Letter from the president - November 2013

A few weeks ago we received the news we have eagerly waited for: charter companies and sea schools are going to be exempt from paying the matriculation tax. This historical milestone is the result of a coordinated effort by a lot of people, of hard work by ANEN and AENIB and of a personal implication by various politicians who understand our realities, not forgetting the continued support of our associates – without it  we would not have been able to get this far. A few days ago we received also the official statistics regarding the nautical tourists that visit our islands annually: 450.000, a number that is likely to rise next year.

Next season the charter companies and sea schools will not be required to pay the matriculation tax. We have been working towards this for years. It is a significative step towards revoking this tax on boats completely, a tax that is unique in Europe and which makes us uncompetitive compared to our neighbours. We have been working for years together with ANEN to get rid of this burden, and along the way we have gained support from various representatives of the political and entrepreneurial sector. It has taken innumerable hours of work, meetings after meetings with various administrations on the european as well as national level, to prepare a practical strategic plan to help us to reach our goal, not to mention the economic effort required. From the next season on, the recreational nautical sector of the islands will start a path towards growth and prosperity.

AENIB´s recommendations before doing charter in Spain

After some delays, last Wednesday October 30th the Spanish Official State Gazette (BOE) published Law 16/2013, of October 28, 2013, adopting measures regarding environmental tax issues and other tax and financial measures. That Law modifies the matriculation/registration tax exemption established by the Spanish Excise Duties Law (Law 39/1992) for vessels effectively and exclusively engaged in the charter activity, eliminating the reference to the maximum length of 15 meters that was required under the previous wording of the Law in order to benefit from the tax exemption. 

The legal process has been tedious as the legal modification had been announced by the Council of Ministers of the Spanish Government on June 28, 2013 and, after a long and somewhat confusing amendments period, has finally been approved and published. The resulting modification of the tax exemption is the outcome of the efforts of many people and nautical industry associations that have spent long time dealing with the tax and maritime authorities, as well as with other members of the political groups involved. 

The Preamble of the Law itself recognizes that this measure will bring the Spanish tax regulations closer into line with those of other European countries, strengthen the Spanish yachting industry (owners, yacht managers, yacht brokers, shipyards, marinas, berths, maintenance, refit, etc.) and produce a revitalizing effect in other productive industries, with the consequence of increasing the capacity to generate wealth and employment. In addition, it will facilitate and make operating charter yachts in Spain more attractive to those who have been avoiding it mainly for tax reasons. It will also help Spain in the diversification, deseasonalization and deconcentration of traditional tourism, which has also been on its agenda for a long time.

Nautical tourism attracts annually around 450.000 tourists to the Balearic Islands

The overall nautical tourism attracts around 450.000 tourists to the Balearics annually, and 2,5% of these confirm that they have practiced nautical sports like diving, according to the press release by the Council of Tourism and Sports this Monday. The Balearic Islands have participated in the ´Dive Show´ of Birmingham, promoting the islands as a diving destination at this show specialized in underwater activities.

The Balearic Islands, through the Balearic Tourism Agency (ATB) participated in this fair last weekend with a stand of 25 m2 with an aim to position the community as a destination for sports diving, and thus highlight the natural and environmental resources of our islands.

300 exhibitors from the sector participated in the latest edition of the ´Dive Show´, including charter and sale of diving boats, equipment, underwater photography and diving schools, amongst others.

Practical training in companies for CAEB pupils

CAEB/BSEF is going to organize courses of professional training that allows the participants to obtain certificates of competence for AUXILIARY OPERATIONS OF ADMINISTRATIVE AND GENERAL SERVICES and for ADMINISTRATION.Apart from the classes of theory, these courses include practical non-working training in companies doing administrative duties (40 hrs per pupil in the first alternative and 80 hrs per pupil in the second) to be had between October and middle of December. 

The practical training will not constitute a working contract between the pupil and the collaborating company, which is entitled to a subvention of 3 euros per pupil and hour of training. The collaborating companies are requested to dedicate a tutor from the company to follow up and to evaluate the progress of the pupil.

If your company is interested in collaborating in this programme, please contact María Montojo (mmontojo@caeb.es or tel. 971 70 60 08), and she will get back to you.

The Congress approves the elimination of the matriculation tax on recreational yachts destined for charter

The companies dedicated to charter and nautical tourism can start planning their 2014 season with the new fiscal situation in mind, which no doubt will help create jobs and wellbeing, consolidating the supply of quality services for the nautical tourism.

- The law will come into force next week, after it is published in the BOE (Official State Bulletin).

- The nautical sector, represented by ANEN, AENIB, AEGY, MYBA and with the help of Direction General of the Merchant Navy, have thus reached one of their main objectives for industrial and entrepreneurial growth.

- This measure does justice to the nautical charter activity, as it matches the fiscal treatment of the recreational charter yachts to the one applied to rental cars. From now on, the recreational charter yachts and sea schools are levied only the VAT of 21%.

- The sea schools don´t need to pay the matriculation tax for their boats anymore either.

Letter from the President - October 2013

This month AENIB participated at the Barcelona International Boat Show. Those few days were very productive with a general focus on how to improve our sector. On the 20th od September some of the most influential representatives of the European nautical sector had a meeting in Palma to address the equivalence of the professional captain´s licenses in Spain, Germany and UK. It was a fruitful meeting, where we had the honour to participate and express our point of view. Only a few days ago the appointment of Alberto Pons as the new President of the Port Authority, replacing José María Urrutia, was made public.

A couple of weeks ago we participated in the Barcelona International Boat Show sharing a stand with ATB, the Balearic Tourism Agency. We had a very succesful few days establishing contacts and explaining the work we do on behalf of our entrepreneurs. We could see clearly how the Show reflects the crisis of the recreational nautical sector, and despite having numerous visitors, the sales results as well as the number of exhibitors were not satisfactory.

Talking more generally of the event, during these few days the Show generated such a number of news that we would need to write several bulletins to address them all! Specially notable were the different meetings organized by ANEN to debate the problems that affect us as a sector and to pass on our worries to the public administration. Along these lines an informative breakfast meeting was organised between ANEN and the Director General of the Merchant Navy, Rafael Rodriguez Valero, where issues like the anticipated new ministerial order regarding the change of qualifications and imminent elimination of the matriculation tax for charter were discussed.

The Barcelona Boat Show receives 53.000 visitors

The Barcelona International Boat Show 2013 exceeded the initial expectations, which were conditioned by the difficulties derived from the economic crisis and the specifics of the sector. The event has contributed to the invigoration of the commercial activity on the nautical market, promoting sales and commercial contacts. Besides, the timing of the show with all its novelties to coincide with the Fiesta de la Mercé (an important local celebration) and the Mediterranean Tall Ships Regatta, succeeded in making Barcelona once again the focal point of the nautical sector.

In its 52nd edition, the Barcelona Boat Show, the most important in Spain and one of the more relevant ones in Europe in its field, generated business and numerous contacts. “A large majority of the exhibitors have evaluated their participation very positively, hoping that many of the operations initiated at the show will come to a fruition in the coming months”, assures the President of the Barcelona Boat Show, Luis Conde, after pointing out that “we have managed to attract a large number of foreign visitors, mainly French, British, German and Russians with high purchasing power, one of the main objectives this year to counteract the sluggishness of the domestic market”.

A few hours before the finish of the show, 53.000 people have visited the show, a quantity that the director of the show, Jordi Freixas, evaluates as very positive “as it demonstrates the great loyalty of the visitors, whether professionals, yachting enthusiasts or the public in general”.