The support system for the internationalization of the Canary Island business fabric has entered a critical phase of judicial scrutiny. What was meant to be the engine for the external expansion of the islands during the fiscal year 2025 is now under the microscope of the Second Section of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC). The conflict arises from Resolution 1922/2025 from the General Directorate of Economic Promotion and Diversification, a document dated December 30 that sealed the fate of millions of euros in subsidies and is now at the center of a legal battle that threatens to block the external promotion strategy of the archipelago.
The commercial entity Elittoral, Coastal Engineering and Oceanography Studies, S.R.L., a company within the scope of the Maritime Cluster of the Canary Islands, has been the one to ignite the legal fuse. This firm, highly specialized in a strategic technological niche for the Canary Islands such as the marine-maritime sector, has chosen not to accept the administrative verdict and has filed appeal number 42/2026. The engineering firm’s decision has forced the Government of the Canary Islands, through its Technical Secretary General, Marcos Barrera González, to order the complete transfer of the administrative file to the judicial offices in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Elittoral’s move is not just a defense of its specific interests; it represents a direct challenge to the criteria for scoring and granting the ‘Canarias Aporta’ and ‘Aporta Digital’ programs.
The verb to cluster
This judicial deployment occurs at a time of special vulnerability for the Canary economy, which urgently seeks to diversify its sources of income beyond tourism. The Canarias Aporta program has historically been the crown jewel of the Ministry of Economy to propel local companies into international markets, while Aporta Digital was designed as the necessary response to technological globalization. The fact that the judiciary has requested the file implies that there are sufficient indications to review whether the General Directorate of Economic Promotion acted under the principles of equality, merit, and capacity, or whether, on the contrary, the final distribution of funds incurred in nullity or arbitrariness vices.
The resolution ordering the sending of the documentation is not a mere bureaucratic procedure; it is a call to arms for the entire benefiting business ecosystem. The regional Executive has been forced to issue a massive summons to all interested parties in the process. According to the legal mandate derived from Law 29/1998 regulating Contentious-Administrative Jurisdiction, any company that has been awarded these aids or that is affected by the outcome of the call has a peremptory deadline of nine days to appear before the Chamber. This situation creates an atmosphere of operational instability, as the business plans, origin contracts, and international marketing campaigns of dozens of companies now hinge on a ruling that could annul the call partially or totally.
Will the complaint be withdrawn?
The depth of the appeal filed by Elittoral casts suspicion on the management of subsidies in a year where business digitalization was expected to be the great qualitative leap for the islands. The referral of the administrative file implies that each technical report, each score assigned by the evaluation committee, and each previous rejection will be reviewed by magistrates with expertise in the matter. If the court finds irregularities in the resolution of December 30, the Government of the Canary Islands could face a nightmarish administrative scenario: the possible reversal of actions, which would require reevaluating hundreds of digital and physical internationalization projects when the budgetary exercise is already underway.
As the TSJC in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria instructs the case, the administrative paralysis casts a shadow of doubt over the effectiveness of the General Directorate of Economic Promotion. The coastal engineering firm that has contested the process essentially demands a review of the rules of the game. For a region attempting to project itself as a ‘hub’ of technological services in the Atlantic, the judicialization of its flagship aid program is a significant reputational blow. The outcome of this appeal will not only determine the fate of the Aporta 2025 program funds but will also set a precedent on how the regional administration must manage the scarce but vital financial muscle aimed at bringing Canary companies into the world. The nine-day countdown to appear in the case has already begun for the island’s business community, which anxiously watches as its external financing is now decided in the courts.
