The box of chocolates puts the swallows under suspicion

PalmaA box of chocolates with 20,000 euros and a business card. This ‘gift’ from a businessman of the well-known tourist boats and which the National Police is already investigating has uncovered the enormous business that tourist excursions along the coast generate and the struggle that exists in various points of the coast to obtain an administrative authorization, essential for loading and unloading tourists. Likewise, the historical administrative neglect in some places where millions of people get on and off boats, which are often on public land. Also with incomplete files, authorizations that, according to technicians consulted, “do not add up” and the mediation of city councils that, as is the case of Son Servera, also accumulate court rulings against them for having consented, for example, “the privatization of a pier on public land”, according to the ruling.

The administrator of the company Naviliers Bennàssar, Antoni Bennàssar, confirmed to ARA Balears that he is the sole administrator of the company and that he “would never have consented” for his brother to present himself at the Ministry of the Sea and Water Cycle with a box containing money, and leave it with the director general. For the moment, what the box of chocolates case has indeed caused is the initiation of an in-depth investigation of the facts, which could even go further. Sources close to the investigation have confirmed to ARA Balears that the Economic Crime Unit of the National Police (UDEF) has requested from the Ministry of the Water Cycle and the Sea “more documentation corresponding to the files of the operations at the Cala Millor jetty”.

The Police reviewed the Ministry's security cameras to identify the person who had brought the box of chocolates and took copies of the recordings. Investigators want to verify the administrative authorizations they have, and this has generated concern in the company and in the sector, very important in the island's tourism business.

Two million tourists

The sector of tourist maritime excursions in the Balearic Islands –the popular 'golondrinas' (swallows)– moves nearly two million passengers each year and is in the hands of some forty companies operating more than 60 vessels, according to official data. It is a sector fully integrated into the Balearic tourism model, with routes that cover coves, ports, and enclaves of high landscape value, especially in Mallorca and along the Ibiza-Formentera corridor. This activity, according to sector calculations, generates more than 100 million euros each year in the Islands, but it also has conflicts where economic interests clash with public management with shadows and, above all, historical neglect.

The operation of the business depends on a key element: access to the maritime-terrestrial public domain. Companies need authorizations to install ticket sales booths, mooring points, and anchoring areas. Without permits, they cannot operate. This makes each concession a high-value asset, especially in areas with high tourist traffic.

“This dependence has generated intense competition, sometimes with irregular situations tolerated for years, such as sales points in public domain areas without permits and jetties built by companies without authorization. As long as there wasn't much conflict, the State looked the other way,” says a technician familiar with the situation who wishes to remain anonymous.

The case of Cala Millor – far from being the only one – accumulates a history of confrontations between operating companies, with private agreements with the Son Servera City Council to operate a jetty in the public domain that Justice condemned, and brief conflicts over a ticket sales booth. “Being located near the jetty is key because that way you sell the excursion and not the competition,” points out a technician consulted by ARA Balears. For this reason, Costas had to mediate for years between the company Naviliers Bennàssar and Creuers Illa Balear, to the point of decreeing “an annual alternation to occupy the best sales point. One year one company would set up there and the next year, the other,” explains a business source.

This agreement also ended in confrontations and recriminations between the companies that reached the Administration. “There was a Solomon’s judgment, but the change of the Costas delegate – when the competences were still state-level – caused the alternation to be broken and fierce competition to erupt again,” recalls a technician.

All of this exposes the tensions between companies trying to attract tourists to their boats. In some cases, “they don’t even agree on schedules, because the most logical thing would be for them to be complementary.” “But at certain jetties, ridiculous situations occur where one boat is waiting and pressuring another that is also picking up clients,” confirms Joan, a former employee of a company from the north of Mallorca. These companies compete for the same spaces and “during intense high season periods there are nerves.” “They move a lot of money, more than we can imagine, and that shows,” highlights Joan.

The Cala Millor jetty file, consulted by ARA Balears, confirms that “the elements authorized in public domain do not match those that were requested.” “Another example of how Costes has worked badly. The problem goes back a long way,” laments the technician.

Palma redraws the business

In Palma, there is a change of direction in the swallow sector. The Board of Directors of the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands decided to call a public tender to manage the Local Transit terminal – the swallow pier –, a concession that will include the moorings and two points for the future Nautical Bus.

have been sanctioned for behaviors linked to their activity. Waste, music at all hours even within natural spaces and a lot of alcohol.

The Port Authority has acted against this reality and the new operator of the space will only be able to accommodate “pasenger transport vessels (second list). The well-known party boats will be excluded”, explain sources from the Port Authority regarding the tender rules. Furthermore, the concessionaire will have to assume new obligations: from the programming of cultural and family activities to environmental measures and the integration of the public Nautical Bus service.

The figures partly explain this shift. Currently, 18 vessels operate at the Port of Palma with an estimated joint turnover that can reach 20 million euros annually. In contrast, the port fees paid so far are very low compared to this volume of business. The new tender sets a minimum occupancy fee of nearly 192,000 euros annually, in addition to 4% of the activity.

The reform by the Port Authority responds to "the need to regulate activity, improve coexistence with residents, and adjust the economic return from public domain". For the sector, the change opens up uncertainties. Concentration in a single operator could leave out historic companies and completely alter the business map.

The ‘party boats’, the darker side

The phenomenon of the so-called party boats –tourist boats that combine sea excursions, music, alcohol, and a festive atmosphere– is the darker side of the

golondrinas business. They have consolidated in recent years as one of the most controversial derivatives of tourism in the Balearic Islands, despite the struggle of some administrations to combat the sale of alcohol and, above all, noise. But it has not been achieved by a long shot to put an end to this fact.

Ibiza is the main epicentre of the phenomenon. Several

party boat companies have been sanctioned for behaviour linked to their activity. Waste, loud music even within natural spaces, and a lot of alcohol.