The sailing school of the company Whitesand Solutions, owned by Daisee Aguilera, former councilor of Environment of Gent per Formentera who is taking an active role in the mobilization against Llorenç Cordoba scheduled for today, has operated throughout the summer illegally. At the beginning of the season, the Directorate General of Ports and Maritime Transport denied the request for opening, which has not prevented it from operating with impunity throughout the season. This is stated in the document signed by Antoni Mercant, Director General of Ports and Maritime Transport, on May 20, which is in the possession of La Voz de Ibiza . In its resolution,
the Conselleria del Mar y del Ciclo del Agua establishes “.deny the application for the opening of a sailing school in the name of the company Whitesand Solutions, SL (…) due to the following reasons failure of the application to comply with the provisions of the Order of October 2, 1980 of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, which approves the Regulations governing nautical sports schools (BOE No. 248 of October 15), as well as the Resolution of December 21, 1992 of the Directorate General of Merchant Marine, which approved the Regulation of Nautical Schools (BOE No. 24 of January 28)”.
In the file 1/2024, on April 18 the company Whitesand Solutions, SL, submitted an application for the opening of a sailing school. While on May 3 added new documentation to complement that requirement. However, a few days later, on May 16, staff of the Directorate General of Ports and Maritime Transport issued an “unfavorable report on the application for authorization to open a sailing school on behalf of the company Whitesand Solutions, SL“.
The regulations
The regulation governing nautical sports schools (BOE No. 248, October 15) determines that to” start their activities they must be in possession of the school’s opening permit”.
In this sense, it defines these as “companies operated by individuals or commercial companies whose purpose is the practice of activities with recreational boats and the teaching of their handling, sport fishing, sailing, water skiing, etc.”.
These will be classified into five different groups. The first of these corresponds to the dinghy schools, which use “boats propelled solely by sail, not cabin or habitable, in daytime sailings only”. This group includes the Illetes school, now managed by Whitesand Solutions.
What the specifications say
The requirements for the bidding process for the operation of the seasonal beach services from 2022 to 2027 established two types of specifications, one administrative and the other technical. Point 20 of the administrative specifications establishes the “documentation to be submitted by the bidder selected for the award”. There it is determined that “the bidder that has submitted the best offer must prove, within a maximum period of 10 working days, from the day following the day on which it has been requested to do so, that it meets the conditions of capacity, representation and, where appropriate, solvency required in these specifications and that it is up to date with its tax obligations with the State, the Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands, with the Consell Insular de Formentera and with the Social Security”. In section D, the “business or professional qualification that, if applicable, is required for the performance of the activity or provision of the contract is required. The presentation of the application for authorization to open a nautical sports school, as well as the necessary documentation to obtain this authorization”. That is, in this first stage it was only sufficient to display the application for such processing of authorization to the Department of the Sea and Water Cycle. However, in the technical specifications, the enabling title had to be concluded. Point 8.3 clearly states that “they must have the authorization to open a Nautical Sports School, before the Directorate General of Maritime Transport of the Balearic Government, as well as the declaration of responsibility for the start of activity of a profit center for the development of nautical activities of canoeing, before the Directorate General of Maritime and Air Transport of the Balearic Government.
The latter is precisely what the Govern has denied, so in addition to operating illegally, it is also in breach of the specifications. In addition, it is also detailed there that “the sailing schools for which it is planned to open annually, and in which winter season services are offered (sailing, KITE-SURF, wingfoil…) correspond to lot 10 (Illetes) and lot 21 (Es Pujols). The fact that KITE-SURF has to be offered means having to have a level II monitor (212veks01) for that modality, and thus comply with point 5.2 of the administrative specifications”.
Surrealistic response
La Voz de Ibiza has contacted Daisse Aguilera to give his version of this irregularity. Through a text message, he has responded: “Look for the definition of sailing school and read the regulations because it seems that you take what interests you. If you know how to interpret the document, my activity is correct. I have nothing to add “.
Upon further inquiry, he demanded to “stop contacting me“.
Controversial award
The ex-councilor of Environment between 2015 and 2019 for Gent per Formentera, Daisee Aguilera, was one of the beneficiaries in the mega-contest under suspicion of the beach bars of Formentera. One of the irregularities credited by La Voz de Ibiza is that the exconsellera provided an agreement with the Club de Vela de Formentera that she had never signed.
In April of this year, four businessmen who were not awarded the contract filed a complaint with the Guardia Civil, accusing Aguilera of prevarication and influence peddling, as his company signed at least seven of the winning projects for the beach bar lots. Aguilera, since his company signed at least seven of the winning projects of the lots of the beach bars.. Curiously, Aguilera’s company is the only one that offers in Formentera training courses for employees, widely punctuated in the bases of the mega-contest under suspicion.
