The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) and Puertos del Estado [State Ports] organised the 8^th Internal Legal Conference on the State Ports-owned Port System, which took place in Ibiza on 9^th and 10^th May. The State Attorney General, Consuelo Castro de Rey, and the president of the APB, Joan Gual de Torrella, were in charge of presenting and opening the conference.

The president of the APB welcomed the attendees, highlighting the opportunity these types of conferences provide for sharing mutual knowledge between ports "with models that are very different to one another". The State Attorney General showed her gratitude for being able to chair the conference, which she pointed out is of great benefit for all professionals working in collaboration between the ports and the State Legal Service. In this sense, she stated that this conference stands out due to the carefully-chosen topics to be dealt with and the quality of the speakers.

In this annual conference coordinated by the Deputy Director of State Ports Legal Services, José Antonio Morillo, the following topics were discussed over the two days: the latest developments on law and procurement in the port system, the experience of the APB in the implementation of electronic administration and procurement, and also the rethinking of judicial control over the administration's actions, among others.

The extensive programme planned for these two days, which included the participants visiting the ports of Ibiza and La Savina, came to a close with the intervention of prominent speakers and experts in the field of Port Law such as Daniel Sarmiento, lawyer in the firm Uría-Menéndez, Mario Díaz Millán, Technical General Vice-Secretary of the Ministry of Public Works, and Rafael Fernández Valverde, Judge of the Supreme Court and member of the General Council of the Judiciary, among other noteworthy professionals.

Participating in this 8^th conference were representatives of the State Legal Service, State Ports, the port authorities of Avilés, Bilbao, Motril, Vigo, Castellón, Santander, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Gijón, Bahía de Algeciras, Ceuta, Tarragona, A Coruña, Alicante, Las Palmas, Cartagena, Valencia and the Balearic Islands, as well as independent professionals.