Alicante Port and UA Present First State Port System Ordinance to Regulate a Sandbox
The regulation provides legal certainty for technological trials and makes Alicante's port a national benchmark for innovation.
By Pau Ferrer Castelló
••3 min read
AI
Generic image of a legal document with official seals and a port in the background.
The University of Alicante (UA) and the Alicante Port Authority have today presented the first ordinance of the state port system regulating a technological testbed, known as a sandbox.
This regulation, drafted by UA Civil Law Professor Yolanda Bustos, provides legal certainty for technological trials and positions Alicante's port as a national benchmark for developing innovative solutions in the logistics and port sector.
The ordinance will allow experimentation with new processes and solutions under real, controlled conditions with full guarantees. The presentation event included interventions from Luis Rodríguez, president of the Alicante Port Authority; Amparo Navarro, rector of the UA; the author herself, Yolanda de Bustos; and José Manuel Ramos, Head of Innovation at the Port Authority.
With this initiative, the Port of Alicante becomes the first in Spain to have an ordinance expressly regulating a controlled testing environment for innovation. The regulation, which began development in July 2025, establishes defined procedures, evaluation criteria, and a legal framework for companies, entrepreneurs, researchers, and developers.
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"We want to be an magnet to attract and implement innovation. For the port to become a benchmark for those with innovative solutions, a place where ideas find opportunities and can be transformed into useful solutions for society and our entire productive system."
The rector of the UA, Amparo Navarro, highlighted that the primary importance of this pioneering ordinance is that it provides legal certainty for the activities of the Port's technological testbed, describing it as a "totally novel regulation in a port environment that particularly makes us proud as it is a pioneering knowledge transfer success story."
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"The solvency of this work by Professor Bustos, a specialist in civil liability, implementation of test environments, and innovative air mobility, represents a step forward in consolidating the relationship between the University of Alicante and the Port of Alicante. We are pleased that the research we generate does not remain in offices but has real-world application."
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"Port environments in Spain must also be on par with other European initiatives. The Alicante ordinance can serve as a reference for other port authorities wishing to regulate their own testbeds."
The new sandbox aims to attract talent and projects, improve the port's efficiency and competitiveness, and facilitate the responsible adoption of new technologies. "Our objective is to equip ourselves with the necessary tools to attract innovation and be the first to adopt that technology," stated José Manuel Ramos, Head of Innovation at the Alicante Port Authority.
Yolanda Bustos Moreno, a Professor of Civil Law at the UA, specializes in civil liability, implementation of test environments, and innovative air mobility. She has served as aeronautical vice-president of the Spanish Association of Aeronautical and Space Law, is a member of the UA's ENIA Chair in AI, and is part of the advisory board for emblematic European aeronautical projects like VERTI-GO or U-ELCOME.
