In Port News 08/05/2015
A recent meeting between union representatives, the government and the national ports authority to discuss the adaptation of Spain’s existing stevedoring practices to the requirements of the European Commission has led to confused messages.
The unions, in a combined press release, claimed that the government had accepted their proposal. However, this has been entirely refuted by government sources, who stress that they agreed only to work on the proposal to see whether it would be in line with what was required.
Separately, José Llorca, president of the National Ports Authority, has stepped into the debate covering possible concession extensions (albeit only if additional investment is made). He recently stressed that, if existing concessionaires were not meeting the terms and conditions of their original contract those concessions could be wound up.
Mr Llorca has also called upon Spanish ports to increase their competitiveness. Only by doing this, he said, would they consolidate their existing traffic base and win more business. However, this means they need to reduce their logistics costs, he said.
Singling out Barcelona, he noted that while the port generates high revenues it is still not fulfilling its true traffic potential.
