The Balearic Islands will manage the competence of Coasts from July 2023. The president of the community, Francina Armengol, and the Minister of Territorial Policy, Isabel Rodríguez, have signed this Friday the agreement that will allow the transfer of coastal powers when 40 years have passed. years of the approval of the Statute of Autonomy of the islands, which includes this power.
The Balearic Islands had been demanding the management of a matter that is considered key in the territorial design of the islands for years. The transfer comes in full controversy over the progressive dismantling of beach bars that had been installed for years and that must disappear under the latest regulation of the Coastal Law, which eliminates any exception.
The councils of Eivissa and Formentera have ruled against this regulation, which has direct effects on the first sea line of the islands. In Mallorca, more than 7,000 signatures have been collected to request the protection of some of these facilities and politicians in the opposition to Francina Armengol have attended rallies to request that a well-known restaurant located almost on the sand on one of the beaches of the capital. It will be the Government that comes out of the senior regional elections who now has the competition.
The Government of Francina Armengol considers that this is the most important transfer of powers since the arrival of the autonomous management of education and health. Francina Armengol has affirmed that a historical claim is fulfilled and “an anomaly” is resolved, which was that an insular territory did not have jurisdiction over its coastline and coast.
The President of the Government recalled that the transfer to the coastal councils on rustic land is being negotiated and has indicated that the objective is to take advantage of these months until the competition arrives to harmonize the two transfers and that they can be done simultaneously.
Armengol stressed that these agreements are reached when there is a government in Spain “sensitive to the issue” and thanked the minister and the government for their commitment “because we have never achieved so many things for the citizens of these islands in such a short time”. .
As of next summer, the Balearic Islands will be responsible for managing, granting, and monitoring authorizations for seasonal uses of the maritime-terrestrial public domain, the traffic easement areas (that is, the first six meters from the sea shore) or the public concessions incorporated in the Coastal Law, which are those required for situations such as aquaculture operations or concessions that imply private uses and that must be for a period of more than four years.
In this way, the Government will have as its functions the authorizations related to sun loungers, umbrellas, canteens, anchoring areas, the holding of concerts or courses in the maritime-terrestrial public domain or the installation of other removable movable property.
It will also be in charge of processing, imposing and collecting sanctions for non-compliance with the right-of-way, authorizations for the use of the maritime-terrestrial public domain or non-compliance with the conditions of the concessions. On the other hand, the collection derived from the taxes and royalties of the concessions will continue to correspond to the State.
From a budgetary point of view, the transfer implies sending 1,306,704.88 euros to the Balearic Islands for the management of this competition. 18 workers, six vehicles and the headquarters of the Demarcation of Coasts, located in Palma, are also subrogated.
