Mallorca Mooring Guide: Costs, Rules and How the Concession System Works

Securing a Mallorca mooring is one of the most complex and consequential decisions a boat owner on this island will face. A Mallorca mooring in the right port, at the right size, with the correct legal documentation in place, is a genuinely valuable asset — one that can appreciate, be transferred and in many cases be sold on the open market. Get it wrong, however, and you can find yourself paying annual fees on a concession that does not legally permit what you assumed it did, or tied to a berth you cannot sell. This guide covers the full picture: how the Spanish concession system works, who administers Mallorca moorings, what things actually cost, and the key questions to ask before signing anything.

How the Mallorca Mooring System Works

In Spain, the seabed and the water column above it are state property. This means that no individual or company can own a Mallorca mooring outright in the way you might own a piece of land. What can be owned — or more precisely, granted — is a concession: a long-term administrative right to occupy and use a specific berth within a designated port. Concessions are granted by the relevant port authority and are subject to Spanish maritime and port law.

On Mallorca, the authority responsible for most of the island's commercial and leisure ports is Ports de les Illes Balears (Port IB), a public body of the Balearic Government. Port IB administers the majority of Mallorca's public leisure ports, sets the tariff structure for annual berth fees, and controls the rules governing concession transfers, vessel size limits and permitted uses. A number of private marinas — including Puerto Portals and Port Adriano — operate under separate concession arrangements with the Spanish State, administered through Puertos del Estado rather than Port IB, which gives them somewhat different commercial flexibility.

Types of Mallorca Mooring Concession

There are three principal arrangements under which a boat owner secures a Mallorca mooring on a long-term basis:

Annual rental from the port authority. The most straightforward arrangement. Port IB publishes an annual tariff for berth rental at its managed ports. You pay the fee, the berth is assigned, and you renew annually. There is no asset value, no transfer rights and no capital gain — but it is simple and legally clean. Waiting lists for desirable sizes at popular ports can be long.

Concession purchase (secondary market). In ports where long-term concessions have been granted to private individuals or companies, these concessions can often be bought and sold on the open market, subject to port authority approval. The buyer acquires the remaining term of the concession — which may be 10, 20 or 30 years depending on when it was originally granted — together with the right to occupy the berth and pay the annual port fee. This is the transaction most often described informally as "buying a mooring" in Mallorca.

New concession grant. Occasionally, port authorities open new berthing allocations and grant fresh concessions, either by direct application or public tender. These are uncommon events and are heavily oversubscribed when they occur.

Concession Duration and What Happens at the End

Original concession terms in Spanish ports typically ran to 30 years, with some historic grants extending to 50 years. When a concession expires, the right to occupy the berth reverts to the port authority — there is no automatic renewal, and the berth cannot be passed on privately. This is the single most important factor to verify when considering a Mallorca mooring purchase on the secondary market: how many years of the original concession remain, and what renewal options, if any, exist.

A concession with 25 years remaining is a fundamentally different proposition from one with 8 years remaining, even if the physical berth is identical. Any serious purchase should include a full review of the original concession documentation by a Spanish maritime lawyer before funds are committed.

Mallorca Mooring Costs: What to Expect

Berth costs on Mallorca vary significantly by port, size and whether you are renting annually or buying a concession on the secondary market. The table below reflects market data from 2025 and early 2026 at the island's principal southwest coast ports.

At prestige ports including Puerto Portals and Port Adriano, secondary market prices sit at the upper end of these ranges and in some cases exceed them. A 12-metre concession at Puerto Portals has transacted at around 180,000 euros in recent years. Larger berths at Port Adriano — particularly those capable of accommodating vessels of 40 metres and above — have changed hands at figures well above the ranges in the table.

Annual Port Fees on Top of Purchase Price

Buying a concession does not eliminate ongoing costs — it converts the rental relationship into a hybrid one. The concession holder continues to pay an annual port fee to the relevant authority (Port IB or Puertos del Estado), which covers the right to occupy the berth and access port services. These fees are separate from, and additional to, any service charges for electricity, water, security or maintenance. At Port IB managed ports, annual fees for a 12-metre berth typically run between 3,500 and 6,000 euros per year depending on the specific port and tariff band.

Inheritance and Transfer of a Mallorca Mooring

A Mallorca mooring concession can generally be transferred to a family member on death, subject to port authority notification and approval. It can also be sold to a third party, again subject to the port authority confirming that the intended buyer and the proposed vessel meet the port's eligibility criteria — most ports require that the vessel registered to the berth falls within the size parameters the berth was originally granted for.

Transfers between living parties — sales and gifts — are subject to Spanish transfer tax (ITP) in the same way as other asset transfers. The applicable rate in the Balearic Islands is currently 8% on the first 400,000 euros of value, rising to 9% and 10% on higher tranches. This is a material cost to factor into purchase negotiations.

Key Due Diligence Points Before Buying a Mallorca Mooring

Before committing to a Mallorca mooring purchase, a thorough review of the following is essential:

Concession term remaining. Request the original concession document and calculate the precise expiry date. Any purchase of a concession with fewer than 15 years remaining should be approached with particular care, and the price should reflect the limited remaining term.

Vessel size eligibility. Confirm that your vessel — or the vessel you intend to keep at the berth — falls within the size parameters permitted under the concession. Berths granted for vessels up to a specific LOA cannot simply be reassigned to a larger boat without port authority approval, which is not always granted.

Subletting rights. Some concessions permit the berth to be sublet to third parties when the owner's vessel is absent; others prohibit it entirely. If generating income from the berth during absences is part of your plan, this must be confirmed in the concession documentation before purchase.

Outstanding fees or penalties. Verify with the port authority that no arrears of annual fees, penalties or administrative sanctions are registered against the concession. These can transfer to the new owner if not cleared prior to completion.

Legal advice. Every Mallorca mooring purchase of material value should be reviewed by a Spanish maritime lawyer independent of the selling party. The documentation involved — concession grants, port authority correspondence, transfer applications — is specialist territory and not well served by general property conveyancing practices.

Port IB Waiting Lists: How to Register

For boat owners who want a Mallorca mooring at a Port IB managed port without paying secondary market prices, the waiting list route is the alternative. Port IB maintains waiting lists at its managed ports, and registration is handled through their online portal at portsib.es. Applicants register their preferred port, required berth size and vessel details. Wait times vary considerably — at popular ports in the southwest, waits of five to ten years for desirable sizes are not unusual.

Registering on the Port IB list costs nothing and does not prevent you from pursuing a secondary market purchase simultaneously. Many experienced boat owners do both: register on the waiting list and keep an eye on the secondary market, ready to move when either route produces a result.

Is Buying a Mallorca Mooring Worth It?

For boat owners who plan to use their vessel regularly from Mallorca over a long period, a Mallorca mooring concession with significant term remaining is generally a sound asset. The combination of high demand, limited supply and the fixed nature of port capacity means that well-located berths at major marinas have held their value well over time. They also remove the uncertainty of annual rental renewal and, in ports where subletting is permitted, generate income during absences.

The key is buying with eyes open: understanding precisely what term remains, what the ongoing annual obligations are, and what the transfer costs will be when the time comes to sell. With that clarity in place, a Mallorca mooring in the right port is a genuinely useful complement to property ownership on the island — and for many owners, as important a purchase as the house itself.