The Port of Granadilla is at the center of a conflict that transcends labor issues to become a matter of top-tier industrial policy. This Tuesday, between 12:00 and 14:00 hours, the group of port workers has called for a demonstration at Plaza General Gutiérrez Mellado, in front of the headquarters of the Government of the Canary Islands. The trigger is the imminent departure of the Petrojarl I, a technically complex FPSO unit, whose forced exit, according to the workers’ union, represents a lethal blow to the industrial activity of the island.
The crisis erupts after the communication from the Port Authority to the ship’s operator, Amplus Energy, to leave the facility at the end of the authorized administrative timeframe for repairs. For the workers, this decision ignores that this is a complex industrial asset and not a conventional ship repair. The departure of the Petrojarl I involves relocating a project that requires process engineering, specialized mechanics, electricity, and industrial welding out of Tenerife, affecting not only direct jobs but the entire chain of suppliers and auxiliary companies that depend on offshore activity.
The dissatisfaction among the group points directly to a ‘lack of strategic vision’ and to a legal insecurity that, they claim, is driving investments to other rival ports such as Las Palmas or the African coast. ‘We are not asking for privileges; we are asking to work,’ states the slogan of a mobilization that demands clear criteria for the oil, gas, and offshore wind sectors. Protesters denounce that while the port of Granadilla has space and underutilized operational capacity, they are being forced to exit high-value-added projects that generate qualified employment and establish technology on the island.
