La Línea will go to court and San Roque will seek to stop the outer anchorage of the port of Algeciras
Topics Puerto de Algeciras
The Port Authority has approved the anchorage zone for 11 vessels off La Alcaidesa, which the two town councils reject due to its impact on tourism, fishing and the environment.
CádizYa newsroom ·
The councils of La Línea and San Roque have responded with outright rejection to the approval of the outer anchorage of the port of Algeciras, a waiting area for large-draught vessels off La Alcaidesa, between the eastern coastline of La Línea and that of San Roque up to Manilva.
As explained by the mayor of San Roque, Juan Carlos Ruiz Boix, the Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA) announced on Monday, November 9 that the Directorate General of the Merchant Marine has given the go-ahead to the anchorage, with capacity for 11 vessels, and its Board of Directors has approved its delimitation. The resolution prevents ships from doing anything there other than waiting their turn to enter the port.
La Línea: legal challenge and motions
The mayor of La Línea, Juan Franco, calls it an «outrage» and announces a contentious-administrative appeal once the agreement is published in the Boletín Oficial de la Provincia, protest motions in the Mancomunidad and in the Diputación and a request to join the APBA Board of Directors. He recalls that the Plenary rejected it unanimously in May 2024 and that in April of that year objections were filed over its impact on the seabed, wildlife, the economy and the landscape, together with the Estrecho Oriental Special Area of Conservation. Franco offers to form a common front with San Roque.
San Roque: will request occupancy data
Ruiz Boix maintains that the resolution cannot enter into force until safety issues are resolved, such as more Maritime Rescue resources, and that the Council will look for any grounds to suspend it. He will ask the APBA for the occupancy of its four inner anchorages in 2024, 2025 and the first half of 2026, because, he says, the file relies on forecasts from 2007. He also calls for an impact study on biodiversity and fishing grounds, and warns of the risk of spills and damage to bathing water quality and tourism. The San Roque Corporation also rejected the anchorage unanimously.
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