On 20 October 2011, the Royal Legislative Decree 2/2011 of 5 September, which approves the Revised Text of the Law on State Ports and Merchant Marine (hereinafter RLD 2/2011), is published in the Spanish Official Gazette. It unifies the different regulations and legal modifications in port and Merchant marine issues since 1992.

Title VII of the Economic Regime establishes the need for the port system to be governed by the self-funding principle in its Chapter II on the Economic Regime for the Use of the Public Domain and the provision of port services.

To this effect, the RLD 2/2011 determines the port taxes demanded for the exclusive use or special utilisation of the port public domain and for the provision of maritime signalling service, which will be governed by the provisions of the above RLD 2/2011 and, in cases not covered by it, by Law 8/1989 of 13 April on Public Fees and Prices, Law 58/2003 of 17 December on General Tax, and the regulatory standards issued for their implementation.

On the other hand, the RLD 2/2011 establishes that, in its quest to achieve the self-funding goal, the Port Authority will demand, for any commercial services it provides under concurrent conditions with private companies, the payment of the corresponding tariffs, which will have the status of private prices.

The main port taxes and the regulations for proceeding to their quantification are the following:

Correction Coefficient. Art. 166.
Tax for the exclusive occupation of the public port domain. Arts. 173 to 182.
Activity Tax. Arts. 183 to 192.
Vessel Tax (T-1). Arts. 194 to 204. Download PDF
Passenger Tax (T-2) Arts. 205 to 210. Download PDF
Goods Tax (T-3). Arts. 211 to 217. Download PDF
Fresh Fish Tax (T-4). Arts. 218 to 222. Download PDF
Sports and recreational boats tax (T-5). Arts. 223 to 230. Download PDF
Tax for special use of the transit zone (T-6). Arts. 231 to 236. Downaload PDF
Tax for navigational aids. Arts. 237 to 244. Download PDF
Discounts Art. 245
Fixed Tariff on vessel-generated waste collection service. (Art. 132). Download PDF

In addition to this basic regulation, it must be taken into account that annually, in the respective Law on the General State Budget for each year, the correction coefficients are approved for ship, passenger and cargo fees for each year, together with any applicable rebates.

Also to be taken into account is the content of the ANNEXES which establish the Spanish State ports of general interest, the applicable definitions and the allocation of the goods groups and their codes, which affect both the interpretation of the regulation and the fee amounts.