Dear Islander,
Well, as you can see from the front page story, it appears that someone has been made to see sense in the matter of the hiked port taxes but, and it´s a big but; is it too late?
Again, in true Spanish fashion, it’s going to be a matter of damage limitation when it shouldn’t have been ‘busted’ in the first place.
I am, of course, talking about the reputation of the Balearic Islands as a place to keep and cruise your yacht.
OK, this was a State decision that affected more than the 15 local marinas but, the yachting business probably means more in GDP to the islands than to the other locations on the mainland and therefore this squall should have been spotted a lot earlier and navigated around before it became a major storm.
Following the new law the port authority have put the onus on the individual marinas to collect the tax and they themselves are invoiced twice a year by the port authority; in this way it is likely that the payments (unlike previously) will be ‘more efficiently’ collected.
When I first arrived at the islands I remember someone advising me that when comparing the costs of say, Portals (not subject to port taxes) against Palma to forget about including the port taxes in the calculation because, ‘No-one pays them’; these days, that is not true.
Already I have heard of a number of boats that have said, ‘That’s enough- I’m fed up of being ripped off here’, and have decided to up anchor and go somewhere else.
For these people, it has been the ‘straw that has broken the camel’s back’.
Incidentally, more and more positive reports of Croatia come to me every day.
As anyone will know it will be very difficult (if not impossible) to lure these yachts back if they feel they are forced to leave and find that at their destination they are made most welcome, have pleasant cruising grounds, are not hassled by authorities, are able to charter easily and economically and even possibly save some money using their yacht.
The winter round of yacht shows are coming soon and it will be interesting to see if (and most importantly the quality) there is any representation from the Balearics.
Judging by past experience the Balearic presence at the London Boat show seems purely as a jolly for the chiefs and a chance for the indians to go to the sales in Oxford and Regent streets to buy some frocks.
I suggest, that if it’s more of the same, forget it, it’ll do more bad than good.
But of course that’s an ‘outsider’s’ opinion- not a snowball’s chance in Sa Pobla of being considered!
Until next month,
John Rule