Marine reserves
Governing: Decreto 41/2015 (BOIB 77, 23 May 2015) as amended; CAIB marine reserves pages. Builds on: L5.1.
What a marine reserve is (and is not)
Balearic marine reserves (reserves marines) are fisheries reserves in the islands' inland waters. The general rules are in Decreto 41/2015, amended as reserves were added or extended:
| Decree | What it did |
|---|---|
| Decreto 62/2016 | Freu de sa Dragonera reserve |
| Decreto 38/2018 | Punta de sa Creu reserve |
| Decreto 38/2022 (BOIB 177, 6 Sep 2022) | Illes del Toro and Malgrats reserve |
| Decreto 25/2023 (BOIB 57, 4 May 2023) | Ses Bledes and Es Vedrà–Vedranell reserves |
| Decreto 45/2024 (BOIB 137, 19 Oct 2024) | Recreational fishing charter; amends Tagomago and Bledes/Vedrà decrees |
| Decreto 26/2025 (BOIB 86, 5 Jul 2025) | Illes del Ponent de Mallorca, el Toro, les Malgrats and el Sec |
Diving authorisations are regulated by Orden 21/2022 (BOIB 120, 13 Sep 2022). The CAIB page notes each reserve may have more specific rules of its own.
A marine reserve is about extraction and underwater activity. It does not by itself stop you navigating or anchoring, but the Posidonia rules (Module 2) still apply everywhere, and many reserves overlap Natura 2000 sites with their own anchoring rules.
What needs a permit
From the CAIB activity and authorisation pages:
- Recreational fishing from a boat: a specific three-yearly authorisation, applied for online, plus a catch record (paper form or the Diario de Pesca Recreativa app). Not submitting catch records means losing the licence.
- Spearfishing: where allowed, an annual individual authorisation on top of the fishing licence, and a catch return.
- Scuba diving: a specific individual or group authorisation. Divers and dive centres must report their dives.
- Snorkelling / freediving without tanks: free throughout the reserve on the page reviewed.
- Scientific diving or sampling: express authorisation.
Special protection zones
Every reserve has a zona de protección especial where recreational fishing and scuba diving are not allowed. Divers may not carry any fishing or extraction tool (other than a safety knife), in the water or on the boat, and feeding fish is prohibited.
One reserve page reviewed (a south Mallorca reserve worked by the Santanyí and Colònia de Sant Jordi fishermen's guilds) adds that spearfishing is allowed only on Mondays, Tuesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and never in the special protection zone, the closed zone or the marine area of Es Trenc natural park. Days vary by reserve: check the specific one.
WARNING — Guests with spearguns A speargun in the tender near a reserve is a problem even if nobody fires it. For divers the rule is explicit: no extraction tools in the water or on the boat. Keep sports gear locked away unless you have confirmed the activity is allowed where you are.
Charter context
Recreational fishing charter has its own regime (Decreto 45/2024) and is excluded from the general charter decree except its art. 3 (Decreto 44/2025 art. 2.f). A yacht charter whose guests happen to fish is not "fishing charter", but the guests still need the reserve authorisation to fish from the boat.
TIP — Ask before the trip, not at the reserve boundary Reserve authorisations are online and take time. If the charter brief includes fishing or diving, apply before the guests arrive.