The royal decree approved by the Government on December 26th, which regulates various aspects of the Merchant Marine and allows the temporary change of use of private vessels (seventh list) to professional charter (sixth list) for a maximum of three months a year, does not finally include the specific exception for the Balearic Islands that had been announced by the Balearic PSOE in recent months. Nevertheless, the socialists assure that the commitment of the central Executive with that exception is maintained and that it will be regulated in a later norm, before the beginning of the next tourist season.
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Thus it has affirmed to La Voz de Ibiza the socialist deputy for the Balearic Islands Milena Herrera, who has emphasized that the exclusion or limitation of this practice in territories with nautical saturation or environmental risk is a measure in which the Ministry of Transport is working and will be a reality before the next summer.
A decree “at an advanced stage of processing” with no room for changes
Herrera explains that the royal decree published at the end of the year did not incorporate the Balearic exception because its processing was already well advanced, including the mandatory report of the Council of State. ” Incorporating new issues would have meant skipping that step,” says the deputy, who frames the approved text as a compilation of pending issues within the scope of the Directorate General of Merchant Marine.
According to details, the Ministry of Transport is working in parallel on another royal decree that will specifically address the limitations on the temporary change of use of private vessels in areas where there is saturation of the marine industry or environmental risk, as is the case of the Balearic Islands.
Commitment reiterated in Congress
The Ibizan deputy recalls that the Secretary General of Air and Maritime Transport, Benito Núñez, confirmed in October, during an official appearance in Congress, that this limitation would be approved before the next tourist season, following a question asked by Herrera herself in committee.
“The Ministry’s commitment is clear and is maintained,” insists the Socialist parliamentarian, who asks to avoid the alarmism generated after the publication of the December decree and stresses that the exception for the Balearic Islands is still on the Government’s regulatory agenda.
In July, Herrera had said that the Ministry of Transport’s commitment to an exception for the Balearic Islands was the result of negotiations within the PSOE. We have worked to avoid that a regulation designed for the whole state generates more pressure on our coasts,” he said.
No authorizations in the Balearic Islands since August
Herrera also provides data to contextualize the real impact of the measure while the future exception is not approved. Since the temporary change of use is in force, in August last year, no authorization has been granted in the Balearic Islands, according to data provided by the Ministry of Transport itself.
In that period , only two applications were registered in the archipelago, both denied for not meeting the requirements, while in Spain as a whole only two cases were authorized out of less than twenty requests. The deputy stresses that the current system “is very guaranteeing and very demanding”, with strict obligations in terms of insurance, inspections and operating conditions.
It should be recalled that the Balearic Government has already vetoed the tourist rental of private boats in the ports of autonomous ownership, a decision taken in response to the state rule and has been defended by the Executive of Marga Prohens as a measure of environmental protection and coastal management.
Awaiting the new royal decree
Regarding the specific content of the future decree, Herrera recognizes that technical details such as which authority will decide the limitations or what criteria will be applied to allow an exception are still unknown. “We understand that during the first half of the year it will have to be solved,” he concludes.
Meanwhile, the political and industry debate remains open in the Balearic Islands, where the temporary rental of private boats continues to generate majority rejection among charter companies and the Balearic Government, waiting for the announced commitment is translated into a rule published in the BOE.
What the Royal Decree of 26/12 says (and what it does not say)
The Royal Decree 1188/2025, of December 26, 2010published in the Official State Gazette, brings together amendments to several rules on Merchant Marine matters, including technical adjustments to several regulations of the maritime sector. BOE
The text does not include an explicit provision that specifically excludes or restricts the Balearic Islands with respect to the regime of temporary rental of private boats. What the decree includes is a general framework of organizational and safety modifications, but does not incorporate a Balearic exception clause as such.
What was foreseen in the regulations – and which serves as the basis for the debate – is the possibility, in the Maritime Navigation Regulation, of authorizing the temporary change of use of list seven vessels for commercial activities for up to three months a year, provided that safety, insurance and technical certificate requirements are met. This regime came into force gradually from August 2025, after the approval of its regulatory development.
What does not appear in the royal decree is an automatic limitation by saturation or environmental risk applicable by default to the Balearic territory; this is precisely the matter that, according to the PSOE, should be addressed in a future royal decree.
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