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THE number of yachts and sailing vessels in Majorca's marinas has fallen this summer by 20 percent, above all in the months of June and July.
According to Bartolomé Bestard, president of the Balearic Association of Nautical Sports Installations (ANADE), the situation has stabilised in August to the point where figures are now similar to the same period last year.

Bestard suggests that factors which may have caused the decline, include bad weather in early summer, the falling-off of the German client market and latent competition from other regions of Spain and other countries.

He adds that the belief that many boat owners hold, that the marinas of the Island are constantly full, leads them to set sail for other destinations.
Without going far afield, it is evident that the Club Náutico in Santa Ponsa has nearly 100 boats for sale. The vessels are of different types and sizes which were put up for sale before the start of this year's tourist season and which have not yet been successfully sold.

Ricardo Ferrer, director of the Club Náutico, gave assurances that “there is nothing out of the ordinary” about the situation, although he did acknowledge that this summer has been “quite quiet” in terms of boating traffic. “There has been a 20 percent fall” he said “due to the scarcity of mooring space in in this part of the Island”. Ferrer also ventured that although private boats and yachts might be up for sale for a variety of reasons, the most common one is that the current proprietor wants to acquire a larger vessel. Rafael Provenzal of “Contest Brokerage” pointed to the high cost of existing mooring space, the decline of the German market and economic difficulties being experienced by some countries. “Squadron Yachts” currently has 10 boats of between 11 and 24 metres in length up for sale.
Christian France, its business director, also attributes falling sales to the lack of mooring space. For this reason, he supports the need for construction of more marinas on the Island.