2024-01-01 19:45:47
The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility has stated that it cannot approve limitations on access for cruise ships to Spanish ports “lacking the necessary legal support.” This is the response that the Government offers to a battery of written questions registered in Congress by the deputies of Sumar Félix Alonso and Vicenç Vidal and to which Ep has accessed.
The deputies of the plurinational group were interested in their writing about the possibility of promoting a stricter regulatory framework regarding the activity of cruise ships in fiscal, environmental matters or the use of less polluting fuels in light of the increase in cruise ships arriving in the Islands. Balearic Islands in recent years. But they also asked about the actions that the Government plans to carry out to limit the negative environmental impacts of cruise tourism and the damage it causes to the health of the population near the docking ports.
The Executive, in its response, has said first of all that emissions from international maritime traffic are not counted. However, it points out that from Eurostat data, it can be deduced that the percentage of cruises for Spain represented “4.6% of the total number of passenger ships” in 2021. It is at this point where the Government indicates that the portfolio led by Óscar Puente cannot approve limitations on access for cruise ships to Spanish ports because it does not have the necessary legal support.
Furthermore, says the Executive, a prior agreement is required with the main cruise companies, providers of the service, represented in the International Association of Cruise Lines and it is an issue “that affects the coastal cities concerned themselves and the corresponding regional government, as well as the competences in tourism matters”. In this sense, the Government recalls that experiences in this regard are already known, such as the one achieved in Palma de Mallorca in May 2022 to introduce greater rationality in port uses with the staggered arrival of cruise ships.
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