Agreement to exchange oceanographic data on the Catalan coast

The Official State Gazette publishes this Tuesday, September 8, 2026, in issue number 222, the Resolution of July 13, 2026, of the Public Body Puertos del Estado (State Ports), which publicizes the agreement signed with the Meteorological Service of Catalonia and the Generalitat de Catalonia for the exchange of oceanographic data. The agreement, signed on July 6, 2026, seeks to improve the prediction of swell and marine currents on the Catalan coast.

The agreement, with official reference BOE-A-2026-18822, is published in section III (Other provisions) of the gazette, on pages 120364 to 120369, in compliance with article 48.8 of Law 40/2015, of October 1, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector.

Three institutions, one common goal

The agreement brings together three organizations that manage ocean-meteorological observation systems and operate prediction models at different scales. It is signed by:

• Sarai Sarroca i Cervelló, director of the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC), a body attached to the Department of Territory, Housing, and Ecological Transition.
• Itziar Segarra Diaz, director general of Maritime Policy and Sustainable Fisheries of the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Food (DARPA) of the Generalitat.
• Gustavo Santana Hernández, president of Puertos del Estado, a public body attached to the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility.

The purpose of the agreement is to establish a collaboration framework for the reciprocal exchange of data from the measurement systems of each institution, in order to ensure the coordination and harmonious development of the meteorological and oceanographic observation networks present in the maritime area of Catalonia.

Observation networks on the Catalan coast

The three parties provide measurement infrastructures deployed along the Catalan coastline. Puertos del Estado has two multipurpose buoys for monitoring physical parameters and sea state in deep waters, two wave measurement buoys in shallow waters in the port environments of Barcelona and Tarragona, and three high-frequency radar antennas to measure surface currents and swell.

For its part, the Directorate General of Maritime Policy and Sustainable Fisheries has a network of seven high-frequency radars in operation and plans to install four fixed meteoceanic buoys and several drifting buoys. Data processing is supported by the Catalan Institute for Research on Sea Governance (ICATMAR), which provides validation, processing, analysis, and oceanographic modeling services.

Obligations and regime of the agreement

The parties undertake to provide each other with real-time data, to periodically exchange outputs from numerical oceanographic models, and to share incidents detected in the observation networks. They will also collaborate on improving the prediction of waves and currents and on the development of joint research projects.

The agreement does not involve any financial contribution from the parties. The exchanged data may not be transferred to third parties without prior written authorization from the holding entity, and its external dissemination must always mention the source of origin. The term of validity is four years, renewable for another four, provided that the total period does not exceed eight years.

Monitoring and Control

A Monitoring Commission is established, composed of two representatives from each institution, responsible for resolving interpretation doubts, settling discrepancies, and proposing improvements. Its agreements shall be adopted by unanimity, and the technical details of the data to be exchanged will be determined at its first meeting. The agreement shall be terminated due to breach of obligations, expiration of the term, unanimous agreement, or judicial decision, among other causes.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 222, September 8, 2026, section III, pp. 120364-120369 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-18822).