Mallorca: 79 new boat berths spark Can Picafort row

A plan for 79 new boat berths off Can Picafort, Mallorca, faces a challenge over what lies on the seabed. On 8 October, environmental group the GOB urged the Balearic Islands port authority, PortsIB, not to approve an expansion of the Club Náutico de Can Picafort. It says there is too little information about the habitats and species where part of the project would be built.

Pontoons in shallow water

The plan includes four floating pontoons for small sailing boats and another for the sailing school. It also calls for around 70 screw anchors in the seabed, a galvanised steel chain and new markers for boats. According to the GOB, the water is about 0.7 to 1.2 metres deep.

The group disputes the description of the installations as removable. It points to fixed work including about 140 metres of roadway, trenches, pipes and concrete elements. It also wants a closer survey of the seabed before the anchors are approved, including an assessment of the chains and the effects of installing and removing them.

The GOB says boating already puts pressure on nearby Cala de s'Aigua Dolça. It cites a 2023 report by the Directorate-General for Coasts and the Sea which said boating had reduced the area theoretically available for bathing. The report called for a line of buoys to separate it from the navigation channel. The group wants the new project's effects assessed alongside those of existing boating activity.

Permission and missing studies

The GOB also questions permission for the proposed installations in an area known as Zona II. It says the area was not covered by the original concession. The administration called for a separate procedure to develop it in 2014, and the area was assigned to the port in March 2025. The group wants PortsIB to identify what authorises its use and clarify whether some proposed markers and anchors fall outside its boundaries.

There is another question over environmental studies the club says it submitted. The GOB says it could not find them among the documents available for public inspection. It wants PortsIB to check whether they are in the project file and, if they contain relevant environmental information, publish them and open a new period for objections.

Topics: Sea & coast · Politics · Santa Margalida

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com