The Spanish government is looking to introduce changes to the current law governing ports to make them more commercial in their outlook.
An initial attempt undertaken in the last legislature failed to gain approval, while port unions remain extremely hostile.
Each of the 28 port authorities would be given more freedom to set their own tariffs. Currently, tariffs are unified throughout Spain and fail to reflect local trading conditions.
The Development Ministry believes that by using individual pricing, competition will increase between the various ports, which will boost productivity and efficiency.
Spanish ports handle 80% of the country's imports and 50% of its exports. Port authority levies account for 25% of the total port costs, while the other 65% is accounted for by stevedoring costs.
In another move, a minimum of 25% of dock workers will have fixed jobs; the rest will be employed on a casual basis.
