The 41 moorings of the historic port of Sanitja, north of Mercadal, will be available for use again from this summer. This was announced this Thursday by the Minister of the Sea and Water Cycle, Juan Manuel Lafuente, at the end of the coordination meeting convened with Costas, the boaters, the City Council and the Consell de Menorca to find a solution.

The historic port of Sanitja, which housed the ancient Roman city of Sanisera, north of Mercadal, is on the verge of the boatless season. Not a single one of the forty that were still there until this winter. Costes has evicted them for failing to regularize the users' association and the legal status of the five jetties that were used in this protected area, which had already led to the opening of several sanctioning proceedings by the state administration.

Two babies, aged 2 and 18 months, are hospitalized at Can Misses Hospital in Ibiza after being rescued from a boat with symptoms of dehydration. According to sources at the Balearic Islands Health Service (Ib-Salut), the infants are in the Pediatric ward and are recovering well. The girls were traveling on a boat with 32 sub-Saharan migrants that was intercepted on Saturday in Ibiza. This is one of the three boats whose disappearance was reported last week, as confirmed by the NGO Caminando Fronteras. Initially, it was reported that there were 30 occupants, but it has now been confirmed that the two children were also on board. The boat had departed from the coast of Algeria on January 22 and was carrying three women and two children, among other passengers. Following their rescue by Maritime Rescue, the migrants were able to contact their families in their countries of origin, who had previously alerted the humanitarian organization to their disappearance. The Government Delegation in the Balearic Islands had reported on Friday that the Algerian Navy had intercepted two of the boats reported missing, although without providing details that would allow for their identification. That same day, the Civil Guard and Maritime Rescue rescued another vessel with 22 people on board in southern Mallorca, which was confirmed as one of the missing boats. With the location of the boat intercepted on Saturday in Ibiza, at least one of the vessels initially reported as located by the Algerian authorities does not correspond to those that had been reported missing, according to Caminando Fronteras. Meanwhile, the two children remain hospitalized and under medical observation.

The Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has filed an administrative appeal against several articles of Decree 44/2025, which regulates the rental of boats and recreational vessels in the Balearic Islands. The agency warns that some measures could limit the supply of rental services, hinder the entry of new operators, and affect the variety and quality of services available to consumers.

The artisanal fishing fleet will strike next Monday in protest against the new obligations imposed on the fishing sector, which they describe as disproportionate and ineffective. However, the Balearic Federation of Fishermen's Associations has indicated that an indefinite strike is not out of the question. According to their statement, the sector has submitted objections to the General Secretariat of Fisheries, arguing that the rigid application of the new control obligations stemming from Regulation (EU) 2023/2842 is causing serious operational, economic, and safety problems for the artisanal fleet. They stated that these regulations were designed without considering the daily realities of artisanal and coastal fishing and could have the opposite effect to that intended. They warned of legal uncertainty, loss of profitability, deterioration of fresh catches, and an unnecessary increase in risks at sea.

The federation referred to the imposition of a four-hour advance notification requirement for arrival in port, noting that it is practically impossible for vessels operating on shifts of less than 24 hours and working close to the coast. "Many ships are being forced to remain stationary at sea, just minutes from port, simply to complete an administrative procedure. This makes no sense; it reduces revenue, worsens the quality of the fish, and puts crews at risk," they stated. They added that this requirement violates the principle of proportionality, contradicts the very principles of the European regulation, and clashes with maritime safety regulations, which give absolute priority to the captain's professional judgment and the protection of human life at sea.

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The Balearic Islands Port Authority (Ports IB) managed the removal of 53 boats that arrived at various ports in the archipelago during 2025. The average cost per vessel, which includes transport from the port, dismantling, cleaning, and decontamination of the affected areas, was €616, according to the Ministry of the Sea and Water Cycle. These actions are part of the regular procedures that Ports IB maintains to guarantee the safety, cleanliness, and proper functioning of port facilities, as well as the appropriate management of abandoned vessels in accordance with environmental and safety criteria. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, 7,321 people arrived in the Balearic Islands aboard 401 boats during 2025. This figure represents a 24.5% increase compared to the previous year and confirms 2025 as the year with the most arrivals recorded to date in the Canary Islands, both in terms of the number of people and the number of boats. The trend of arrivals has continued into early 2026, with seven boats carrying a total of 147 people already located in Formentera, Cabrera, and Mallorca during the first four days of the year. Since 2020, Ports IB has managed the removal of 324 boats from the ports of the Balearic Islands. The total cost of managing these operations amounts to €199,680. Analysis of the period between 2020 and 2025 shows a significant concentration of arrivals at specific points along the coast and during particular times of the year. Colonia de Sant Jordi is the port with the most boats removed, with 120 vessels, followed by Cabrera, with 106, and Portocolom, with 69. Other ports such as Cala Figuera, Sant Antoni, and Portopetro have lower figures, while the remaining facilities register occasional arrivals. Regarding the monthly distribution, the data shows a clear seasonal pattern, with a higher incidence during the autumn months. October is the month with the most boats removed, 46, followed by November, 37, and September, 34. High numbers are also recorded during the summer, especially in August and July, while March, May, and April have the lowest figures.

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The Civil Guard and Maritime Rescue have rescued a total of 115 migrants traveling aboard four boats located between Friday night and Saturday morning in the waters off Formentera, Cabrera, and southern Mallorca. The first intervention took place on Friday at 11:38 p.m., when a boat carrying 26 people of sub-Saharan origin was intercepted off the northwest coast of Cabrera, in southern Mallorca, according to the Government Delegation. This was the first boat located in Mallorca this year and the second in the Balearic Islands, after another boat with 16 occupants was intercepted hours earlier in Formentera. Later that morning, around 2:40 a.m., rescue teams located a boat with 13 people of North African origin half a mile from the La Mola lighthouse, in southern Formentera. Later, at 7:50 a.m., 20 people of North African origin were rescued from another boat south of Formentera. Simultaneously, a fourth operation was carried out southwest of Cape Blanc, in Mallorca, where a group of 29 people of sub-Saharan origin were assisted. The last boat of the day was located at 10:50 a.m., when a group of 27 people of sub-Saharan origin were rescued from a vessel located southeast of Cabrera. According to a count compiled by the EFE news agency from data provided by the Ministry of the Interior and the Government Delegation, six boats carrying a total of 131 people have been located in the Balearic Islands so far this year.

]]> A stroll along Palma's seafront no longer means seeing the sea – yes, the sea that was once its main attraction. From Porto Pi to the Muelle Vell (Old Wharf), what you see now are boats moored, tightly secured. "A port with more than 2,000 moorings!" boasts one website. And yes, what you see are thousands of boats, small, medium, and many outrageously large, with names like "Libertà," "Eterna Primavera" (Eternal Spring), "Sweet Dreams," or "Goldene Meerjungfrau" (Golden Meerjungfrau), which obscure the horizon. This isn't just happening in Palma. Next come El Molinar, Can Pastilla, El Arenal… You can travel around Mallorca or the Balearic Islands, and one after another, there are ports, harbors, and coves serving as marinas. And thousands of boats that spend a good part of the year waiting for their owners to arrive for a week or a couple of days. There are no figures on the total number of moored boats, but the ports are overflowing and the sea is suffocating. In islands where there is no available housing, how many 'floating homes' are there exactly? Official statistics are confusing – as always, due to a lack of data – but they invariably point to the Balearic Islands' leading position in recreational boat registrations compared to the rest of Spain, with hundreds of new registrations every year. This is to say nothing of the waiting lists, stretching for years and decades, for a mooring berth. Paradise, if it dies, always dies of success.

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The Spanish government's delegate in the Balearic Islands, Alfonso Rodríguez, stated that the central government cannot confirm the overall figures released by the organization Caminando Fronteras regarding mortality on the migration route from North Africa to the Balearic Islands, although he affirmed that he "respects" them. In any case, he did confirm the deaths of 63 people on this route during 2025.

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Since July, the Spanish government has allowed private individuals to rent out their boats for commercial use for up to three months per year. However, during this period, a boat rental company—the well-known nautical charters—must manage the vessel, which must meet the same technical requirements as boats rented year-round. The state government's regulations have sparked a clash between executives of Pedro Sánchez and Marga Prohens.

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The newly formed Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Nautical Activities of the Balearic Islands (APANIB) – representing small and medium-sized businesses in the professional nautical charter sector – warned this Thursday that seven out of ten small charter businesses in the Islands could close due to the Government Decree regulating this type of vessel activity. According to APANIB, the new regulations prohibit the sale of individual berths, a legal practice in other autonomous communities. Furthermore, they prohibit access to public boat ramps, require charter companies to have a mooring to operate, and deny registration of new vessels. APANIB President Álvaro Aguirre stated that the regulations place all charter companies "in a legal gray area" and cause them financial losses. He asserted that approximately 800 workers in the Balearic Islands are affected by this measure. Furthermore, he added that the government "has not given companies time" to adapt to the regulations. For his part, the association's vice president, Àlex Mestre, considered that the legislation introduces unprecedented measures and restrictions without any technical or environmental justification. "We are talking about restrictions that damage the market and the reputation of those who comply with the law, that do not bring about environmental improvements, nor do they increase maritime safety, because the same boat, with the same skipper, the same insurance, and the same inspections, does not change its impact on the sea whether selling individual berths or chartering the entire boat," he insisted. APANIB has filed several legal challenges against these regulations. For the time being, according to the association, the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) issued a preliminary request questioning the Decree "to detect a disproportionate ban on selling berths, the suitability of the regulation for environmental or safety purposes, and a possible infringement of state powers (Merchant Marine) and operators." According to sources within the organization, the Balearic Government is obligated to respond to the CNMC within a maximum of two months. Industry professionals are confident that this will happen and that the issue will be resolved before the start of the next season.

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Between 8,000 and 12,000 deaths or illegal permanent anchoring due to mooring boats have plagued the Balearic Islands' coastline for decades, a consequence of historical inaction by the government. These facilities cause a significant environmental impact, to which must be added the abandonment of hundreds of moored vessels, which are entering a phase of degradation "discharging fuel, oil, plastic waste, and various chemical materials into the sea," explains the biologist responsible for the report. Balearic SeaRaquel Vaquer. Furthermore, "these anchorages are often in areas that don't have the same level of protection as a port, because they have been occupied irregularly, which means bad weather affects the vessels much more severely and, therefore, the degradation process accelerates," she concludes.

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Maritime Rescue crew member Manuel Capa strolls through the port of Ibiza during a break from his shift. The sailor contemplates a spectacle of Ferraris and other luxury cars parading by to the applause of the crowd. Like the rest, he takes out his cell phone to record one, driven by a driver wearing a futuristic helmet. Minutes later, he's called to carry out a rescue: a boat with about fifteen men, frightened and without enough life jackets. The rescuers urge them to remain calm and not crowd together, otherwise the boat could capsize. "Great wealth is secure, and poverty risks life at the same time and in the same place," reflects Capa, who is a CGT union delegate. Emotionally integrating these two realities is difficult for him.

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The polarization over the wave of migration has impacted the Balearic Islands, which in recent years have seen a significant increase in the number of immigrants arriving by boat, some of them minors. The People's Party (PP) and its partner, Vox, have made the issue a front against the Spanish government. From the more or less direct link between irregular immigration and crime, to accusations against the Spanish government and NGOs of generating a "pull effect," various specialists consulted by ARABalears point out fake news of these parties on the migration issue.

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The migratory route between the Algerian coast and the Balearic Islands is constantly changing. Beyond the increase in arrivals over the last five years, the danger of the journey has also increased; the profile of those arriving, their motivations, and the authorities' response have all changed. What began in 2018 as a sporadic trickle of people crossing from one neighboring country to another has now become an established route, one of the most important in the Mediterranean, through which people depart whose journey begins thousands of kilometers from our shores.

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Maritime Rescue rescued 11 migrants with symptoms of dehydration this Friday, four of them in serious condition, who were adrift on a boat 35 miles southeast of Menorca.

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Passengers gather at 6:30 a.m. at Maritime Station No. 3 in the port of Palma. There's a ferry to Formentera at eight, and a queue has formed in front of the shipping company's offices to get their boarding passes. On a bench at the back of the building, a young man sleeps, oblivious to the entire oil mill. He's dressed in a tracksuit with a hat covering his face. At his feet, he has a green plastic bag with a sweatshirt inside. He's one of the thousands of people who have arrived by boat in recent weeks. He's resting soundly, while the noise increases as the minutes pass. Spoons can be heard tapping against cups in the cafeteria, a sleepy child cries, and a nervous dog scratches its owner's legs. There are more suitcases and backpacks at every turn. Near the sleeping young man, a woman is burning herself with hot water, oblivious to her surroundings. Groups of young people show their excitement at traveling with their friends.

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The search for the 12 migrants missing in the sinking of a small boat in Cabrera and for the three missing in a boat sinking in southern Mallorca has been suspended. This was confirmed this Monday by Maritime Rescue, which explained that no more resources will be deployed to carry out search operations, although warnings will be issued to mariners in case of any sightings.

]]> In recent weeks, we have seen how the Prohens government has focused much of its communications efforts on addressing the increase in the arrival of migrants via small boats and the distribution of minors in care. It is true that the data show an upswing that makes it easy to think that the infrastructure for their reception has become saturated. Even so, the phenomenon is sufficiently complex to urge our leaders to take a broad view, offering effective measures to address this problem while avoiding excessively straining coexistence.

]]> At a time when simple rhetoric prevails over complex debate, with the far right increasingly prevalent on the streets, in institutions, and in the media, the issue of immigration cannot be addressed with a facile cry of alarm, nor can it become a source of political bickering, as we have seen recently.

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