In a geopolitical landscape shaped by the reconfiguration of global supply chains and industrial growth in West Africa, the administration of the Gran Canaria Free Zone has put forward a far-reaching structural proposal: transforming the entire Canary Islands into a unified free port. The measure seeks to overcome the fragmentation of current customs facilities and consolidate the islands as a hub for secure storage, administrative simplification and the export of technological intangibles to three continents. No commercial negotiations have been held with the entity mentioned in preparing this article, in line with Canarymaritime’s commitment not to mix news with advertising.
Gabriel Corujo, the Spanish government’s special delegate to the Gran Canaria entity, argues that the international situation offers an unprecedented window of opportunity for the Canary Islands to stop operating solely as a transshipment point for containerized cargo and assume a central operational role in the knowledge economy.
“Exporting knowledge has never faced fewer barriers than it does now”
The state body’s thesis is based on the ability of free zones to remove the working-capital barriers faced by importing and exporting companies. Under the current Economic and Tax Regime (REF), the Gran Canaria Free Zone allows goods to be stored indefinitely without the immediate accrual of tariffs or indirect taxes. “Goods can be stored without incurring taxes for an unlimited period, which makes purchasing processes more efficient. The goods can be cleared as they are sold; even if more was purchased to obtain better prices, taxes did not have to be paid in advance,” Corujo told Europa Press.
The delegate goes further and openly advocates a broader regulatory shift: “If I had the opportunity, I would make the Canary Islands a free port as a whole, if that were possible.” In his view, free zones “promote a frictionless market by simplifying paperwork and procedures,” especially in a sector “where everything is needed right away.” Despite the rigor of inspections, he says the system “works perfectly” and proves it every day “with more ships, faster turnaround times and better safety conditions.”
The technology corridor between La Isleta and Granadilla
Beyond heavy container traffic, the strategy places the export of talent and intellectual capital at its center. “Today’s world makes it possible to produce video games and series from La Isleta for industries based in California, or from Granadilla for the German pharmaceutical industry,” the official said. For Corujo, this path is key not only because it generates wealth, but because “it distributes it fairly.”
“Being a safe and reliable partner—as an archipelago, as an ecosystem and as a productive sector—to continue driving the knowledge-based economy creates wealth and has never faced fewer barriers than it does now,” he stressed, arguing that the Canary Islands should focus on “creating tools for the entire planet” from their outermost-region position.
A “secure backup” for Africa’s infrastructure
Against the traditional narrative that places Canarian infrastructure in destructive competition with neighboring ports, the strategy outlined by the delegate emphasizes complementarity. At the regional level, with archipelagos such as Madeira, “we have more synergies than competition; we see a collaborative scenario in the Macaronesian region that represents an opportunity.”
Regarding Africa’s Atlantic coast, Corujo distances himself from gross-volume metrics: “Although ports such as Tangier are not directly within our area of influence, we can provide a secure and trusted backup to many African ports and free zones.” Faced with the emergence of new nearby port developments in Africa, the delegate concludes that the goal should be “to anticipate developments and seek complementarity” so that “Canarian companies benefit from these infrastructure projects, where the nearest neighbor is the Canary Islands.”
The article “The Free Port as a Border: Las Palmas Free Zone’s Strategic Proposal” was first published on canarymaritime.com.
