FREE PORT OF ALMERIA 205

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Description of port—The port of Almeria occupies a central
position on the Bay of Almeria, which is 22 miles wide and 8 miles
deep. The port works consist of a long breakwater, or mole, known
8s the “Dique de Poniente,” or Western Mole, which extends from
the beach in a southeasterly direction a distance of 6,300 feet, and a
mole extending in a southwesterly direction a distance of 1,350 feet,
known as the “Muelle de Levante,” or Eastern Mole. The entrance
between the moles is about 1,050 feet wide, and the harbor is large
and well sheltered, with depths of water ranging from 25 to 40 feet.
Vessels can load and discharge alongside either mole, and within the
harbor there are many mooring buoys. A general plan of the port
of Almeria is being transmitted herewith.
Description of free port.—The free port is situated on the Western
Mole, beginning at a point about 1,000 feet distant from the shore
and comprising an area of 196,443 square feet, of which a total of
56,511 is reserved for oil supplies and 73,464 for coal. There is a
warehouse for general merchandise with 7,265 square feet of floor
Space and there is berthing space of 1,230 feet for steamers alongside
the free port. A railroad extends along the mole to a point beyond
the free-port area, and the principal highway connecting Almeria
with Malaga and other cities and towns passes close to the entrance
of the mole.

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Administration of free port—The concession for the free port at
Almeria was granted by royal order under date of February 20, 1922,
to the Compaiia de Depositos Comerciales del Puerto de Almeria
(Commercial Deposits Co. of the Port of Almeria), a Spanish concern
with a capital of 1,000,000 pesetas, which was formed in 1921. The
royal order mentioned provided that the concession should not be
exclusive; that warehouses destined for the storage of goods proceeding
 directly from foreign countries should be entirely separate from
those receiving goods of domestic production, not only for reasons of
Service convenience but also for the purpose of guarding the interests
of the national treasury and of business; that all installations deemed
Decessary by the customs authorities, and all customs services of
intervention and vigilance, should be for the account of the con-Cessionaire;
 that the concessionaire must comply with all general
‘egulations in effect, or which might become effective in future,
telative to administrative control of commercial deposits, including
‘hose concerning a maximum period of four years for the storage of
{oreign goods deposited without payment of duties; that the installalion
 of warehouses should be completed within three years; and that
‘he Government assumed no responsibility of any kind resulting from
the storage of merchandise or any other circumstance.