The Port Authority of Algeciras Bay (APBA) has opened the call for advertising sponsorships corresponding to the 2027 financial year, aimed at associations and foundations that are non-profit with activities in the Campo de Gibraltar. Interested entities may submit their applications until October 31, 2026, through the Corporate Social Responsibility section of the APBA website.
The call maintains the regulatory format launched in 2024, under which the relationship between the Port Authority and the beneficiary entities is structured as an advertising contract subject to Law 34/1988, of November 11, General Advertising. This scheme replaced the previous model of the Port-Comarca Commission, now called the Advertising Sponsorship Commission.
The projects eligible for sponsorship belong to three areas defined by the guidelines. The social-benefit area is aimed at alleviating the needs of disadvantaged groups, distinguishing between vital needs and those related to health. The cultural-educational area seeks to increase quality cultural programming, prioritizing initiatives linked to the maritime, port, logistics, or digitalization environment. The sports-social area focuses on grassroots sports activities as an alternative for leisure and health among youth, provided they are related to the port and maritime environment or with water sports. The guidelines explicitly exclude any initiatives with political content or linked to political activities.
Legally constituted associations and foundations, with a non-profit character accredited in their bylaws and with their registered office or headquarters in one of the municipalities of the Campo de Gibraltar region, may participate. Applicant entities must prove they are up to date with their tax obligations and with Social Security, and must not be subject to the contracting prohibitions established in Article 71 of Law 9/2017, of November 8, on Public Sector Contracts. Neighborhood associations and federations of associations, parent associations, political parties, and entities with political affiliations are excluded from the call, as well as any associations that have among their members public agencies from which they could obtain collaboration.
Each entity may submit only one application. The required documentation includes official registration as an association or foundation, the bylaws or articles of incorporation, certificates from the Tax Agency and the General Treasury of Social Security, a sworn declaration of compliance with the legal conditions for contracting with the APBA, an explanatory memory of the outreach project not exceeding five pages, and a sworn declaration regarding the accuracy of the provided data. Entities that have already submitted the official registration and the bylaws in previous calls will not be required to submit them again, provided they have not been modified.
The evaluation of the applications will follow four objective criteria. The first, with a maximum of 60 points, evaluates the advertising actions that the entity commits to carry out to give visibility to the sponsorship: inclusion of the APBA logo in the project's signage (20 points), notices or ads in printed press, television, radio, or digital media with express mention (15 points), dissemination on the entity's website (10 points), and dissemination on social media mentioning the sponsor (15 points). The second criterion, with a maximum of 20 points, considers the number of beneficiaries of the project, with a scale that assigns 5 points to activities for up to 25 people, 10 points to those reaching between 25 and 100, and 20 points to those exceeding one hundred. The third evaluates the territorial scope, with 10 points for projects developed in more than one municipality in the Campo de Gibraltar and 5 for local projects. The fourth awards points for the quality of the memory and the application itself, with a maximum of 10 points.
Multiplicative coefficients will apply to this basic score. Social-benefit projects that address vital needs will have their score multiplied by 1.80, the same coefficient granted to initiatives considered highly relevant or impactful by the evaluative commission. Cultural-educational projects linked to the maritime environment or port digitalization and sports-social projects related to organized water sports for minors will receive a coefficient of 1.20.
The amount of sponsorship will be contingent on the budgetary credit available for each fiscal year and cannot exceed 75% of the total cost of the activity or project. The call allows for concurrent contributions from other public or private sources, provided the total does not exceed 100% of the cost. Of the annual budgeted amount, the commission will reserve a maximum of 10% to address social-benefit applications that may arise exceptionally throughout the year.
The body responsible for analyzing the applications will be a delegated commission of the APBA Board of Directors, made up of representatives from central, regional, and local administrations, business and union organizations, and the port institution itself. At the beginning of 2027, the commission will submit its selection proposal to the Board of Directors, which will approve the final resolution. Beneficiary entities may carry out their projects from the date of award until December 31 of that year, with the obligation to justify compliance with the advertising activity before November 30.
The Port-Comarca Commission was created in 1998 with the aim of analyzing and distributing the port authority's aid to groups in the environment in a collegiate manner. Since its transformation into the Advertising Sponsorship Commission in 2024, the institution maintains its collaboration with the associations and foundations of the Campo de Gibraltar under a contractual framework regulated by state advertising regulations.
