The boat, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2024, was built in Palma by Astilleros Ballester in 1924 to be used for trawling. In 1998 the Consell de Mallorca declared the Balear an asset of cultural interest with the category of monument.

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The Consell de Mallorca

The Department of Environment, Rural Affairs and Sports, directed by Pedro Bestard, has closed the participation of the Balear in the parade of Palma. “We thought it was a good idea that the first act of commemoration of the centenary was that the Three Kings made their arrival to the city aboard the llaüt”, Bestard has assured.

The Balear will be decked out on January 5 in the morning, then will lead their Majesties of the Orient to the Moll Vell de Palma, where they will disembark at 18.00 hours.

Bestard recalled that the Balearic carries out various activities related to the dissemination of maritime heritage and environmental education, making departures from Palma and also around the island giving to know the different natural parks from the sea. “We want that, with the participation of the boat in the parade of Palma, the Mallorcans know more about this vessel, which is a real maritime treasure.”

The Consell de Mallorca has shown its commitment to maritime heritage by increasing the 2024 budget item “Mallorca and the sea” by 160%, from 108,000 euros to 283,000. “This increase is necessary, precisely to be able to buy a new engine for the Balear. We hope that, with the centenary events plus the budget increase, the historic boats and everything related to our sea will have the prominence they deserve,” added Bestard.

Characteristics of the Balear

It fished actively for more than 70 years, first in Palma and, from 1980, in Portocolom, when the Font family sold it to a fisherman from there. The boat settled in that port and continued fishing until the end of its useful life in the mid-1990s. From that moment on, once it was moored and without activity, it began a process of deterioration that led to a very poor state of preservation.

Given this deplorable state, different people and groups concerned about the conservation of maritime heritage demanded the protection of the vessel. Thanks to this pressure and to the fact that the shipowner donated it to the Consell de Mallorca, in 1998 the Consell declared it an asset of cultural interest with the category of monument, thanks to a proposal that was unanimously approved by the Plenary.

To reactivate the boat, due to its poor state of preservation, the Balear was the object of a long restoration process carried out by the Escola de Mestres d’Aixa del Consell, a process that began in 2000 and ended in 2004, when it returned to the sea.

It has a length of 14 meters and a beam of 4.50 meters. It has a 130 hp inboard engine and rigs mainsail and jib.