The continued presence of Boluda Maritime Terminals’ business representative on the board of directors of the Las Palmas Port Authority on behalf of the employers’ association representing its Astican partners, Fedeport, has become the focus of a geopolitical storm over the governance of critical infrastructure in the Canary Islands. The president of the Gran Canaria Island Council, Antonio Morales, has criticised the fact that the employee, who lives on mainland Spain, serves as the spokesperson for an employers’ association at the centre of Las Palmas’ port power structure while one of its companies is being scrutinised over the sale of 45% of its share capital to the Kingdom of Morocco.
In his view, security concerns should at least prompt consideration of the fact that the company is negotiating its sale to a foreign state with geopolitical interests, with a view to seeking its departure. A company that is up for sale, for example—although Morales did not say so—is participating in a rate increase with the financial backing of its business group and a foreign sovereign state that is awaiting formalities to acquire part of the maritime-traffic business and access to the sensitive information carried by vessels operating in the Canary Islands.
The transaction, which would transfer 45% of the subsidiary to state-owned company Marsa Maroc, would place Moroccan public capital within the governing body that deliberates and makes decisions on security, tariffs and the strategic planning of La Luz Port. The institutional anomaly was first highlighted by the president of the Gran Canaria Island Council in Canarias7 on Tuesday. In January 2026, he formally asked the Ministry of Industry to subject the transaction to the foreign investment screening regime in order to condition or block it. Morales based his opposition on the direct impact on vital infrastructure for the archipelago’s supplies: «Let us not forget that this company has a business representative on the Board of Directors of the Las Palmas Port Authority.»
Gran Canaria’s administrative silence compared with the stance in Tenerife
Despite the warning issued by the Gran Canaria island government, the case has proceeded for nine months amid a pronounced low profile from the Las Palmas Port Authority. Its president, Beatriz Calzada, declined to speak out forcefully against the sale last December, saying she trusted that the business alliance would not harm regional competitiveness. This position of equidistance, shared by the port employers’ associations of the 1978 regime and dockworkers’ unions, contrasts with the political shift that has just taken place on the neighbouring island.
The Tenerife Island Council’s plenary session has approved an institutional motion promoted by the Canary Islands Coalition (CC) and the People’s Party (PP) urging the Spanish government to immediately block the operation. The Tenerife resolution warns of the “risk of maritime traffic and economic activity being diverted to competing Moroccan ports”, aligning with the concerns raised by Gran Canaria at the beginning of the year but which failed to translate into a united front on the island itself.
Conflict of interest within La Luz’s governing body
The continued presence of Boluda’s representative on the Las Palmas board places the Port Authority before an operational security dilemma. Marsa Maroc is not acting as a mere financial investor, but as a logistics arm of the Moroccan state involved in the redesigned Middle Atlantic strategy, supported by megaprojects such as Tangier Med, Nador West Med and the future Dakhla port basin.
Morales has criticised the lack of consistency among the political forces governing in Tenerife while remaining silent in Gran Canaria: «If CC and PP now consider, in Tenerife, that Marsa Maroc’s entry warrants a specific assessment because of its possible effects on ports, competition and maritime traffic, it would be reasonable to ask why that same concern has not been expressed to an equivalent extent in Gran Canaria. This is not about supporting the president of the Island Council; it is about defending La Luz Port.»
State inspection and the urgency of a regional response
The case is being examined by the inspection services of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Economy, which have held working meetings with island representatives to determine whether the acquisition of 45% of BMT violates the protective framework for strategic assets. The Congress of Deputies has also accumulated several oversight initiatives concerning the monitoring mechanisms applied to the transaction.
The debate extends beyond the island level to question the Canary Islands’ port policy amid a turbulent international situation marked by the commitments of the Abraham Accords and the reorganisation of maritime corridors between Europe and Africa. The presence of directors linked to a foreign state-owned operator at the table where the future of La Luz Port is decided requires a clear regional position and a definitive state resolution to prevent delays in protecting the Canary Islands’ logistics hub.
The article “Boluda board member at Las Palmas Port under Rabat’s control: Security grounds to force his departure?” was first published on canarymaritime.com.
