Portos de Galicia regulates the authorizations for activities without exclusive occupation

Portos de Galicia approved the Resolution of September 1, 2026, published in the Official Gazette of Galicia (DOG) no. 173, of September 11, 2026 (p. 48572), which regulates the authorization procedures for commercial, industrial, and other activities carried out without exclusive occupation of public domain in the ports dependent on the Autonomous Community. The regulation creates two differentiated procedures, codes IF510A and IF510B, depending on whether the applicant is a private entity or a public administration.

The resolution, signed by the Presidency of Portos de Galicia, is based on Article 124 of Law 6/2017, of December 12, on the ports of Galicia, which requires authorization for the exercise of activities within the port area for reasons of space control, technical capacity of the infrastructures, security, and environment. It is complemented by Law 6/2003, of December 9, on taxes, prices, and regulatory levies, and by Laws 39/2015 and 40/2015, on common administrative procedure and the legal regime of the public sector.

Two procedures depending on the applicant

Procedure IF510A is addressed to legal persons and private entities without legal personality, as well as self-employed workers in the exercise of their professional activity. IF510B, on the other hand, is reserved for public administrations for the development of their own purposes, provided they are of a public use nature and without exclusivity.

• IF510A: commercial and industrial activities of private entities, under a regime of free competition.
• IF510B: activities and actions of another nature by public administrations, usually city councils.

The competence to resolve corresponds to the Presidency of Portos de Galicia, which delegates in the case of IF510A to the zone headquarters to which the port where the authorization is requested belongs.

Regulated activities and deadlines

The typology of activities is not limited to a closed list. Among those of a port nature are ship repair, bunkering for third parties, cleaning of seabeds, nautical chartering, or fishing-tourism; among non-port activities, film shoots, image capture with drones, or the reservation of loading and unloading zones. In the case of public administrations, the installation of urban furniture, waste containers, signage, lighting improvements, pavements, and gardening are included.

Authorizations are granted for the time required for the activity or, if it is recurring, for a maximum of five (5) years, with the possibility of continuous or intermittent provision. Applications must be submitted electronically through the electronic office of the Xunta de Galicia, individually for each activity and each port.

Entry into force and appeals

The application period has remained open since the day following its publication in the DOG, as it is an open-term procedure. Against the resolution, which exhausts administrative remedies, a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed before the Contentious-Administrative Court of Santiago de Compostela within a period of two (2) months, or an optional appeal for reversal (procedure IF508B) within a period of one (1) month.

The regulation completes the framework initiated by the Resolution of April 17, 2023, which approved procedures IF504C, IF504D, and IF504E for the consignment of vessels and goods, fuel bunkering, and the provision of mechanical means. With this new regulation, Portos de Galicia provides coverage for a wide range of activities that until now lacked their own specific procedure, which simplifies formalities and reduces administrative burdens for freelancers, companies, and city councils operating in the regional ports.

Source: Official Gazette of Galicia (DOG), no. 173, September 11, 2026, section III. Other provisions, p. 48572 (official reference: CVE-DOG k8pjul53-ay31-lcd6-wsi8-9ihdl0w0uk50).