The plan is to build two 200-metre jetties, both 30 metres wide and 140 metres apart. This will be attached to a new 8,000 m2 dock area which will include car-parks and loading areas. A state of the art terminal will also be built which will be divided into three separate glass buildings, all with two floors. A walkway will connect all three of the buildings.

  Entrance to the boats will be via these buildings. The passenger will enter the main building, and after checking-in, board the boat from special walkways on the first floor. This will ensure travellers do not have to return to the docking area in order to access the boat, an important safety feature, according to the planners.

  The final stage of planning permission was given two weeks ago and it is hoped that work can be started by the end of the year, although the promoters will first have to guarantee as little disruption as possible to the surrounding area.

  However, the following day the Island Council poured cold water on their argument, claiming not a stone would be moved in the area unless an agreement could be reached between all of the parties concerned. The second in command, Albert Prats, who led the protests against the new roads in Ibiza, said the plans were exaggerated, and that unless a compromise could be reached it would not go ahead.

  He maintained the project had been planned to cover the worst case scenario which would include four boats being moored at the jetties, all waiting to be loaded. He said it was very unlikely this would ever happen, and on the rare occasion that it did, would simply mean a slight delay in loading the vessels. Although he said that even in this extreme case, the scenario would be far better than that which currently existed.

  The Port Authority has total control over the project, and could force the issue if necessary, although Prats said it would be undemocratic if they did not listen to both the Town Hall and Island Council.

  The president of the Island Council, Xico Tarres, likened the situation to that of the roads, and insisted the port needed to be an adequate size for an island like Ibiza. He said he agreed a new port was necessary, but found the current plans "exaggerated".

  However, whilst visiting the new installation for the island's fishermen in the capital on Thursday, the president of the Ports Authority, Francesc Triay, said the door was still open and after meetings with both the Island president and the mayoress of Ibiza, Lurdes Costa, he confirmed the project would not go ahead without the total backing of the two institutions.