The Salvem Portopí campaign has started a signature collection to try to gain citizen support against the industrial uses that the Balearic Islands Port Authority plans to concentrate around the Castell de Sant Carles. ARCA, GOB, Palma XXI, and Fridays for Future are demanding that this strip of the port be destined, instead, for a cultural, heritage, and environmental park that integrates the historic port of Portopí, the Signal tower, and the castle.

The MÉS candidate for mayor of Palma, David Pujol, denounced this Thursday that the nautical bus project being prepared by the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) and the PP “will bring tourist overcrowding to El Molinar and Portitxol”. In a statement, the party criticized that the project mainly responds to the needs of tourist activity and cruise passengers, instead of addressing the daily mobility problems of residents.

The nautical bus in the Bay of Palma will begin operating on November 1st, after the project was left up in the air due to the withdrawal of the joint venture led by TUI, which had won the tender last March. The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) has now opted for a provisional solution to launch the service while it prepares a new tender that will have to guarantee its long-term continuity.

The Palma nautical bus will have to look for another operator before making its first trip. The joint venture led by TUI, selected to provide the service, announced on August 3rd that it was abandoning the procedure. It did so months after having ratified that its proposal was viable and that it would have the necessary vessels and personnel at its disposal. The Balearic Islands Port Authority (APB) is now preparing a new tender, which it plans to bring to the board of directors this September.

The Portitxol Nautical Club faces next Tuesday one of the most decisive assemblies in its recent history. Members will have to vote on the ratification of the reform and expansion project promoted by the board of directors, an initiative that has caused a strong internal division and which many interpret as a choice between maintaining the social and popular character of the club or turning it into a large infrastructure aimed at large-sized boats. The meeting, convened in the assembly hall of the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB), comes after weeks of internal campaigning and a climate of growing tension between sectors in favor and detractors of the project.

Designing the new port of Palma will cost €2.1 million. This is the starting price for the tender launched by the Balearic Islands Port Authority (APB) to contract the technical assistance that will draft the Master Plan and the urban development proposal for the transformation of the commercial docks and the eastern waterfront of the Port of Palma. The tender is now open, and teams of architects and engineers have until February to submit proposals based on the APB's guidelines, which are included in the various published tender documents. This is a long-awaited project, debated for years in institutional, economic, and public spheres, and it must address some of the main challenges facing the port in the 21st century, following exponential growth in ships, cargo, and, most recently, passengers. The renovation stems from the political and institutional consensus reached by the APB Board of Directors on October 30, 2024, after clashes between representatives of the different administrations. The original 2020 reorganization plan generated controversy among shipping companies and repair firms, who felt that the proposal did not adequately address the port's operational and industrial needs. Furthermore, left-wing parties criticized the plan, warning of a model geared towards leisure and the commercialization of the city's waterfront. Faced with this rejection, the APB board initiated a broader debate process that culminated in the 2024 agreement.