 1980s, when technology intervened in the dynamics of this type of maritime signalling, changing their use and functioning. At that time, Rafael Soler Gayà was the director of the Port of Palma. He caringly and wisely took the initiative –with other lighthouse keepers– to rescue and preserve all the pieces that had been taken out of the coastal lighting service due to being obsolete: lens, rigging, photographs, records, maps, etc. That is how the Porto Pí Exhibition came about, which the APB decided to open up to and share with the public in 2004. Since then, many groups and schools have enjoyed experiencing this cultural treasure, the history of maritime signalling, our own past and the peculiar lives of lighthouse keepers. A complete and valuable collection The APB has received national and international acknowledgement for its meticulous care of the lighthouses, the work put into recovering the history of lighthouses and their legacy, and for having one of the most complete collections of materials used in maritime signalling since the mid-nineteenth century. This valuable collection is once again open to the residents of Mallorca and to the visitors who want to immerse themselves in the passionate and enigmatic world of lighthouses. Further information and bookings: www.portsdebalears.com www.farsdebalears.com

The APB puts out a tender to manage the moorings in the El Molinar dock at the Port of Palma

30/06/2020

The Board of Directors of the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) has agreed this afternoon to put out to tender the management of the El Molinar dock and port facilities' building at the Port of Palma, for a maximum term of twenty years and once the redevelopment work has been completed by the port authority. The Board of Directors has approved the tender conditions that will enable the use of the port space to provide mooring services for pleasure boats up to eight metres long. In addition, they include the use of the ground floor of the building as a bar-café-restaurant, though impeding any business to be conducted on the first floor, which will be reserved for offices and space for social and cultural activities promoted by the new operator. The tender excludes an area of about 2,500 square metres, which includes a newly built 600 m2 building, plus an esplanade and slipway, which will be assigned to the Government of the Balearic Islands for the future location of a water sports training centre. The APB has taken on the work of redeveloping and modernising the dock to provide it with the necessary safety measures for inland navigation and boat mooring. In addition, in 2020 it will be tendering the refurbishment works on the building, which will retain its original appearance. These two projects have an overall budget of almost €4 million. The Board of Directors has decided that, given that the concessionaire will not have to undertake any investment beyond the fitting out of the building and the installation of pontoons in the sheltered waters, there is justification for the concession not exceeding a maximum period of twenty years, which is long enough to amortize these projects. In addition, the tender conditions guarantee the use of public port land to provide mooring services for around 90 small pleasure boats, limiting trading activities to a bar-café-restaurant. Port-city integration The APB estimates that work on the stretch of the El Molinar promenade will be completed by the end of July and opened to the public, while it has assumed that the completion of the construction work on the new Poniente breakwater will be delayed until October. In 2020, it plans to tender the refurbishment of the building, with work possibly beginning next year. The APB thus complies with the commitments to maintain the size of El Molinar, the number of moorings and types of boats it can accommodate, port-city integration, a stronger sporting focus and the fact that the management of the moorings can be taken on by a social yacht club.

The City Council and the Port Authority agree to permanently increase the space available to pedestrians and cyclists on the seafront promenade

21/06/2020

Palma City Council and the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands have agreed to definitively remove one lane of traffic on the seafront side of the promenade between the Paraires Quay and Calle Monsenyor Palmer, in order to increase the amount of space available to the general public. The upgrading work will begin on 29th June. This initiative, which dovetails with the project to redesign the seafront promenade that has recently been announced, will transform this area adding a large new cycle lane that will run from the Paraires Quay to Calle Monsenyor Palmer. Furthermore, the project will add 650 linear metres to the existing cycle lane which instead of ending at Calle Pedrera, will now run all the way to the Paraires Quay. The project will move the current parking spaces to the lane of traffic closest to the sea. The space left free as a result will be separated off from vehicle traffic and will be used for the cycle lane. This will increase the amount of space available on the pavement for people to walk along the waterfront in Palma. This initiative has been approved this week in conjunction with the Port Authority. The City Council, for its part, and given that the state of alarm ends today, has ruled to put an end to the intermittent road closures that have been made during the process of de-escalation as of tomorrow. These closures began to be made from 15th June at 17.30 until 21.30 from Monday to Saturday and between 9.30 and 21.30 on Sundays on the promenade between the Porto Pí roundabout and Calle Manuel Azaña and on the Son Puig road between Camino Son Rapinya and Camino La Vileta.

The APB informs outdoor cafés, bars and restaurants on the Palma seafront promenade that they must close at one o'clock in the morning

18/06/2020

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) has sent the holders of the outdoor café and bar permits on Palma's seafront promenade a notification informing them that they must close their establishments at one o'clock in the morning. These closing times are the same as those applied by the City Council from 1st April to 30th October, on an exceptional basis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The APB has detected that around the Avenida Gabriel Roca area in the Port of Palma, the practice of keeping these outdoor areas open until the early hours of the morning has become widespread. This has escalated since these establishments were allowed to extend the size of their outdoor seating areas to include one of the former lanes of traffic, which was proposed as a way of supporting the economic revival of bars, cafés and restaurants and of facilitating social distancing to offset the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, numerous complaints have been received from residents who have reported loud noise in the early hours of the morning, thus disturbing their sleep as a result. In the letter, the establishments that have taken advantage of the initiative to extend their outdoor seating areas have been informed that the APB must enforce the Palma City Council's Municipal Bylaw on the Occupancy of Public Highways, which is regulated in the Port's Special Plan. After the notification, the Port Police, in conjunction with the Palma Local Police, will be stepping up controls on closing times in this area.

Cruise passengers consume 90 litres of water per year in the Port of Palma

12/06/2020

According to data gathered by the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) on cruise ship water consumption in the public ports it manages on the islands, a cruise passenger calling at the Port of Palma uses an average of 90.49 litres of water a year. According to the water supply figures for this type of ship, in 2019, 200,895 tonnes of water were delivered to cruise ships in the Port of Palma for a total of 2,220,135 passengers visiting its facilities. The average water consumption per cruise passenger has varied in recent years. For example, in 2016, the year in which the Port of Palma supplied 178,068 tonnes of water to cruise ships for 1,631,206 cruise passengers, the average was 109.16 litres per passenger. In 2017, the annual average dropped to 90.03 litres per cruise passenger, with 150,632 tonnes for 1,673,210 passengers, whilst in 2018, the average reached its lowest point with 79.55 litres per passenger per year, with 163,226 tonnes of water being supplied to 2,051,782 visitors. Other ports The average water consumption per cruise passenger is lower in the other APB ports that cruise ships call at. Thus, in the Port of Ibiza, the annual average in 2019 was 64 litres per cruise passenger, with 25,526 tonnes of water being delivered to a total of 399,130 passengers. In Mahon, it was 0.3 litres per cruise passenger per year, as only 14 tonnes were supplied to 43,757 cruise passengers. In Alcudia, there was one cruise ship in 2019 that did not request water. In 2018, 56 tonnes of water were delivered for 2,139 passengers calling at the port, making an annual average of 26 litres of water per cruise passenger. These figures only take into account consumption by passengers, disregarding any water used by crew members, who sometimes exceed 25% of the people on board this type of ship.

The Ibiza Town Council, the Port Authority and Marina Ibiza agree to integrate the marina into the city and to extend the promenade

12/06/2020

The Mayor of Ibiza, Rafa Ruiz, the Chairman of the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB), Joan Gual de Torrella, and representatives of Marina Ibiza have agreed to continue with the project to remove the fencing separating the port from the town of Ibiza, and to extend the promenade so it runs from the beacon on the breakwater in the Port of Ibiza to the Botafoc lighthouse, eliminating the visual barriers separating the sea from the city. The meeting was attended by the Mayor of Ibiza, the APB Chairman, the Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Urban Development, Elena López, the APB Public Port Land Director, Armando Parada, the APB representative for the ports of Ibiza and La Savina, and Marcos Marino and Rafael Cardona on behalf of Marina Ibiza. The Mayor of Ibiza, Rafa Ruiz, highlighted that the agreement is the result of a joint effort between the two authorities - the Town Council and the APB - and Marina Ibiza, to develop a global vision of the port, and make it accessible to the public. "A few years ago, we started the transformation of the port, with the support of the APB, so that the citizens could walk from one lighthouse to the other and enable the town to look out to sea". Meanwhile, the APB Chairman, Joan Gual de Torrella, said that "today's agreement is another step forward in handing the waterfront over to the general public. In other words, in addition to the removal of the fence at the Formentera terminal, this measure is now being taken at the Marina. They are all steps forward, one after another, which will mean that over the next four years, the port will be fully accessible to the public. In this last phase of removing fencing, the facilities of Marina Ibiza will be integrated into the town of Ibiza, connecting the waterfront and the current Paseo de Juan Carlos I promenade. The measures include opening eight new access points for pedestrians, improving access to the marina for the general public making one of the landscaped areas smaller connecting the access points to the existing paving in the landscaped area, thereby extending the promenade installing new urban furniture, such as litter bins and wooden benches and installing bollards with lights so pedestrians are safeguarded from vehicles. The project to develop this part of the port has a budget of €347,000 plus VAT, which will be paid for by Marina Ibiza, and has been supervised by experts from the Ibiza Town Council's Urban Planning and Public Roads Department. Work will begin in September. The work will start at the beginning of the Paseo Juan Carlos I promenade and end at the Marina Ibiza facilities, which means the elimination of more than 500 linear metres of fencing which separate the town from the port. With this project, the barriers separating the town and the port continue to be eliminated, and the work begun jointly by the Town Council and the APB continues so that the port becomes part of the town and a recreational area for the public.

The Balearic Islands Government, the Formentera Island Council and the APB announce a reduction in port calls at the Port of La Savina for environmental, safety and service optimisation reasons

10/06/2020

The Regional Minister for Mobility and Housing, Marc Pons, the President of the Formentera Island Council, Alejandra Ferrer, and the Chairman of the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB), Joan Gual de Torrella, today presented a study on ferry operations in the Port of La Savina, drawn up by the Polytechnic University of Madrid. The presentation discussed the proposals that have emerged from this study to improve these operations from a safety and environmental viewpoint and in terms of enhancing and optimising the service, based on more efficient use of the ferries operating out of the Formentera port. During the morning, the study was presented to the shipping companies operating in the port and the proposal to reduce port calls by 30% was made public. These proposals centre on changing departure times from every 30 minutes to every 60 minutes. The current maximum of 97 daily calls that are registered in summer (August) would now be reduced to 68. Likewise, a proposal was made to reach a consensus on allocating ferry frequencies with the shipping companies that run the service. The aim is to reach an agreement with the ferry companies within a week or 10 days on the criteria for allocating frequencies. In principle, slots will be assigned on the basis of the service history of each company. The APB will subsequently approve the new port operating regulations so that they can be implemented this season once the de-escalation process has been completed and the port has entered the phase of new normality. Both the Regional Minister, Marc Pons, and the President, Alejandra Ferrer, pointed out that last November, when it was agreed to schedule the times of the first and last boats between Ibiza and Formentera, the need to move towards greater sustainability in port mobility was raised, with measures to reduce frequencies, which are considered excessive given the number of jobs they generate, in order to reduce pollution and the risks associated with manoeuvrability in the port. In this regard, the Minister recalled that under normal conditions (now suspended by the current state of alarm) there can be up to 97 daily calls in the high season in August, with an average occupancy rate of less than 31% in August and less than 23% during the rest of the year. Accordingly, the Minister also argued that the reduction in the number of ferries means a decrease in costs because overheads are lower, thus improving profitability. In addition, having fewer ships in the port improves environmental conditions by reducing contaminating CO2 emissions, brings safer manoeuvrability, and improves ferry occupancy.