MADRID, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Barcelona City Hall on Thursday announced the cancellation of the Barcelona World Race (for yachts) which had been scheduled to set off from the city in the north-east of Spain in January 12th 2019.

Municipal sources say the main reasons are changes in tax regulations which will affect the deductions sponsors are able to make on their returns, as well as the ongoing political instability in the Catalan region.

The fourth edition of the race, which was scheduled to start and finish in Barcelona, was only presented officially to the press on January 12th of this year, but the National Oceanic Foundation of Barcelona (FNOB) confirmed in a communique they had been forced to cancel it due to financial issues, especially changes in tax regulations allowing tax incentives to sponsors and participating vessels.

The previous edition of the race, which was held in 2015, had a budget of over 35 million euros, according to official data.

Despite cancelling the 2019 edition of the Barcelona World Race, the FNOB say they intend to maintain the Extreme Sailing Series regatta scheduled to be held off the coast of Barcelona in June and will work to attempt to organize the next edition of the Barcelona World Race, which is scheduled for 2022.