Algeciras updates navigation and maritime safety regulations in the Strait

The Maritime Captaincy of Algeciras has approved the new rules and instructions for navigation, maritime safety, bathing, diving, and pollution prevention for the waters within its jurisdiction, which covers the Strait of Gibraltar and the Bay of Algeciras. The Resolution of August 20, 2026, signed by the maritime captain Paula Saiz Calvo, is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Cádiz number 171, dated September 4, 2026, and enters into force the day after its publication.

The regulation replaces and nullifies the Resolution of May 29, 2025, published in BOP number 116, dated June 20, 2025. The text is based on the Recast Text of the State Ports and Merchant Marine Law (Royal Legislative Decree 2/2011), Law 14/2014 on Maritime Navigation, and the royal decrees regulating personal watercraft, recreational nautical devices, and safety equipment for recreational vessels.

Maritime traffic of more than 100,000 vessels per year

The resolution justifies the update due to the characteristics of the Strait of Gibraltar, through which more than 100,000 ships and vessels pass each year, including high-speed craft, passenger ships, tankers, gas carriers, and the transport of dangerous goods. Added to this is the situation of Tarifa Island, very close to the port entrance, where recreational diving practices have generated numerous incidents and complaints from clubs, diving centers, and users.

Rules for personal watercraft, vessels, and bathers

The new rules establish distances and safety conditions for the different users of the marine environment:

• Personal watercraft must maintain a minimum distance of 50 meters from people and other vessels; outside the Bay of Algeciras, they are prohibited from navigating within 200 meters of bathing area buoys and within 300 meters of the coast.
• Recreational vessels (length between 2.5 and 24 meters) may not navigate when wind and wave conditions exceed their design category, and must carry the required documentation without exceeding the maximum number of permitted persons.
• Floating or beach devices (kayaks, canoes, windsurf boards, personal watercraft, and similar) may not venture more than one mile from the coast and shall only be used during daylight hours.
• The bathing zone occupies a strip of 200 meters on beaches and 50 meters on the rest of the coast when not marked.

Diving, wind sports, and pollution prevention

Recreational diving may only be practiced during daylight hours and with visibility exceeding one mile; in the vicinity of Tarifa Island, it shall be governed by the Resolution of June 20, 2023. Wind sports (surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, wing foiling) shall be practiced outside the buoyed areas or 200 meters from the coastline, and are prohibited in ports, docks, and access channels. Regarding environmental matters, the discharge of organic and inorganic waste into the sea and the transport of fuel in jerrycans or auxiliary containers are prohibited.

Non-compliance with these regulations will be sanctioned in accordance with the Recast Text of the State Ports and Merchant Marine Law, and reimbursement of Maritime Rescue (SASEMAR) expenses may be required for imprudent actions. An administrative appeal (recurso de alzada) may be filed against the resolution before the Director General of the Merchant Marine within one month.

The new regulation directly affects swimmers, divers, jet skis, and recreational vessels operating in one of the highest maritime traffic areas in the world, and seeks to reconcile recreational activity with the safety of commercial navigation and the protection of the marine environment in the Strait of Gibraltar.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Cádiz, number 171, of September 4, 2026, pp. 3-5 (official reference: Resolution of August 20, 2026, of the Maritime Captaincy of Algeciras).