The Sant Antoni de Portmany City Council and the IbizaPreservation Classroom of Blue Crime at the Universitat Jaume I held this Tuesday the specialized technical seminar “Practical application of Royal Decree 191/2026 and protection of Posidonia oceanica meadows” , a day taught by professors Esteban Morelle-Hungría (Universitat Jaume I) and César Bordehore (Universitat d’Alacant) that brought together a large part of the professionals and public officials who work in the management and protection of the marine environment in Ibiza.
The event was opened by the Councillor for Environment, Beaches and Cleaning of the City Council, Pepita Torres , and presented by the executive director of Ibiza & Formentera Preservation , Inma Saranova , who stressed that “training like this is necessary to improve the effectiveness and efficiency in the protection of our seas” .
Likewise, the mayor of Sant Antoni de Portmany, Marcos Serra , attended the event to greet the speakers and express his gratitude for holding this training day, highlighting the importance of continuing to promote meeting spaces that strengthen institutional coordination and the protection of the municipality’s marine environment .
The meeting was attended by technicians, specialists and representatives from different administrations and institutions on the island, including the Government of the Balearic Islands , the municipalities of Sant Antoni de Portmany and Sant Josep de sa Talaia , Ports de les Illes Balears , the Environmental Agents Service , the Coastal Control and Surveillance Service , as well as scientific entities and environmental organizations such as Ibiza & Formentera Preservation and GEN-GOB .
During the session, the main changes introduced by Royal Decree 191/2026 were analyzed, paying special attention to its practical application, the powers of the different administrations, the sanctioning regime and the criminal protection of the damage caused to the Posidonia oceanica meadows.
The director of the IbizaPreservation Blue Crime Classroom and coordinator of the training, Dr. Esteban Morelle-Hungría , highlighted that “the new Royal Decree represents an important step forward in the protection of marine ecosystems, but its effectiveness will depend on the training of the professionals in charge of applying it and on the coordination between all the competent administrations.”
He also pointed out that “protecting Posidonia seagrass requires a comprehensive response that brings together scientific knowledge, environmental law, and the capacity to investigate the damage caused.” In fact, this approach is being applied in the micro-credential program launched by the Aula (a training center), which currently has 16 students, most of whom are technical staff from organizations in the Balearic Islands. “This training, implemented for the first time as a 3.5-credit higher education qualification, is proving very positive,” commented the coordinator of the workshop, who also explained that “on this occasion, we addressed one of the most controversial and necessary topics covered in this training to help the island’s administrations interpret this new instrument.”
For his part, the director of MarLab-Dénia and principal investigator of the Horizon Sea4Future project, Dr. César Bordehore , explained that “posidonia meadows constitute one of the most important ecosystems in the Mediterranean due to their extraordinary biodiversity and the environmental services they provide, from coastal protection to carbon capture.”
Bordehore also stressed that “a proper scientific assessment of the impacts allows for improved public management and the adoption of much more effective conservation measures.”
The program was structured into four blocks dedicated to the new regulatory framework, the ecology of Posidonia meadows, the criminal protection of environmental crimes and the techniques for detecting, documenting and assessing ecological damage of anthropogenic origin, concluding with a debate among the attendees.
According to the organizers of the event, the high participation of technical staff from the various administrations with jurisdiction over the coastline and the marine environment confirmed the interest generated by the application of the new regulatory framework and the need to strengthen institutional cooperation to ensure effective protection of one of the most emblematic and valuable ecosystems in the Mediterranean.
