The Mallorca Aeronautical Association is proposing that seaplanes are used for monitoring human trafficking and illegal immigration on small boats and is seeking to take this proposal to Brussels.
The association's president, Miquel Buades, who also chairs the European Committee of Experts on Seaplanes, explains that legislative change in Europe would be needed in order to unify member states' regulations and enable the use of seaplanes for this purpose. "We will present to the European Commission the difficulties that different countries, including Spain, face regarding seaplane legislation.
"It is necessary to begin addressing common legislation so that seaplanes can play their part in environmental protection, communication with hard-to-reach places, and especially in monitoring immigration and human trafficking. Spain is a pioneer in defining new objectives for seaplanes."
Buades has spent years looking to revive the prominent role that seaplanes once had. Commercial flights, which were important for the development of tourism in the years immediately before the Civil War, continued until the late 1950s. Since then, other than waterbombing planes like the Canadair in Puerto Pollensa, seaplanes have been a rare feature in Mallorca.
In 2019, the Mallorcan Aeronautical Foundation, which Buades also chairs, announced that Pollensa Bay would become Spain's first seaplane base for civilian flights. Six years later, this is no closer to becoming a reality. Just one obstacle has been opposition from Pollensa Town Hall. So, as the association's dream of making Puerto Pollensa a leading destination for civil aviation fades, it is looking at other options for promoting seaplanes in Europe.
On Wednesday, the foundation held its annual meeting of trustees in Marratxi. Among those attending was Colonel Ignacio Moll, the commander of the Pollensa Bay base. Buades says the initiation of contacts with EU transport officials was one of the key issues discussed. The foundation is to meet representatives of the College of Aeronautical Engineers to discuss new guidelines regarding seaplane flights and to promote awareness of the seaplane sector. The meeting also agreed that Mallorca will host the second International Seaplane Seminar in Spain.