The Club Náutico de Sant Antoni's involvement in the Club Náutico de Ibiza's bid for the management of the marina at the Port of Ibiza has taken a new turn, with questions now being raised over whether the agreement should have been approved by the Sant Antoni club's members.

La Voz de Ibiza reports that the arrangement was reached without being submitted to the club's General Assembly, despite the financial commitment potentially involved in guaranteeing the proper fulfilment of the 25-year concession.

The issue could now become relevant to the tender itself, as the concession documents require any agreement integrating external financial solvency to have been approved by the competent body of the supporting entity.

A Financial Guarantee Behind the Bid

The Club Náutico de Ibiza is using external economic and financial solvency as part of its proposal for the new concession at the Port of Ibiza.

The Club Náutico de Sant Antoni is one of the entities identified as an integrator of that solvency.

The arrangement was first revealed during the opening of the tender documentation on September 9, when the evaluation committee noted that a certificate confirming the Sant Antoni club was up to date with payments to the Balearic Islands Port Authority was missing.

The document was subsequently requested as part of the process.

Why the Approval Question Matters

The latest issue concerns the internal authority required to approve a financial commitment of this scale.

According to La Voz de Ibiza, the agreement was not put before the Sant Antoni club's General Assembly and no extraordinary assembly was called specifically to address it.

The publication reports that the club's board took the decision without a formal vote by the members.

That is significant because the club's own statutes limit the financial commitments that its board can assume without referring a matter to the General Assembly.

What the Statutes Say

The Sant Antoni club's statutes reportedly give the board authority to assume economic commitments whose total value does not exceed 20% of the amount of the latest annual budget approved.

Above that threshold, the statutes require a General Assembly to be convened specifically for the purpose.

La Voz de Ibiza calculates that, given the minimum €20 million guarantee associated with the tender, the club would need an annual budget of more than €100 million for that commitment to fall within the board's 20% limit.

That figure would be extraordinarily large for a club of this type, according to the publication's analysis.

The underlying question is therefore whether the agreement was approved by the body that the club's own statutes require.

The €20 Million Figure Requires Context

The €20 million figure relates to the investment commitment associated with the Port of Ibiza concession.

The tender covers the management of the nautical-sports installation for up to 25 years and includes an investment programme of around €20 million.

It does not mean that the Club Náutico de Sant Antoni has transferred €20 million or that it currently owes that amount.

Rather, the issue concerns the potential liability attached to the guarantee if the Club Náutico de Ibiza wins the concession and fails to fulfil obligations covered by the guarantee.

The precise financial exposure would ultimately depend on the nature of any breach and the application of the concession conditions.

Joint Liability Is at the Centre of the Dispute

The significance of the Sant Antoni club's participation lies in the wording of the tender.

External entities providing financial solvency can become jointly responsible for the proper fulfilment of the administrative concession.

That is why the question of which internal body authorised the agreement matters.

If the club's statutes required a General Assembly but only the board approved the arrangement, the validity of that corporate decision could become relevant to the tender.

This does not mean that the tender has been declared invalid or that an infringement has been established.

The Port Authority Must Examine the Documentation

The tender documentation itself requires the agreement integrating the bidder's external solvency to come from the competent governing body of the supporting entity.

The Autoridad Portuaria de Baleares will therefore have to verify whether the body that approved the Sant Antoni club's participation was in fact competent under its statutes.

That question could become part of the administrative review of the Club Náutico de Ibiza's bid.

For now, no final determination has been made.

Two Bidders Remain

The tender to manage the Port of Ibiza's nautical-sports installation has attracted two offers: the Club Náutico de Ibiza and Puertos y Litorales Sostenibles, the company currently managing the facilities.

The concession would cover 33,352 square metres of port area for a maximum of 25 years.

The project also gives significant weight to sporting activity, particularly sailing and canoeing, alongside the commercial management of the marina.

The Agreement Was Kept Quiet

The relationship between the two clubs was not publicly detailed when the tender documents were initially opened.

It came to light after the evaluation committee identified the missing payment certificate for the Sant Antoni club.

Since then, questions have focused on exactly what the Sant Antoni club has agreed to guarantee and what financial responsibility it could assume.

The latest reporting adds a second issue: whether the agreement itself was properly authorised within the Sant Antoni organisation.

A Previous Assembly Decision Offers a Comparison

The Sant Antoni club has previously taken significant property decisions through its General Assembly.

In 2022, its members unanimously approved the purchase of a plot and unfinished structure in sa Punta des Molí intended to expand the club's facilities for sporting, cultural and social activities.

That precedent is relevant because it demonstrates that major financial or strategic decisions have previously been brought before the membership.

It does not, however, by itself establish what approval was legally required for the current guarantee.

What Happens Now

The immediate question is not whether the Club Náutico de Sant Antoni can support the Ibiza bid in principle, but whether the support was authorised in accordance with the club's own governing rules and the requirements of the tender.

The Autoridad Portuaria de Baleares will have to examine the documentation submitted by the Club Náutico de Ibiza and determine whether the external solvency agreement comes from the legally competent body.

The Club Náutico de Ibiza also has to correct other documentation issues identified during the opening of the bids before the competition can progress.

A New Complication in the Port of Ibiza Tender

The dispute over the marina concession has now developed beyond a straightforward competition between two bidders.

The role of the Club Náutico de Sant Antoni has introduced questions about financial guarantees, internal governance and the legal authority to commit the club to such an arrangement.

La Voz de Ibiza's latest report is particularly significant because it raises the claim that the agreement was never submitted to the Sant Antoni club's members, while the tender conditions explicitly require approval by the competent body.

Whether that ultimately affects the Club Náutico de Ibiza's bid will depend on the documentation and the determination made by the Port Authority.

For now, the €20 million figure is best understood as the scale of the investment and guarantee obligations surrounding the concession, not as a payment that the Sant Antoni club has already made.

What remains to be established is whether the decision to provide that guarantee was properly authorised.