The Club Náutico de Ibiza has vowed to continue fighting for the management of its former premises at Ibiza Port after its bid was excluded from the public tender organised by the Balearic Islands Port Authority (APB). The club says it will defend its interests through every available legal channel and insists that its proposal met the technical, legal and financial requirements established for the competition.
In a statement published on Friday, club president Damián Verdera described the exclusion as an “unwelcome surprise”. The organisation is now waiting to receive the detailed reasons behind the decision before deciding how to challenge it.
The dispute comes at a critical moment for the future of the port's nautical and sporting facilities, which the Club Náutico de Ibiza managed for almost a century before losing its concession in 2024.
The Club Says Its Proposal Met the Requirements
The Club Náutico de Ibiza has expressed its disagreement with the decision of the APB's tender committee to exclude its proposal from the competition. Verdera maintains that the club submitted a strong project, supported by technical, sporting and legal professionals, and believes it had sufficient financial backing to meet the conditions.
“We have a great sporting and social project for Ibiza and we will continue defending it despite this setback, which we did not expect,” Verdera said.
The club says it is waiting to receive the full explanation for its exclusion. Once it has reviewed the reasons, it intends to pursue the matter through the appropriate legal procedures.
The organisation has stressed that its ambition goes beyond recovering its former premises. Its stated objective is to put the facilities at the service of sport and the wider Ibiza community, continuing its work promoting nautical activities and access to the sea.
The Financial Requirements at the Centre of the Dispute
One of the most important points raised by the club concerns the financial solvency requirements established by the APB.
The tender required candidates to demonstrate a minimum net worth of €3.3 million. The Club Náutico de Ibiza says it managed to exceed that threshold by 21.6%, despite describing the requirement as particularly demanding for a non-profit sporting organisation.
According to the club, securing the necessary financial backing required a considerable collective effort. It specifically thanked Grupo Alonso Marí, Grupo Sirenis, Club Nàutic Sant Antoni de Portmany and Grupo Verdera for their support.
The club considers this backing evidence of the strength of its proposal and the support it has received from businesses and organisations in Ibiza.
However, the tender committee's reported reason for proposing the club's exclusion was that it had not adequately demonstrated the external financial solvency it sought to establish through the support of Club Nàutic Sant Antoni. The distinction is important: the club maintains that it secured the required financial backing, while the committee considered that the documentation submitted did not demonstrate the requirement in the form demanded by the tender.
The club's detailed response to the committee's reasoning will depend on the formal grounds for exclusion, which it says it is still awaiting.
Both Bids Were Proposed for Exclusion
The Club Náutico de Ibiza was not the only candidate affected by the decision.
The APB tender committee also proposed excluding Puertos y Litorales Sostenibles (PYLS), the company currently operating the facilities under a temporary authorisation. According to reports published on 11 November, the committee considered that neither candidate had demonstrated the required level of solvency.
The reasons reported for the two exclusions were different. In the case of the Club Náutico de Ibiza, the issue concerned the accreditation of external financial backing. PYLS, meanwhile, was reported to have failed to demonstrate the technical and financial solvency required for the concession.
The committee's proposal was approved by four votes, with one abstention, following its review of the documentation submitted by both candidates.
The decision must still be considered by the APB Board of Directors. Consequently, the committee's proposal should not be confused with a final decision by the port authority or a definitive declaration that the tender has been unsuccessful.
A Concession of Up to 25 Years
The public tender was launched to select an organisation to manage and operate the nautical-sporting installation at Ibiza Port.
Published in Spain's Official State Gazette on 18 May 2026, the competition covered approximately 33,352.60 square metres of port public domain and allowed for a concession lasting up to 25 years.
The project placed particular emphasis on sporting and social responsibility, including the promotion and teaching of nautical sports. Its objectives included supporting sailing and canoeing, developing sporting schools and federated competition teams, and organising sporting and recreational activities.
The annual occupancy fee established in the tender was €364,746.93, excluding VAT, in addition to activity-related fees.
The financial requirements became a significant point of disagreement. The Club Náutico de Ibiza had previously challenged the tender conditions, arguing that the minimum net-worth requirement of €3.3 million made it difficult for non-profit sporting organisations to compete.
The APB partially accepted the club's appeal in June 2026, granting an extension to the deadline for submitting bids until 7 September. However, the remaining tender conditions were maintained.
The Future of the Former Club Náutico Premises Remains Uncertain
The Club Náutico de Ibiza managed the facilities for almost a century before losing its concession in 2024. Since January 2025, Puertos y Litorales Sostenibles has operated the premises under a temporary authorisation.
The club had entered the latest competition hoping to return to its former home and restore the sporting and social activities historically associated with the site.
With both candidates now facing proposed exclusion, the future management of the facilities remains uncertain. If the APB Board of Directors confirms the exclusions, the authority will have to determine how to proceed with the management of the installation and whether a new tendering process will be necessary.
For the Club Náutico de Ibiza, however, the message is clear: it does not intend to abandon its attempt to recover the facilities.
“We will not throw in the towel. We will defend our interests, which are those of our members and of Ibiza society as a whole, on every front and through every legal avenue available to us,” Verdera said.
The club has also thanked the wider community, local institutions and sporting organisations that have supported it during the years without a permanent home. Among those acknowledged were the Real Club Náutico de Palma, Club Marítimo de Mahón, the Association of Nautical Clubs of the Balearic Islands, the Balearic Sailing Federation and the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation.
The next significant development will be the formal communication of the reasons for the club's exclusion and the subsequent decision of the APB Board of Directors. Until then, the future of one of Ibiza Port's most historically significant nautical facilities remains unresolved.