The amendment to matriculation tax that was passed by the Spanish Government in 2013 resulted in a significant growth of superyacht charter activity in the Balearics. The Spanish Superyacht Association (AEGY) has recently released a report showing that the number of yachts with licenses to charter in the Balearics has increased by 296% in the last two years.
Formentera – a beautiful Balearics yacht charter destination
In 2013, there were 29 yachts over 20m with licenses to charter in the Balearics. The number of yachts increased to 86 in 2015, with 37 of these measuring over 35m in length. The Association estimates that the total net revenue generated by these luxury yacht charters in terms of tax and local spending for 2015 is €12.5 million. This is far in advance of the amount raised by the matriculation tax on yachts over 24m in 2012 which, according to figures provided by the Spanish tax authorities, was zero for the Balearics and only 4m for the whole of Spain.
Diego Colon, President of the AEGY , said: “We are delighted to see such a significant increase in charter activity in the Balearics and we are confident that this will continue to grow in 2016. The Balearic Islands are enormously attractive to charter guests and it is significant that out of the eight major international brokerage companies six now have offices on Mallorca. We recognise that there is still work to do to ensure that the bureaucratic and fiscal procedures related to chartering and operating superyachts in Spain are simplified and streamlined, however we are confident that these statistics will strengthen and support our lobbying initiatives when dealing with local and national government.”
The report also states that there are 600 yachts over 24m available for charter in the Mediterranean, and anticipates that 100 of these will be registered for charter in Spain in time for the 2016 summer season. Moreover, there is a significant economic impact of yachts deciding to stay in the Balearics over the winter to undergo repair and refit.
