At that time it was called 'Summer Hollywood'. Movie stars spent long periods in Mallorca and loved the Palma yacht club. The actor Errol Flynn arrived in 1950 on the edge of his yacht Zaca During the honeymoon with Patrice Wymore and ended up falling more in love with the island than his wife. His recommendation connected Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford with the Balearic Islands. Years later, the glamor continued hand in hand with the Spanish Royal Family, which attracted other royal houses to Palma, such as those of Norway or Denmark, as well as the best navigators of the political world, and the national and international jet set.
Views of the Real Club Naútico de Palma with the Cathedral in the background in the 60s RNCP
The passion for sailing in general and for the Palma yacht club in particular has been passed down from father to son in the Royal Family. When she made her debut in the Majorcan regattas aboard the 'Sirius II', King Felipe VI was 16 years old. Her father, Don Juan Carlos, a great passionate about sailing since his youth, asked the crew that his son not have any special treatment with him and "that they make him work". At the end of the day, in the afternoon, the Prince arrived at the port with sunburns and blisters on the palms of his hands. “He was wearing a knitted T-shirt and short shorts, and he was wearing black sunglasses, the kind that are very modern now, but which were also all the rage twenty years ago,” journalist Santiago Castelo narrates in his August 2 chronicle from 1984 on ABC. The prince "laughed to see that the photographers had him in the center of their cameras, while the King showed a wide smile." Even today, the spotlights arouse the same interest every summer when he arrives at the jetty.
A young Prince Philip with his 'Sirius II' team at the 2001 EFE regattas
Almost four decades later, the days of the Spanish Royal Family's favorite regatta club could be numbered. Will it close on December 31 forever? Will it be the last Copa del Rey de Vela? King Felipe VI has expressed his concern about the possible bolt, and dedicates a “sincere and affectionate congratulations” in the book that commemorates the 40th anniversary this 2022. Spanish sailing from Mallorca and the Balearic Islands”, Felipe VI wrote from his fist and lyrics, as a nod to the “great family of the Real Club Náutico de Palma”.
port inaction
The origin of the conflict is that the Balearic Islands Port Authority questioned the concession and questioned the right of the RCNP to continue occupying the marina in the bay of Palma, more than 70 years after its foundation. An informant from the State Attorney's Office in March 2021 estimated that the RCNP service contract will not be extendable. A thesis that collides head-on with the criteria of the legal services of Puertos del Estado, considering that these contracts were necessarily transformed into concessions after the reform of the Law of State Ports of the year 2003.
This year the State Contract Law changed and the RCNP had a public service management contract, which disappeared. “Since we were already working as a concession, the logical thing is that there would automatically have been a change of concession, but this remained in a deadlock. The Port Authority did not react and now what has happened”, lamented Jaime Carbonell, manager of the RCNP.
The club needed a report to the Council of State, the highest Spanish consultative body in legal matters, and it has partially ratified the State Attorney, further complicating the situation. However, he blames the Port Authority for getting to this point because of its inaction. "The situation is Dantesque because we have been convinced that I used an administrative concession, but a lawyer from the State of Madrid considers that I did not use it and made a sui generis report and stopped the renewal process, which had been going on for five years," Carbonell lamented. , who recalls that the club has accumulated more than 20 years of its own acts, assuming that they had a concession, and even expanded the pontoon covered by it.
Pedro Campos shot don Juan Carlos in the pool to win the Copa del Rey in 1993 GTRES
And now that? “By power everything could be. We are in a defenseless situation because the Port Authority does not answer us. Please note that our disputes and our arguments exactly as to the situation. I suppose there will be a temporary occupation to have time to resolve, and we will request that our administrative concession status be recognized from 2003 to today, ”advances Carbonell, who does not rule out resorting to legal action with a dispute.
The club is preparing a campaign to publicize its "commitment" to promoting the sport and organizing the prestigious Copa del Rey de Vela, the most important regatta in the Mediterranean and one of the best known in the world. It is estimated that already some 18 million euros of benefits in the city in just eight days. In addition, its unique spirit has been maintained throughout its history, bringing together in the same regatta week the best professional sailors in the world with the passionate fans who stop in their free time throughout the year to participate in a competition. to the first level.
Don Juan Carlos and his father, in the 70s in the EFE regattas
“Our job is to operate a marina – a marina in this case – to finance the activity with our own resources. We have a cast of goalkeepers of all ages and we take care of them for everything until they are of a high level, when we leave them and, if they need it, we continue to help them”, says Carbonell about this emblematic club, which has 72 employees – 200 during the Copa del Rey regattas, 2.100 members and a thousand moorings.
Apart from the summer date of the competition, its location in the bay of Palma and the sponsors, one of the success factors of the Copa del Rey was the support and regular presence of the Spanish royal family at the regattas, that translates into a great sporting, social and media repercussion from the first moment.
celebrity catwalk
Whatever happens on December 31, the photo of the King Emeritus of the club's swimming pool will remain forever when his friend Pedro Campos threw him to fulfill the tradition for the victory of Rogue VIII, and thousands of other anecdotes about when Palma and his regatta club were the summer refuge of high society.
Melani Griffith and Antonio Banderas during their visit to the yacht club in 2000 ERNESTO AGUDO
The fury of the visit of Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith; the Clintons with José María Aznar, the excursion of Lady Di and the Prince of Wales who will appear in the next season of 'The Crown' or the walks of the Obamas, the Empress Farah Diba and the Shah of Persia, without forgetting the Count of Barcelona, Don Juan de Bourbon.
“The renewal would mean going home each one,” lamented Carbonell. As an entity, the RCNP could settle in a house in the nearby neighborhood of Santa Catalina: “But what are we doing there? This club was born with a seafaring vocation”.
The competition will generate 18 million euros in 8 days
A study by the Balearic Public University (UIB) in 2018 assessed the economic impact of holding the Copa del Rey de Vela, organized by the Real Club Náutico de Palma. The analysis of the 37th edition concluded that it is the annual sporting event that generates the most wealth in the Balearic Islands.
The study calculated the six days of competition and the two previous days. The sector that began with the most income was tourist accommodation, with just over 4,6 million euros. It was followed by restaurants, supermarkets and other food providers, which almost reached 3,35 million in turnover. Airline and shipping companies added more than 2,6 million. Taxis, buses and companies to buy supercars will cost 670.000 euros more than those attending the regatta, both participants and guests and journalists, touched 830.000 euros in leisure, 740.000 euros in sports equipment and 750.000 euros in purchases and gifts.
The average daily expenditure of each Copa del Rey attendee ranges from one owner (almost 2.700 euros) to one guest (a little over 400 euros). All but the technicians exceed the average expenditure of 145 euros of a conventional tourist who visited Mallorca during their holidays.
