The Palma International Boat Show awards the Marilles Foundation with the Marcial Sánchez-Barcáiztegui prize for the conservation of the sea

The Marilles Foundation has been awarded with the Marcial Sánchez-Barcáiztegui prize, which is given every year at the Palma International Boat Show. The Vice President and Minister of Energy Transition, Productive Sectors and Democratic Memory, Juan Pedro Yllanes, presented the award to Sandra Espeja, Toni Font and Natalia Barrientos on behalf of Marilles. The managing director of the Business Innovation Institute of the Balearic Islands (IDI), Mariona Luis, as well as other representatives of Marilles, also attended the award ceremony.

The organization wanted to reward the work of Marilles in preserving and raising awareness of the sea, especially the effort to minimize the environmental impact of human activity in the sea, highlighting the value of artisanal fishing as the fishing subsector that generates more jobs and the most respectful with the environment. Also, the work of Marilles in the creation and maintenance of marine protected areas, as well as the promotion of protection against marine pollution, has also been valued.

The Vice President and Minister of Energy Transition, Productive Sectors and Democratic Memory, Juan Pedro Yllanes, pointed out "the great work that you carry out to raise awareness of marine science, respect, training and dissemination in the society of the Balearic Islands".

Sandra Espeja emphasized that "the sea gives us many benefits, but we invest little in its conservation. We believe it is possible to conciliate economic prosperity with marine and coastal ecosystems in an excellent state of conservation. If we take it seriously and apply courageous measures, the Balearic Islands can be a world reference in marine conservation".

Previous winners of the Marcial Sánchez-Barcáiztegui Award have been the Balearic Naval Racing Commission (2013); the SAR Princesa Sofía Trophy (2014); the School of Mestres d'Aixa of the Consell de Mallorca (2015); Margarita Dahlberg (2016); Diego Colón de Carvajal (2017); Miguel Suñer (2018); Isabel Subirats (2019); the Red Cross of the Sea (2021), and the Fishermen's Guild of Sant Pere (2022).