Overcoming a direct comparison across Spain would place the two Eastern Canary Islands ports immediately in the national ranking. The combined total of 103,130.31 tonnes recorded by the Port of Arrecife and 83,341.94 tonnes handled at Puerto del Rosario yields a joint balance of 186,472.26 tonnes in January 2026. That figure would position the alliance of the eastern islands at number 11 in the national ranking of Puertos del Estado, ahead of 18 of the 28 traditional port authorities in the country. If the Autoridad Portuaria de Canarias is set up—and, in the medium term, if it also adds La Gomera or El Hierro—it would be profitable from the start.
Leaving “colony” status behind
The eastern islands have the critical mass, the business and the right to manage their resources without having to fund the vices of a Canary Islands capital-based port system in ethical decay, linked to the presence of foreign companies steering the cost of living and undermining future projects for majoreros and lanzaroteños. Lanzarote and Fuerteventura would stop being an extractive colony of resources originating in Las Palmas, so they can supply themselves and finance themselves.
10 years ago, CC and PSOE agreed at the Canary Islands Government Council to ask Puertos del Estado to create a Lanzarote Port Authority; however, Las Palmas has lobbied to block it, sacrificing projects such as the connection with Tarfaya, even as shipping companies have created routes such as WEC Lines London–Agadir–Las Palmas or El Aaiún with Las Palmas for bulk cargo. The argument continues that 45% of the terminals of Boluda in the Port of Puerto Rosario and Arrecife in Lanzarote are owned by the Government of Morocco, a situation that, in those islands, no one seems to have noticed following the December sale, which was supported by port businessmen from Las Palmas, despite alerts from the Cabildo de Gran Canaria. Now, in Las Palmas ports, CC holds sway, while on the islands of Lanzarote power is shared among CC, PSOE and PP. At Puertos del Estado, a Canarian is in charge. It is only necessary for Puertos de Las Palmas to send an email to Puertos del Estado pushing the idea defended by the Lanzarote and Fuerteventura Chambers of Commerce, as well as the employers’ associations CCL and Asofuer.
The end of submission: pure logic
Below the combined volume for Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, a dense trail of 18 historic port authorities from mainland Spain would sit—unable to compete with the tariff strength of the eastern islands. Just below that would be the Bay of Cádiz with 181,975 tonnes, followed by Pasaia with 165,657 tonnes, the Seville river port with 151,547 tonnes and Huelva with 151,285 tonnes. The collapse in the comparison continues with the Asturian port of Avilés, registering 128,649 tonnes, surpassing Tarragona with 108,037 tonnes, Almería with 100,715 tonnes, Alicante with 97,603 tonnes and Gijón with 95,246 tonnes. The piece argues there is logic to it: Cádiz or Huelva arose to benefit from traffic with the Canary Islands, and “the logical move” is to do the operation in reverse.
A wide logistical gap
The logistical divide widens when reviewing port complexes with a strong industrial or manufacturing base behind them, which fail to reach the consumption pace of the Canary periphery. Marín and the Bay of Pontevedra would position below with 94,113 tonnes, followed by Castellón with 91,965 tonnes, Ferrol–San Cibrao with 56,066 tonnes and Vilagarcía with 55,482 tonnes. In the final stretch, the advantage of the new insular entity would be vast versus Cartagena, which barely reaches 45,054 tonnes, Ceuta with 41,606 tonnes, A Coruña with 38,674 tonnes and Melilla with 35,633 tonnes. At the bottom of the national table would be Motril, recording a position of “absolute paralysis” with just 7,327 tonnes.
Above this new institutional axis, only the 10 largest titans of the state system would resist. At the very top would remain Valencia, the undisputed leader with 5,179,306 tonnes, the Bay of Algeciras with 4,658,090 tonnes and Barcelona with 3,743,383 tonnes. After the top three, Las Palmas Port Authority itself would keep the fourth spot with 1,393,697.75 tonnes—subtracting business already taken from the smaller islands—followed by Balearic Islands with 975,611 tonnes, Santa Cruz de Tenerife with 692,109 tonnes and Bilbao with 506,589 tonnes. Closing the select group that would precede the new Canary entity are Málaga with 455,199 tonnes, Vigo with 298,770 tonnes and Santander, which would defend tenth place with 232,681 tonnes.
The viability of this new Port Authority is presented as a reality check against centralism and the historical disregard shown by the Las Palmas port for the infrastructure of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. Far from being a mere administrative separation, the move is described as an economic and customs declaration of independence against a centralised management that has allowed the capital’s docks to become a true nest of opacity and financial corruption.
Stevedoring as a driver of inflation
The focus of the economic suffocation faced by the eastern islands is said to point directly to the privileges of the stevedoring sector in Las Palmas. The exorbitant manipulation costs for goods and the rigidities of a heavily protected sector are described as an unjustified toll, passed in full to the final price of essential products. This structure is said to be fueling inflation and the cost of living in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, where citizens pay for the financial excesses of the capital without receiving the corresponding investments in their own docks.
Breaking the umbilical cord
In a state system that mobilises nearly 20 million tonnes per month, the fact that Arrecife and Puerto del Rosario concentrate close to 1% of national traffic is used to argue that the umbilical cord with Gran Canaria must be cut. Las Palmas is said not only to retain—partisanly—the fees generated by activities in the periphery to finance its macro expansion projects in La Luz, but also to condemn the smaller islands to support an inefficient and more expensive logistics chain driven by the corporate perks of its port. The article says official data undermines the myth of mandatory tutelage.
The entry Arrecife and Puerto del Rosario: Nueva Autoridad Portuaria sería la 11 de España, ¡hay 28! was published first on encanarymaritime.com.
