Port of Bilbao to host the XIX Symposium on Marinas
On 25 and 26 April, OLATUA, the Port of Bilbao cruise terminal in the town of Getxo, will be the venue for the XIX Symposium on Marinas.
The title of this year’s event will be “Sustainability in marinas: everything is connected”, and, together with sustainability, discussion will also focus on different interrelated issues such as the impact of the sector on local and regional economies, the needs and challenges it faces, legal aspects, the factors that condition concessions, innovative technologies, the impact on tourism and initiatives of this type that influence port-city/town relations.
Over the course of the two days of the symposium, which is expected to attract around 200 people from different parts of the country, prominent representatives of public institutions, port authorities, academics, associations and companies from the maritime and tourism sectors, amongst others, will participate as speakers, sharing their knowledge and experiences. These include Hugo Morán, Secretary of State for the Environment of the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge; Benito Núñez, Secretary General for Air and Maritime Transport, Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda; Gustavo Santana, Director General of the Merchant Navy; and Álvaro Rodríguez Dapena, President of Puertos del Estado, who will moderate a round table discussion on the advantages of collaboration and coexistence between ports and cities/towns, its development, planning and strategy, with the participation of the Presidents of the Port Authorities of A Coruña, Baleares, Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Valencia, as well as Ricardo Barkala, President of the Port Authority of Bilbao, who will act as host throughout the event.
From the Port Authority of Bilbao itself, Alberto Ojanguren, Head of the Health, Safety and Environment Department, will moderate the round table “Promoting sustainability in the planning and management of marinas”, and Juan Carlos Verdeal, General Secretary of the Port Authority, will take part in the round table discussion on “Concession Extensions, new tenders and factors to take into account”.
Thirty-five years after it was first held in 1989, the Symposium on Marinas is now the longest running congress in Spain. This 19th edition has been organised by Asmar and the Port Authority of Bilbao, with the collaboration of the Getxo Town Council, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment of the Basque Government.
