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The Port of Palma switches on its Christmas lights together with the winning design from the children's competition ‘Del paper al cel’ (From paper to the sky).

The Port of Palma will switch on its new sustainable Christmas lights on Thursday, 27 November. This year's lighting will feature the most voted design from the “Del paper al cel” competition organised by the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB). Marcos Gutiérrez, the child artist who created the winning drawing, will switch on the lights during the ceremony scheduled for 7 p.m. at Moll Vell, in front of the APB headquarters. The ceremony will include a musical performance by the Son Dameto choir and be rounded off with hot chocolate in support of SOS Mamás.

The APB is investing in efficient, environmentally friendly lighting based on low-energy technology and designed to blend into the port landscape. By transforming children's drawings into lighting elements, the project adds a participatory component that links the creativity of the youngest members of the community with the cultural life of the port.

Christmas in the Port of Palma

The lighting ceremony marks the start of the “Nadal al Port de Palma” (Christmas at the Port of Palma) calendar, which for the first time offers a Christmas event programme open to all citizens. After the lighting ceremony on 27 November, the activities will continue on 23 December at the Port Centre with a charity concert by the Son Dameto choir, accompanied by a new charity hot chocolate event. On 27 December, the same venue will host a Christmas eco-workshop and a children's film screening, both of which will be repeated on 3 January 2026. The year's traditional first swim will take place on 1 January in a festive atmosphere by the sea at Can Pere Antoni beach. Finally, on 5 January 2025, the port will host the Epiphany parade, which will bring the celebrations to a close.

This new programme sees the APB reinforce the Port of Palma's status as a leading cultural and social venue during the Christmas season, combining tradition, sustainability, solidarity and citizen participation.

Charity

The charity hot chocolate event and the lighting ceremony will help raise awareness around the efforts of S.O.S. Mamás Baleares, a non-profit organisation made up entirely of volunteers who support vulnerable families and individuals in Mallorca. The organisation has over 200 volunteers and provides food parcels, hot meals, clothing, children's items and essential baby products through its soup kitchens and distribution points. Its mission is to ensure that no family feels alone when they need help the most, and its daily activities are supported by donations and the involvement of the public.

Throughout December, the Port Centre will have a food collection point for this association. The hours will be Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., making it easy for anyone to contribute non-perishable goods and show their support.

ECOBILGE wins the Timón de Innovación (Innovation Helm) Award for its bilge water treatment system for recreational boats

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) has awarded the Timón de Innovación Prize to the ECOBILGE project, a compact system for treating bilge water on recreational boats, developed by Felipe Esteve and Javier Carbajosa, teachers at the Nauticopesquera Integrated Vocational Training Centre in Palma. The award, sponsored by the APB and organised by Gaceta Náutica, is worth €3,000 and recognises initiatives that provide practical solutions to the challenges facing the nautical sector. The 2025 edition has received 13 entries, the highest number since the award was created.

The panel, made up of representatives from the APB, the University of the Balearic Islands and Gaceta Náutica, praised the originality of the ECOBILGE system and its focus on solving a specific port problem: diffuse pollution caused by bilge water discharges. The device removes oils, hydrocarbons and micro-impurities through a sequential treatment that combines gravitational separation, coalescent filtration and selective absorption. Its compact design makes it compatible with the space and power limitations of recreational boats, without the need for structural modifications.

The system responds to a widespread problem in ports, where thousands of vessels discharge their bilges directly into the sea, contributing to the presence of oils and residues that damage ecosystems. ECOBILGE offers a practical alternative that facilitates compliance with state and regional regulations and the MARPOL Convention, also guaranteeing the capacity to bail out in the event of an emergency.

The project's instigators emphasise that the implementation of this technology in some of the more than 25,000 vessels registered in the Balearic Islands (75% of which are less than 10 metres in length) could significantly reduce pollution and improve water quality in port areas.

In this edition, the first runner-up prize was awarded to the Marinas Azules project of the Balearic Marine Cluster, which focuses on the feasibility of modular, self-sufficient desalination plants powered by renewable energy. The second runner-up prize recognised the joint initiative of IRP engineering and the University of Alicante, which proposes the creation of artificial reefs using electrolysis and brine from desalination plants.

The X Timón Awards, organised by Gaceta Náutica and sponsored by the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands, Ports IB, Redeia and D-Marin, have the collaboration of various entities in the nautical and business fields. The awards ceremony took place on 21 November at 7:30 p.m. at the Port Centre in Palma, the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands' institutional headquarters.

The APB launches ‘Nadal al port de Palma’, an open-to-all Christmas calendar of events

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) has prepared the first edition of “Nadal al port de Palma” (Christmas in the Port of Palma) for the festive season, a Christmas programme open to the public that will fill the port with activities for children, charity and sports.

Events will begin on Thursday, 27 November at 7 p.m. with the official switching on of the port's Christmas lights. The winning design from the children's competition ‘Del paper al cel’ (From paper to sky) will be presented during the event, which will be converted into a light-up object. In fact, the child who created this design will switch on the lights. During the event to be held at Moll Vell, opposite the APB headquarters, there will be a musical performance by the Son Dameto Choir and a charity hot chocolate event in aid of the SOS Mamás association.

Following the switch-on, the event calendar will continue on 23 December at the Port Centre with a charity concert by the Son Dameto choir, accompanied by another charity hot chocolate event.

On 27 December, the same venue will host a Christmas eco-workshop and a children's film screening, both of which will be repeated on 3 January 2026. The year's traditional first swim will take place on 1 January in a festive atmosphere by the sea at Can Pere Antoni beach. Finally, on 5 January 2025, the port will host the Epiphany Parade, which will bring the celebrations to a close.

The programme also includes a charity food collection for the SOS Mamás organisation, inviting citizens to help families in need at this time of year. The hours will be Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Port Centre, making it easy for anyone to contribute non-perishable goods and show their support.

Furthermore, visitors can view the exhibition “A Stroll along the Seafront” at the Port Centre, which offers a historical overview of the evolution of the promenade from its origins to the present day. The exhibition explains how this road was created in response to a strategic need: to connect the Old quay with the recently built West dock and the new Paraires and Poniente quays, facilitating the port connection and the growth of the port of Palma. The exhibition devotes a prominent space to the latest major redevelopment, begun in 2022 and completed this year, which has profoundly transformed its physiognomy and urban function.

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Lighthouses of the Balearic Islands
Ships in Port

Transparency Portal
Air quality

Port Innovation Platform
Economic and social impact

Weather forecast
Navigation aids

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