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Marine demarcations (Spain) [Draft]

The cartography included in this service contains the delimitation of the Marine Districts corresponding to the Marine Strategies of Spain. Marine demarcations are understood to be the subdivisions of the marine regions and sub-regions that constitute the spatial scope over which each marine strategy will be developed, and there are five: North Atlantic Marine Demarcation, South Atlantic Marine Demarcation, Strait and Alboran Marine Demarcation, Levantine-Balearic Marine Demarcation and Canary Islands Marine Demarcation (Article 6.2 of Law 41/2010, of 29 December, on the protection of the marine environment). Marine demarcations are used as national marine units for notification to the European Commission in accordance with Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for Community action in the field of marine environmental policy.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Original title
Original abstract
Topic category
  • maritime_boundaries
Sub category Geopolitical boundaries (legal status)
Resource language English
Domain area
  • spain_marine_area
Owner Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico
Provider Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico
Data portal Infomar
Presentation form Map (map represented in raster or vector form)
Spatial representation Vector - polygon
Coordinate reference system Other
epsg:4258
Web services
  • OGC-WMS
  • Other
ATOM
Derives from
Derived datasets
Successor of
Predecessor of
Temporal extent
Spatial extent
Data accessibility The information can be used freely and without charge, as long as the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge is mentioned as the source. In addition, any user must include the following note: "This map is for technical use only and should not be considered as the official delimitation of borders between neighbouring countries".
Validation level
Additional information In 2010, the Directorate General for the Sustainability of the Coast and the Sea, with the technical support of the Centre for Ports and Coastal Studies of CEDEX, produced a cartographic representation of the five marine demarcations. This cartography was used for the implementation of the first cycle of Spain's marine strategies, including the notification to the European Commission of Article 4 of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive in 2012. This first version has undergone several subsequent modifications. These modifications have arisen either from technical improvements to the basic information or from specific guidelines from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MAEC). The modifications are as follows: (i) the boundaries of the North Atlantic and South Atlantic demarcations in the area adjacent to Portuguese waters are modified, following the guidelines of the MAEC. This modification is carried out in accordance with the principle of equidistance, both in the Territorial Sea and in the Exclusive Economic Zone. These equidistance lines have been provided by the Hydrographic Institute of the Navy (Ministry of Defence); (ii) the delimitation of the Levantine-Balearic marine demarcation is updated to comply with the delimitation established in Royal Decree 236/2013, of 5 April, which establishes the Exclusive Economic Zone of Spain in the northwestern Mediterranean; (iii) the cartographic delimitation of the marine waters around Ceuta, Melilla and the Chafarinas Islands is extracted, following MAEC guidelines, as the limits are not officially defined; (iv) the limit with land of the marine demarcations (initially taken from the coastal bodies of water of the first hydrological planning cycle) is modified to coincide with the official coastline published in 2016 by the Hydrographic Institute of the Navy. It has been necessary to make a series of cartographic adjustments to this line to achieve a coherent delimitation that allows its introduction in the polygon layer of the marine demarcations; (v) The limits between the marine demarcations and the bodies of water defined as transitional based on the layer of surface water bodies of the second cycle of hydrological planning 2015-2021 are updated; (vi) In October 2019, following the publication of the Treaty between the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic establishing the closure line of the mouths of the Miño and Guadiana rivers and delimiting the international sections of both rivers, made in Vila Real on 30 May 2017 (BOE number 189, of 6 August 2018), the delimitation of the North Atlantic Demarcation is modified to coincide with that agreed in said Treaty for the mouth of the Miño river. IMPORTANT NOTE: The delimitation of this layer responds to the need to define, from a technical point of view, the limit of the marine demarcations as management areas. Therefore, this map is for technical use only and should not be considered as the official delimitation of the borders between neighbouring countries.
Metadata completeness
Notes

Additional info - MSP - Environment

Species, habitats, ecosystems, pressures

Field Value
MSFD Classes
MSFD Descriptors/Criteria
Non MSFD Classes
WFD

Additional info - MSP - Oceanographic and CC

Physics, biochemistry, EOV, ECV

Field Value
Variables

Additional info - MSP - Conservation

Protected areas, OECM, IBA, EBSA, CCH, IMMA, ...

Field Value
Types
Zonation

Additional info - MSP - Maritime activities

Aquaculture, fishing, transport, energy, ...

Field Value
Activity types

Additional info - MSP - Coastal & Land use and planning

Land use, land cover, planning (strategic, coordination, operational)

Field Value
Types

Additional info - MSP - Socio-economic

Living and non-living resources, shipping, tourism, energy, ...

Field Value
Activity types
Value types
Categories

Additional info - MSP - Ecosystem Services

Provisioning, regulation & maintenance, cultural

Field Value
CICES classes

Additional info - MSP - Legal, Governance & Planning

Strategic, legislation, planning, administrative, enforcement

Field Value
Themes
Functions
Who is in charge?

Additional info - MSP - Relevance

Relevance of the dataset / resource in supporting the MSP process at different spatial scales and temporal frames

Field Value
Relevance (spatial and temporal)