Help needed taking a british boat to ibiza!

Help needed taking a british boat to ibiza!

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Discussion

Geothompson

Original Poster:

4 posts

111 months

Monday 12th January 2015
quotequote all
I am looking for some advise on the following.

My folks have permanent residency in Ibiza. I recently own a 20ft Regal for wakeboarding and wish to take it over there on a trailer.
Having a hard time finding out the laws.

The boat will be kept there 365 days a year. Most likely in a Marina, just looking at costs now.
Other option is theres a jetty by the house (trying to find out if it's rentable, lots of small boats on it) and the option of keeping it on trailer during the winter on my folks land. Checking if it fits at the moment.

I know about The driver licence needed and laws so don't need information on that. smile

Does it need to be re-registared in Spain by law or can it be kept british if there full time. Roughly what is the cost of this of re-registering ....I have heard 20% of the cost of the boat! (35k boat)
Does english insurance cover the boat out there or do I need Spanish insurance? Can Spanish insurance only be acquired if the boat is Spanish registared and does the policy holder need residency to do this.

Just trying to work out what's more cost effective. Really appreciate any advise.
NoW this also sounds like a stupid question.... But the boat comes with a trailer, once in the Marina.....What do most people do with the trailer! Do marinas provide storage for this as well.

Thanks!

tj500

91 posts

254 months

Friday 6th February 2015
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You can only register a boat in Spain if as the owner you're officially resident in the country. I am resident in Madrid and purchased my current boat in the US last year and then imported it and registered it here. It is not that complicated. I used these guys for the registration: www.gestorialuismoreno.es and found them to be perfectly competent. Cost was about 450-500€ IIRC, and not based on a percentage of boat's value. The main problem in my case was my US boat was bought secondhand and was already registered in Florida. Part of the Spanish registration procedure is to show documentary proof that the boat in question has been de-registered from wherever it was previously registered - but in Florida there is no such procedure as 'de-registering', however the gestoria I used seemed to find their way round this. In your case if it's registered on the UK SSR (or not registered at all) I guess there should be no such problem.

Many Brit boatowners in Spain simply keep their UK SSR registration and don't bother to change to the Spanish. I imagine the majority 'get away with it' but if you want to be as legal as possible, I recommend switching to the Spanish registration, especially if your boating will be in the Balearics where I understand it's not that unusual to be spot-checked by the Guardia Civil.

I doubt UK insurance will cover the boat being based permanently in Spain but I guess each policy/insurer is different. My broker is Richard Felipes at Capurro in Gibraltar (richard@capurroinsurance.com) and I'm sure he'll be able to give you some friendly advice.

Trailer storage facilities/cost will obviously vary from marina to marina, but in most places you should expect to get charged on €/metre/day basis where facilities exist.

(If Cabbron still visits this forum you should ask him about his adventures taking open-bow speedboats in choppy seas across to the Balearics from the mainland - hair-raising stuff!)


mickrick

3,700 posts

173 months

Thursday 12th February 2015
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Hello, I take it you are not a Resident in Spain? If it's your boat, and registered in your name on the SSR, you have no need to register it in Spain.
You can keep it there as long as you wish provided it's VAT paid.
Insurance shouldn't be a problem either. Try dropping a line to Pantaenius, I had no problem insuring my boat with them, and it's based here in Mallorca.

Regarding the trailer, as above you can park it in a marina, but they will charge you for the space. Be careful about towing a trailer with a Spanish registered vehicle, as trailers here have to have a "ficha technica" which is the Spanish equivalent to our car V5, (Spanish trailers also have to go for ITV (MOT) if over 750kg) so you could get some hassle towing a British trailer with a Spanish registered car. You'll be OK towing it with a British car though.
But after saying that, I did tow a 6m powerboat from U.K. to Mallorca with my Spanish car, and didn't get stopped. smile Spanish trailers over 750kg have their own red number plate, as well as the "matricula" of the vehicle towing them, so it was obvious it wasn't a Spanish trailer.

Good luck smile