Ibiza Town Hall has annulled a €1.44 million tender for lifeguard, rescue and beach safety services at Talamanca, Figueretas and Playa d’en Bossa after Spain’s Central Administrative Court for Contractual Appeals identified deficiencies in the procurement documents. The decision brings the procedure to an end without a company being awarded the contract and leaves the municipality needing to determine how the service will be contracted for future seasons.

The tender, registered under file number 11348/2026, had a budget of €1,446,472.58 including VAT. Its estimated value excluding VAT was €1,195,431.88. The initial contract period was two years, covering the 2026 and 2027 seasons, with the possibility of two additional annual extensions through 2029.

Tribunal Partially Upholds Industry Association’s Appeal

The dispute began after the Association of Lifesaving and Rescue Companies of the Balearic Islands challenged several aspects of the tender conditions.

The association raised objections concerning the way bids were scored, the improvements required of participating companies, employment and social obligations, and the financial penalties that could be imposed for contractual breaches.

In its ruling, dated 22 October 2026, the Central Administrative Court for Contractual Appeals partially upheld the appeal. It found that several special conditions governing the performance of the contract were insufficiently precise or repeated general legal obligations without adequately explaining how they would apply to this particular service.

The provisions concerned matters including salary payments, occupational risk prevention, the transfer of existing employees to a new contractor, equality, disability and data protection.

The tribunal also identified a problem with the calculation of certain financial penalties. The tender documents used the contract budget or annual contract amount as the reference point, whereas the calculation should have been based on the annual price ultimately awarded to the successful bidder.

However, the tribunal did not accept every objection. It rejected the challenge concerning floating barriers intended to contain hydrocarbon spills, considering this requirement relevant to beach user safety.

Town Hall Decides to Abandon the Entire Tender

Although the tribunal upheld only part of the association’s appeal, Ibiza Town Hall concluded that the identified deficiencies affected essential elements of the procurement procedure.

According to the reported decision, the municipality considered that the problems could not be corrected within the existing process without potentially affecting competition and equal treatment between bidders.

A municipal decree signed on 3 November by First Deputy Mayor Gema Marí Planells therefore declared the tender documents null, set aside the actions carried out in the procedure and ordered the definitive closure of procurement file 11348/2026.

As a result, no company will be awarded the contract through this tender. If the municipality wishes to contract the service through a new competitive procedure, it will need to prepare revised conditions that address the tribunal’s findings.

Tender Had Already Faced Delays

The procurement process had encountered difficulties well before the final decision.

The tender was published at the end of March 2026, only weeks before the planned start of the bathing season on 1 May. The Town Hall had previously explained that it had waited for the updated lifeguards’ employment agreement so that the new salary conditions could be incorporated into the contract.

With insufficient time to complete the full procurement process before the season began, the municipality said it would arrange temporary cover to ensure lifeguard services were available at the three beaches from the start of May.

The industry association submitted its appeal on 13 April. On 30 April, the tribunal ordered the precautionary suspension of the tender, although the deadline for submitting bids was allowed to continue and was subsequently extended to 12 May.

The procedure remained suspended while the appeal was considered.

New Procurement Process Still to Be Clarified

The annulment means the original tender cannot be used to appoint a contractor for the service at Talamanca, Figueretas and Playa d’en Bossa.

The next step will be for Ibiza Town Hall to determine how it intends to organise and contract beach surveillance, rescue and lifeguard services for the 2027 season, including whether and when a new tender will be published.

The precise arrangements used to provide cover during the 2026 season, and the timetable for a replacement procurement process, have not been established in the information currently available.

The decision brings an end to a procurement process that began in March and was suspended at the end of April, after the industry association challenged the conditions under which companies were expected to compete.