Marina Port de Mallorca / STP Palma

• Location: commercial port of Palma de Mallorca, at about 39 33.8 N 2 38.4 E
• Operator: IPM Group, which also holds Marina Port de Mallorca, Marina Ibiza, Marina Port Ibiza and Varadero Valencia
• Marina Port de Mallorca: 200 berths with a maximum of 50m, facilities refurbished in 2017
• STP yard capacity: yachts to 120m and 1,000 tonnes
• Travelifts: six, at 30, 100, 150, 200, 700 and 1,000 tonnes, with the 1,000 tonne machine stated to be the only one in Europe
• Yard footprint: about 130,000 square metres technical area, 86,000 of land, 44,000 of water, 5,000 of workshops, seven dry dock pits
• Throughput: around 1,500 yachts a year, up to 140 under repair at once, over 1,800 travelift movements annually
• Open yard: owners appoint their own contractors from over 500 specialist companies on site, with a daily workforce above 1,500
• February 2026: STP launched large-refit capability for vessels up to 115m LOA at new facilities
• For yachts over 50m afloat: STP's own berthing area, or Club de Mar Mallorca with over 500 berths, more than 40 superyacht positions and a 170m maximum
• Certification: STP holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 45001, and the marina holds Blue Flag, EMAS and ISO 9001
• Next fixed date: Palma International Boat Show, 28 April to 1 May 2027

Where it is and what the approach is like

The yard sits inside the commercial port of Palma de Mallorca at 39 degrees 33.83 minutes north, 2 degrees 38.38 minutes east, on the western side of the city waterfront. The Bay of Palma is wide, deep and easy to enter in almost any conditions, with no bar, no narrows and no tidal constraint. Commercial and ferry traffic is heavy and the port operates to commercial rules, so arrivals are coordinated.

The bay's one habit worth planning around is the afternoon sea breeze, which builds reliably through the summer and can make a lunchtime manoeuvre in a tight berth harder than the same job at eight in the morning. Yards and marinas here schedule lifts accordingly. Southwesterlies push swell into the bay in winter, which is the direction to watch if a yacht is lying afloat over the refit season.

What the marina takes, and where a bigger yacht goes

Marina Port de Mallorca itself holds 200 berths and tops out at 50 metres. Its facilities were refurbished in 2017 and it runs as an eco-port with collection of oily, grey and black water, 24 hour security and camera coverage, a concierge desk and berthing assistance. It sits under the IPM Group, the same ownership as STP, Marina Ibiza and Marina Port Ibiza.

Above 50 metres an owner is looking at STP's own berthing area, which covers about 44,000 square metres of water inside the yard, or at Club de Mar Mallorca across the water. Club de Mar runs over 500 berths with more than 40 positions sized for superyachts and megayachts and takes yachts up to 170 metres, and it is in the middle of a major expansion. Palma's capacity for very large yachts is therefore real, but it is spread across three operators and not concentrated in one marina.

The only thousand-tonne travelift in Europe, and an open yard that hands the project risk back to the owner.

What the yard can actually lift

STP covers a technical area of about 130,000 square metres, made up of roughly 86,000 square metres of land and 44,000 of water, with 5,000 square metres of workshops and seven dry dock pits. It handles yachts up to 120 metres and 1,000 tonnes.

The lifting capability is the reason the fleet comes. Six travelifts run at 30, 100, 150, 200, 700 and 1,000 tonnes, and the yard states that its 1,000 tonne machine is the only one of that size in Europe. In February 2026 STP launched a large-refit capability for vessels up to 115 metres length overall at new facilities, which extends what it can take alongside for major projects. In June 2026 it commissioned a solar array for its own consumption.

The open-yard model, and what it moves onto the owner

STP works on an open shipyard model. The yard supplies the space, the lift and the infrastructure, and the owner or the captain appoints the contractors. More than 500 specialist companies operate on the site, the daily workforce exceeds 1,500 people, and the yard puts through around 1,500 yachts a year with up to 140 under repair at once and more than 1,800 travelift movements annually.

For an owner the advantage is control and price. Contractors compete for the work, nothing is marked up through a single main contractor, and a captain with a trusted painter or engineer can bring him in. The cost of that is coordination risk. There is no single yard taking responsibility for the whole project, no one warranty covering the finished job, and no main contractor to chase when two trades collide on the schedule. Owners who run big refits here appoint a project manager and treat it as a construction site.

How a slot and a berth are obtained, and what they cost

Afloat berths at Marina Port de Mallorca are booked online or through reception, with long-term rates quoted on request. Yard slots are booked with STP and the large ones go early, because only a handful of yards in Europe can lift at the top of this range and the winter window is finite. A yacht needing a haul-out at 700 or 1,000 tonnes should be talking to the yard a season ahead.

Nothing here is sold as a concession, so an owner is a customer and not the holder of a berth asset. Pricing runs on length for the berth and on a combination of lift, hardstanding days and contractor invoices for the yard. The refit bill is dominated by the trades, so the yard tariff is the smaller part of a project and the choice of contractors is the larger one.

Standards, waste and security

STP holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 45001, carbon footprint certification and UN Global Compact membership. Marina Port de Mallorca carries a Blue Flag, EMAS registration and ISO 9001. For an owner that matters because paint, solvent and wash-down handling in a yard of this size is exactly where an environmental problem becomes the yacht's problem.

Security is 24 hour with camera coverage on the marina side, and the commercial port perimeter adds a layer beyond that. Privacy during a refit is limited in the sense that hundreds of contractors move across the site daily, which is a consideration for owners who care about what is photographed inside their boat. Serious owners write confidentiality into contractor terms.

The city, the crew and the airport

Palma is the reason the industry settled here and not somewhere cheaper. It is a real city with a cathedral, an old town, restaurants that stay open in January and housing that crew can actually live in, so the skilled labour stays through the winter. That is the difference between a yard you can staff and one you cannot.

Palma's airport is one of the best-connected in the Mediterranean, minutes from the port, with direct flights from across Europe year-round and a summer schedule that is close to saturation. For a refit that matters more than it sounds, because a specialist or a part can reach the yacht the same day. For an owner it means joining the boat is easy in every month of the year.

The season, which runs backwards

Palma's busy period is the opposite of everywhere else in this guide. The yards run hard from October to spring while the resort ports are shut, and the city fills with crew on winter projects. Space in the yard and the marinas is tightest in exactly the months when Porto Cervo is empty.

The turn comes with the Palma International Boat Show, which marks the start of the season and is scheduled for 28 April to 1 May in 2027. From there the fleet moves out into the Balearics, and Mallorca's north coast calas, the run to Ibiza and Formentera and the racing in the bay carry the summer. An owner can finish a refit and be cruising the same week without a delivery passage.

The honest downside

It is an industrial site and it looks like one. Paint tents, dust, noise, forklifts and a working commercial port are the view, and no owner should plan to entertain guests aboard while the yacht is in the yard. The afloat marina caps at 50 metres, so a large yacht is split between operators and the neat single-address arrangement that Porto Montenegro or Barcelona offers does not exist here.

Two other things need settling before a yacht bases in the Balearics. Spain levies a matriculation charge of 12 per cent, and the exemption for exclusive charter use has historically been limited to yachts under 15 metres with a reform to remove that threshold proposed and unresolved, so take Spanish advice first. And the posidonia anchoring rules that now govern the Balearics constrain where the yacht can lie once the refit is over.

Who it is for: An owner who runs the boat hard, refits it properly and wants the yard, the trades and the summer cruising ground in one place.