Puertos del Estado initiates the processing of the Port Operations and Port Police Regulation
• Establishes the creation of a Monitoring Committee, which will also include Port Authorities and trade unions
26-03-2026 (Puertos del Estado). Puertos del Estado has initiated the processing of the Port Operations and Port Police Regulation following the meeting held today with the most representative trade unions in the sector. This initiative complies with the provisions set out in the Revised Text of the Law on State Ports and the Merchant Navy.
The new Regulation will provide the state-owned port system with a systematic, updated, and harmonised regulatory framework governing the operation of services, the use of public domain, safety, security, and operations, among other key aspects of port management. It will also incorporate a model of port by-laws that will serve as a reference for Port Authorities in developing their specific regulations.
Over recent months, Puertos del Estado has been working on drafting this initial text, incorporating contributions submitted by Port Authorities through various consultation processes and maintaining ongoing dialogue with the most representative trade unions in the sector. This process has enabled the achievement of a broadly shared starting point, without prejudice to further improvements and adjustments that may be introduced during the Regulation’s processing.
The objective of Puertos del Estado is to strengthen the legal certainty of the port system within its management model, in an increasingly demanding geostrategic and economic context. This new Regulation will help enhance the resilience and responsiveness of Spanish ports, while reinforcing their competitiveness through a stable, predictable framework adapted to the sector’s emerging challenges.
Puertos del Estado has completed a preliminary draft of the Regulation, which will be submitted to the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility for the continuation of its processing. From that point, the Ministry will request the necessary reports, with particular relevance given to the Ministry of the Interior and the Directorate-General of the Merchant Navy, and will proceed with the corresponding procedure until its final approval.
The text comprehensively regulates the main dimensions of port activity, including the use of public domain, conditions for access to and stay within the service area, the organisation and control of maritime and land traffic, as well as the regime applicable to vessel operations in port. It also develops the organisation and functioning of general services, maritime signalling and, notably, the port police service, specifying its functions, scope, and coordination with other authorities. The Regulation also includes provisions on safety, security, and pollution prevention, together with the operational framework applicable to activities such as fuel supply —including liquefied natural gas (LNG)— shore-side electricity supply to vessels, and other operations linked to port activities.
The Regulation provides for the creation of a Monitoring Committee as a consultative and technical coordination body between Puertos del Estado and the Port Authorities, with the participation of the most representative trade unions. Its functions include facilitating the homogeneous implementation of the new regulatory framework, monitoring its practical application, identifying issues, and promoting the exchange of criteria and the formulation of improvement proposals across the state port system, always within the framework of the powers assigned to Puertos del Estado and the Port Authorities under the Revised Text of the Ports Law. It is also envisaged that the Committee may begin its work in the coming months, in parallel with the Regulation’s processing, in order to anticipate technical issues and support an orderly implementation from its entry into force.