In the year 2004, Marina de Denia, Marina Greenwich and Marina de Alicante joined forces "to defend the interests of the marinas and to be part of the Spanish Federation of Associations of Sports and Tourist Ports".
Three years later, in March of 2007, after having gathered most of the ports of the Valencian Community, the founding charter of the Grouping of Ports and Sports of the Valencian Community, with the altruistic collaboration of lawyer Arturo Sáez.
Among the objectives of the Association, according to the president, Gabriel Martinez, highlights the identification of common interests and their defense and development, which has allowed to unify and improve the quality of service provision to all ports; serve as interlocutor before the administrations; visibility before society and the creation of the concept of nautical tourism.
"The Association pivots on three basic pillars, promoting job creation of all its ports, caring for the environment and opening the ports to the whole society", Martinez pointed. "Until the appearance of the marinas on the national scene there was no port capable of generating so much employment".
At present, the Association has the following ports: Marina Benicarló, Marina Burriana Nova, Marina Port Castelló, Pobla Marina, Dénia Marina, Marina El Portet, Marina Nou Fontana, Marina Greenwich, Marina Mirramar, Marina Deportiva de Alicante, Varadero STA and Marina Cabo Roig.
The Association plays an important role in the Spanish Federation of Sports Ports and Tourist Associations, first as the sole interlocutor before the Maritime Cluster, the General Directorate of the Merchant Navy and the National Commission of Lighthouses Spain. "Since the Association a lot of work has been done and we have managed to approve the Law of Ports at the national level and, right now, we hope that our administration will give us the same attention and we can approve it", Martínez concluded.
