Interview Miguel Ángel Albors Galiano – Lawyer, Economist, Partner of Albors Galiano Portales

Describe your Company and its difference of value:

Albors Galiano Portales is a lawyer’s office with thirty years of history recognized, among others by Chambers, Best Lawyers, Legal 500, etc. as the leading Spanish firm in yachting, shipping, transportation and insurance from a tax and legal perspective. We are based in Palma de Mallorca, Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, but our Palma office is fully specialized in the yachting industry. I think we can contribute to all our clients and the whole industry with our qualified and high value professional services.

What is your vision of the sector? Any reflection on the current situation

Since October 2013, when we eliminated the maximum length of 15 meters for a yacht to be able be exempt in the Spanish matriculation tax, Spain fully entered the large yachts market. We did it from ANEN, the Spanish National Yachting Association, of which I am tax and legal advisor. Since then, we have strongly improved the industry legal framework, but there’s still a long way to go to catch up with other EU countries such as France or Italy.

In relation to the current Covid health crisis, the sector is performing quite well and has not suffered as much as others in our economy. Unlike the 2008 crisis, this one was not a financial crisis so the money was still there and we saw many transactions both in new builds and second hand boats. Shipyards are at full capacity, brokers and charter companies are working hard, marinas have high occupancy and, logically, lawyers are supporting all this activity. In short, although this season may not be as good as 2019, it will be a good season and we will fully recover in 2022.  I’m very optimistic.

What would do you like about the work of Balearic Marine Cluster?

I think that BMC is a very relevant tool that has been created to deal and discuss the problems we have in the yachting industry in a more direct way with the relevant authorities. This will help us work together with the port, tax, customs and any other authorities involved, both in the Balearic Islands and also in Madrid when required, as long as there are issues of state competence that necessarily have to be dealt with directly in Madrid. It is much easier to perform these kinds of actions through the Cluster and the corresponding authorities, so I think that it’s a very useful instrument which brings the best players in the industry together in one team. I have no doubt about that.

From your point of view, what advantages do you get from being part of BMC?

It’s a bit like the previous question, in the Cluster we act as an industry, not as individuals, we can cooperate, we share problems, we address those problems together before the proper authorities, both regional and state. Depending on the specific topics to be dealt with we can address the proper authorities together in relation to tax, custom, port, commercial, administrative and any other issues, this is the main advantages that the Cluster can contribute. Being part of ANEN since nearly 10 years, I know the advantages very well, therefore, I think that being member of the BMC is necessary and absolutely advisable.

Any other information you would like to share with us?

I think that in Spain we have an incredible advantage that no one else has, the geographical position, at the gateway to the Mediterranean, on the route of yachts coming from the Caribbean, and we must take advantage of that. We do not have the best fiscal and legal framework, and we must solve it because yachts, owners, charterers and people in general want to visit Spain.

I would just say, as an example, three relevant issues that we can improve and be much more competitive with our neighboring countries in the EU such as France, Italy, Malta, Greece or Croatia, a relatively new destination. First, we need to be able to import commercial yachts in the EU through Spain, as can be done in France, Malta or Italy. Those countries do it on the basis of the same Union Customs Code (UCC), therefore, we must accomplish this goal, which would provide Spain with a substantial increase in economic activity from the yachting industry.

Secondly, we should remove the Spanish matriculation tax, which is a totally anachronistic and old-fashioned tax, also very deficient from a legal technical standpoint. We are the only country in all of Europe with this matriculation tax on yachts and this negative discrimination must end. We can propose a much more rational tax to replace it, with the same collection capacity (which does not exceed € 10Million in all of Spain) and is much less harmful for the industry.

And thirdly, we should try to analyze how we can apply the 10% tourist Spanish VAT tax rate on charter fees, as for example Croatia is doing based on the same VAT directive applicable in Spain. I do not see the difference between being hosted in a hotel or in a yacht sailing in Spanish waters. At the end of the day both are on holiday in Spain as tourists and tourism should be taxed at 10% and not at 21% as we are being taxed now.

This is a summary of some issues to be improved preferentially, although there are many other issues to be discussed.

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