Xavier Ramis

What is your view of the transport infrastructure on the island in terms of connectivity?

At a general level, the Balearic Islands are extremely well connected to the rest of Europe. It is one of the European regions that quickly recovered its sea and air mobility services despite the challenges faced after COVID-19. In fact, the maritime sector has recovered rapidly. The Balearic Islands have a unique geographical location in the Mediterranean, with excellent weather in the summer. Our islands strongly support the nautical sector, and our ports are unique destinations by themselves, due to the quality of the facilities, being a reference in the Mediterranean Sea. We provide a high-quality service, and there are excellent maintenance services for yachts and boats, as well as repair services for boats. Our regional government manages about 29 ports, and there is also an indirect management by nautical clubs and marinas. Recently, the government has focused on improving the quality of the port facilities under its management. It has worked to improve their services to bridge the gap with those managed by nautical clubs and marina. There have been significant investments from the governments in the ports of the four islands, including 55 different projects for EUR49 million in total. These projects seek to equal the quality of the services. Ciudadela Port, for example, saw a complete revamp.

What work is being done at Ports IB to increase the standard in terms of sustainability?

Ports IB is a self-sufficient regional government company that generates its own resources for its management. There is a study on climate change on Spain’s ports that has a view for 2045 and 2100 to evaluate the effects of climate change. It studies the effects of climate change on our ports. In our future plans, we only have investments in the Balearic Islands that take into account the effects of climate change. The region has advanced significantly in this area, having developed an infrastructure project that includes the effects of climate change. According to the study, our facilities are ready for the effects of climate change by 2045, though we have to make other investments to cope with the effects of climate change by 2100. We will have some pioneering facilities to cope with the effects of climate change. One of the goals is to develop new management methodologies to provide services to more individuals without having to significantly expand our current infrastructure. One of our main goals is to democratize access to the sea, making ports available for everyone.

How does your company work to promote the private nautical sector of the island?

We have special coordination with all the business sectors related to the nautical industry. It is important to connect and generate synergies. The nautical sector has sought the government’s assistance to educate more young professionals to have the required skills for the sector, from conducting maintenance works to ports management. The first one, the first master’s degree in the nautical sector, has been approved and will be offered by the University of the Balearic Islands. In addition, we want to have more people trained in vocational school studies for the nautical industry, while doing the necessary works to improve or facilities. There are those port projects that are being carried out that will contribute to the upscaling of the Balearic Islands as an ideal destination for tourism. People who like sailing must have the capacity to easily reach out to our island and enjoy our nautical sector. This sector has managed to recover quickly and has proved its potential for the long-term growth of the Balearic Islands.