This month I would like to start with by congratulating ANEN for the III Nautical Congress, which has consolidated itself as one of the most important events of the sector. Various representatives and members of AENIB had the pleasure to participate in the congress and to receive information about the most important novelties first hand.
Another relevant piece of news this month has been the unified opposition of the sector against the rise of the T0 tax. AENIB, as it could not be any other way, has given its total support to the protest. We must also not forget that in a less than a months time the Palma Boat Show will take place. As every year, AENIB will participate again.
The Nautical Congress of ANEN has become one of the most important reference points of the sector. Every year it attracts an increasing number of companies, tradesmen and specialists to debate over the future of yachting. On our website and social networking pages you can find a lot of news and articles about the congress, but for us the most important aspects are the fiscal treatment of the sector and the recovery currently taking place in the nautical sector in Spain and in the rest of Europe.
We talked already at length of the recovery at the Annual General Meeting in February. When it comes to taxation, the Tax Office has quantified the income from the Matriculation Tax at 20 million euros a year - a completely irrelevant figure in macroeconomic terms. This tax only serves to chase our clients away. Less clients in the sector means less VAT and other taxes and fees for the Administration. The Matriculation Tax is counterproductive in every kind of way and we don´t rest until it has been completely eliminated. We have already managed to get the charter yachts exempt, and although it is a great achievement it is insufficient. The same applies with other aspects of legislation and taxation of the recreational yachting, which only forces the potential customers to spend their holidays elsewhere. We have to be rational here – according to the Balearic Government, in 2013 the Balearic Islands received 444.000 nautical tourists with a total spending of 428 million euros. What would happen if Spain applied the same taxation and legislation as our competitors? The nautical industry would the spearhead of the Balearic economy. There would be no match to us.
The next edition of the Palma Boat Show will begin on the 30th of April. It will be an event of great importance for all the recreational yachting companies and professionals of our islands. The outlook couldn´t be any better - since some months there has been a waiting list to participate. Without a doubt the Boat Show has grown in a spectacular manner over the recent years, and it is more than justifiable for AENIB to take some of the credit of this improvement. Lets not forget that the current model of the show was born out of the project based on the suggestions of our associates and presented by our association to the Organizing Committee of the Show. We wanted to have a show that would be attractive both for the exhibitors and for the professionals, and naturally for our clients and visitors. We believe that we have achieved this goal, but there is always room for improvement. AENIB will continue to work in order to make the show grow even more, and to avoid loosing ground in case the political colors of the Government change in the upcoming elections.
During the Palma Boat Show AENIB will organize the “Fiesta del Mar”: an event of entertainment on the 1st of May on the stand of Generali. The participants will be able to enjoy the music, good company, a variety of Majorcan nibbles and the excellent wine from the winery of Macia Batle, who have decided to collaborate with us this year. Every associate will have two tickets available - you can request them by mail to secretaria@aenb.es. Rest of the people wanting to participate can acquire the tickets for 6 € each.
Talking of the Boat Show, we would like to reprimand the organization for being slack on the social networks. We haven´t seen any updates for almost about a year. Any respectable boat show shares information on the newtworks all year round, why shouldn´t we? The board of AENIB urges those responsible of the show to do their work properly, or else give the job to somebody who has interest in doing it well.
Few days ago we participated along with other representatives of the nautical sector of our islands in a protest against an increase of T0 tax. In this letter we are not going to list all the reasons why this increase is a mistake, as the issue has been widely commented in the press, but we do believe that attacking the wallets of the recreational yachtsmen is not the right solution to fill the empty coffers of the State. It has never been, although the administration hasn´t believed this. Because of ignorance and prejudice towards the sector, our competitors have gained ground on us. Now that we are about to recover lost territory is not the time to blow it all away. We can´t allow this, not the sector nor the rest of the society, which benefits from the multiplying effects of the nautical industry.
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