The transport sector in the Canary Islands experienced a historic moment this Monday. After years of uncertainty, cost overruns, and a complex bureaucratic battle with the Ministry of Industry, the ITV station at the Port of Las Palmas hosted the first ‘Production Compliance’ trial in its new Cold Tunnel. The company Juan Suárez Carrocerías II, S.L. was responsible for inaugurating an infrastructure that marks a significant turning point for food and pharmaceutical safety in the islands. The project, executed by Itevelesa with an investment of 1.5 million euros, addresses a gap that many companies deemed unfeasible for years. With an operational length of 26.5 meters, the tunnel can accommodate everything from large articulated trucks to three vans simultaneously, eliminating the risk of breaking the cold chain in the transport of critical goods. Since 2021, the transport of refrigerated goods in the Canary Islands had been operating in a legal limbo. European regulations required extraordinary inspections that could only be conducted on the mainland. The General Secretary of the FET, José Ángel Hernández, described the initial pilot test as a “disaster”: sending a truck off the islands cost more than 7,000 euros and resulted in a week of lost time, provided the vehicle passed the test on the first attempt. Until March 2026, the Canary Islands survived thanks to a temporary exemption granted by the Ministry. With the commissioning of this facility, the archipelago regains its regulatory autonomy. It is no longer about evading controls, but rather ensuring that the nearly 3,000 refrigerated trucks operating in the islands meet the highest standards without bankrupting their owners in the process. The cost of inspection in this new tunnel will range between 1,500 and 2,000 euros, a figure significantly lower than the operational costs of transport to the mainland. Moreover, to encourage the orderly passage through the review, the FET and Itevelesa have agreed on a 20% discount during the first months of operation.
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