Llorenç Riera. The seas are choppy on the Spanish coast of the Mediterranean, which by nature should be placid and tame. There is plenty of swell caused by the projects of oil prospecting and surface waves as a result of economic malaises and threats, even if these latter ones are not as important as chasing oil under the water. But, between one and the other - as usual - the general upset has resurfaced and intensified the storm that doesn´t show any signs of weakening.
The nautical sector is outraged to find out that the central Government is planning a new tax that can suppose an additional cost of 500 € to dock a boat. In fact it is a sea rescue surcharge that increases by 128% though a decree by the Ministry of Public Works. It will be applied just the same whether a boat is moored for a day or for a month, so it may - apart from affecting the local boats - provoke a scare among the foreigners. There are rumors that on the French Cote D´Azur, in the Italian yacht clubs and the Croatian marinas people are rubbing their hands in their expectation to receive those who scurry away from the Spanish coasts. In the case of the Balearic Islands there is an aggravating factor of the ongoing privatization of the ports, with the following increase of the mooring prices. Even that in mind, there is a fear that the new tax can be more expensive than the mooring itself.
But the tangible outrage in the ports has not only with economy to do. Those who understand something about navigation, affirm that this increase under the pretext of contributing to the sea rescue in the form of maintaining the light houses and other elements of nautical orientation does not make any sense, as modern GPS has replaced the traditional methods. A land based comparison would be to say that the cars need to be taxed for the work done on the roads by the Traffic Police and ambulances.
Read the complete article in Diario de Mallorca.
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