balearic mooring leases - 2018

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julians

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Hi all,

Is anyone up to speed on the latest situation with regard to the end dates of mooring leases in the Balearics?

For those who dont know (and if someone knows this in more detail than me, then please correct me). back in the 60's/70s various marinas were built and mooring leases were sold with a 50+ year duration, however in 1988 the spanish govt enacted a new law stating that no lease could be longer than 30 years. Some people assumed that rule only applied to new leases granted after the 1988 date, some (mainly marina operators) think that it can be retrospectively applied to leases granted before that date, effectively cutting short any leases by a number of years.

I own the lease to a mooring in Port Adriano, it was a 50 year lease issued in 1974 , so depending on your interpretation of the 1988 law, it either ends in 2024 (50 years from 1974), or 2018 (30 years from 1988).

Now I have received a letter from the marina stating that my concession will end at the end of July 2018, this is 6 years before the date when I think the concession ends .

Has anyone got any experience of handling these type of things , and which end date is correct?
 
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It doesnt mention the term at all(or an end date),just the original issue date of 1974.

Also , I didnt buy the lease from the marina,i bought it from the previous lease holder in 2006.

I understand (albeit 3rd hand) that leaseholders in portals have already been thorugh this,and ultimately had their original lease duration upheld, which on the face of it must mean the same applies for adriano,unless there is something else in the small print /contract.
 
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julians said:
It doesnt mention the term at all(or an end date),just the original issue date of 1974.
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Buy for how long ? —- it can,t be infinity .Leases tend to be for a given time period which is normally known about and written in somewhere at the outset ,
Or a set of rules like - the lessee is allowed to live here ( use the facilities?) until he/ she dies etc ,or while gainfully employed by xyz estate etc .
 
The 'titulo de amarre' (Title of mooring) that I have , does not specify an end date or a duration, but I understand that in spanish law in 1974, the standard (unwritten?) duration was 50 years.

But I agree with your assertion that without an end date, you could argue it was an infinate lease.
 
I dont think you should be judging this question by 'english' (or any other countries) rules/law , in spain (as I understand it - and this is why I'm asking if anyone has any experience in this - specifically balearic moorings) mooring leases were generally limited by the length of the 'administrative grant', this is the length of time the govt leased the land the marina owner, in the case of adriano in 1974 , this was 50 years, hence the expectation that my lease expires in 2024 (50 years after 1974).

The govt in 1988 decided that administrative grants could not be longer than 30 years, but there is confusion (exactly because there is no end date specified in the original lease titles) whether this only applies to grants after 1988, or can be retrospectively applied to grants before 1988.

Does anyone on here have any experience specifically of this scenario in the balearics? I understand that portals lease holders have been through this process, I'd be grateful of any input from anyone who has.

I dont believe that applying an english view of the law here is helpful.

have a read here below for more background - although the first link deals with issues on the spanish mainland, which may be subtly different to the balearics.

http://www.noonsite.com/Members/sue/R2010-06-03-4

http://www.nauticalegal.com/en/reports/161-moorings-in-spain-lease-or-purchcase
 
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Well the “law of coast “ answers it .Its up as the letter from the marina office says in 2018 .
Without an end date the “ lease “ ( or what ever it proper name is ? ) usually has an overriding but little used higher authorities ability to intervene as and when .
They leave that option open to themselves,in this case the Spanish Gov can .
As time passes because the higher authority never actually excerises it’s theoretical right (s) - people start to convienantly forget about it .Particularly if they have something to sell on the coast !
I,am using my expertise buying properties in France , Italy, Switzerland and of course U.K. .

Spain has its “ law of coast “ —- A good reason to avoid any property transactions along the said “ coast “ what ever that means ?

Sounds like the 1988 revision was a signal of the direction of travel .At least they gave 30 y s as a head start - kinda compromise by the sound of things .

Digressing there’s been a lot of adverse publicity re Spanish “ land grab “ in coastal resorts - folks loosing there sea side villas etc —- but it’s perfectly legal in Spain I understand the “ law of coast “ and they should have properly advised exactly what they bought . From what I understand those folks where not given 30 y s to get there affairs in order .

Eg in Switzerland when our house ( ski chalet ) was built at the time the Gov relaxed the law on nuclear bunkers .
Instead of every dwelling having one under each property ( with correct air filtration etc ) - in a development of say 6 only one has a bigger bunker under it -with enough beds for all the dwelling s btw - so pretty large underground structure., but the nearby neighbours ( who have no new bunker ) have a right to use / inspect / occupie / visit .
This means if you buy one of those technically your neighbours can waltz up any time and insist to go in .Access is from inside that house / chalet .You know heavy missile style bunker door thingy etc
In reality nobody ever does ( although with rocket man these days hmm :)-
But nether the less in my house deeds there is section outlining my right to enter this neighbours house to use the bunker .
Went in once year 2000 btw for a look around .

So for me in Spain the Gov or it’s agents can excerise “ law of the coast “ if they wish - just as I have I right to enter the neighbours bunker , and any successor to my property .

Regarding the other marina that seemingly has beaten down a proposed lease term reduction, I would find how how they were successful?
But surely your marina office will be aware of that case too and in spite decided to go down the “ law of coast “ route .
There could be different circumstances I guess ?
 
It doesnt mention the term at all(or an end date),just the original issue date of 1974.

Also , I didnt buy the lease from the marina,i bought it from the previous lease holder in 2006.
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I would be surprised if the original document made no reference to the 50 year clause. When purchasing the mooring would be down to your solicitor. All the documents are held centrally anyway, so no way could the person who sold you the mooring do anything incorrectly.

I bought my first mooring in 2016 when the issue was not fully resolved - so took a risk. Was told by a few that they were very confident the concession would be honoured and it has been. Bought second mooring last year and even then it was not official - just harbour captain said it would be honoured.
 
TonyR123 said:
I would be surprised if the original document made no reference to the 50 year clause. When purchasing the mooring would be down to your solicitor. All the documents are held centrally anyway, so no way could the person who sold you the mooring do anything incorrectly.

I bought my first mooring in 2016 when the issue was not fully resolved - so took a risk. Was told by a few that they were very confident the concession would be honoured and it has been. Bought second mooring last year and even then it was not official - just harbour captain said it would be honoured.
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Thanks for that, you are in puerto portals i think?

Wonder why adriano are attempting to terminate leases 'early', i guess the answer is to attempt to make some more money.
 
It is puerto portals. Before I had the mooring there was a dispute that was won by the berth holders.

https://majorcadailybulletin.com/news/local/2012/07/19/31712/back-business-for-puerto-portals.html.

Am somewhat surprised that the owners in Adriano also did not do something similar. Maybe the concession wasn't as water tight - not that I think the portals concession is even remotely water tight. The fact that the goverment can even think about revoking concessions is madness. The port pays the concession to the goverment (many millions no doubt) and they then have to recoup from the owners.

If it is upheld and concession ends in 2018 it doesn't set a great precedence for the future! Not great news to start the year!!
 
Forgot to mention I think the goverment determined all concessions should be 30 years max, hence anything signed over and above is deemed illegal by the goverment. If portals can argue otherwise then surely Adriano can? Maybe that is me being naive. Or maybe the port is goverment run so they don't care - be surprised if that is the case.

The lawyer in question I have since used to buy an apartment. Seemed pretty good to me!
 
Is the port giving you the opportunity to buy a new thirty year lease for your pontoon? If so it could be an asset worth acquiring
 
TonyR123 said:
Forgot to mention I think the goverment determined all concessions should be 30 years max, hence anything signed over and above is deemed illegal by the goverment. If portals can argue otherwise then surely Adriano can? Maybe that is me being naive. Or maybe the port is goverment run so they don't care - be surprised if that is the case.

The lawyer in question I have since used to buy an apartment. Seemed pretty good to me!
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I thought the same (if portals can get the original concession duration then so can adriano). Adriano is not govt run,it is run by a private company (ocibar).

I suspect the view in adriano (and the reason why nobody has done anything proactively) was that seeing as portals eventually got agreement to honour the original concession then that outcome would automatically apply to adriano.

Will see where this goes, i think a few leaseholders are getting organised now.
 
I was considering buying a private lease in Portals this year, but pulled out after my representative had a meeting with the Port Captain. Basically Portals have secured an extension to their lease until the original term expires, conditional on the port paying a very large sum backdated, revised annual lease rental payments to the port authority (massive increase!) and commitments from the port to invest over E20m in the port infrastructure over the remaining term. I have no doubt these extra costs to the port will be passed on to private & port berth holders in the form of increased service charges/mooring charges... we shall see! (I have a port berth)

There are some changes planned for private lease berths in terms of how they are allowed to rent out their berths, although not confirmed yet, it seems that those berths will only be able to rent out through the Port, who will set the rate and take up to 50% of the rentals received. At the end of those leases the berths will revert to the port, as far as I have been informed, what happens then has not been specified, perhaps the port will offer first refusal to current leasees to purchase a new lease, but should not be taken for granted, they may prefer to keep all moorings for themselves, on current demand they would make a lot more.

Maybe this deal model could apply to Adriano, but I am not aware that private berth holders in Portals received any notice to quit prior to this. Needless to say politicians see 'big bucks' in all the marinas simply floating there, and cannot resist plundering, especially now Spain sees such an increase in demand from boat owners & tourists....

Hope Adriano leaseholders can get a satisfactory outcome. :encouragement:
 
Hi pan,

Thanks for that info,interesting that portals has a number of conditions to fulfil in order to stay with the original lease date.

Ive asked a lawyer out there for his opinion on the end date of my lease in adriano,will see where this goes.
 
julians said:
Hi pan,

Thanks for that info,interesting that portals has a number of conditions to fulfil in order to stay with the original lease date.

Ive asked a lawyer out there for his opinion on the end date of my lease in adriano,will see where this goes.
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Hi Julians.

Have you had any further info on this?

Thanks
 
Not much further info. Adriano are adamant the lease ends on july 28 2018, which is 30 years after the ley de costas was agreed in 1988,limiting all leases to 30 years. They have offered that i can stay on the mooring if i pay rent for it at the going rate.

Currently weighing up my options, the way i see it,i have the following:-

1. Take the legal route ,dont fancy this in a foreign country
2. Pay the rent ,/try and negotiate a compromise
3.find a mooring elsewhere nearby,there are some and might be a bit cheaper
4. Sell boat, decide its not worth the money anymore
5. Just squat on the mooring and deal with consequenses,prob fairly similar to 1 above
 
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