The Spanish Navy is discreetly yet firmly evaluating its exit from the Foundation of the Ports of Las Palmas. Military commanders in the archipelago confirm that the military institution is waiting for direct instructions from the Ministry of Defense in Madrid to dissociate itself from the public port entity. The trigger for this strategic retreat is the devastating audit report from Ports of the State, whose conclusions reveal severe accounting irregularities and structural losses in the Foundation that have fractured the cohesion of its board of directors. There are patrons of the Foundation of the Ports of Las Palmas, such as the employers’ association of the Greek subsidiary of Grupo Laskadiris, who use this non-profit center as a business platform.
The presence of the military establishment on the board has historically operated as a vector of moral and institutional consistency for the Port of Las Palmas. However, the governance gap opened by the state audit —which uncovered losses of 138,660.30 euros in 2024 and 128,115.91 euros in 2025, in addition to the opacity in the management of over 300,000 euros in annual rents ceded by the Port Authority— would have triggered alarms within the Navy in Las Palmas due to the risk of reputational damage.
They do not support the cultural activity of the Navy
The discontent within the Navy responds to a deep political asymmetry: besides the accounting issues of Ports of the State, none of the political and business representatives sitting on the board of the Foundation have ever come to the defense of military sovereignty when civilian sectors demand the conversion of the Naval Base of Las Palmas, which does not date back to the Franco regime but to 1922.
The facilities of the Atlantic flotilla remain at the center of a recurring debate about their return for civic use and the urban expansion of the capital of Gran Canaria. The report from Ports of the State has exhausted the patience of naval commanders, who are reportedly considering that the port entity is exploiting the moral prestige of the Navy to cover deficiencies in civil management while ignoring the strategic challenges facing the service on the islands.
In the official offices of the Arsenal, it is acknowledged that the formal link with an organization that has been put in the dock by the state inspection compromises the institution’s rigor. With the opening of an audit proceeding that threatens to lead to higher administrative responsibilities, the orderly exit of the Navy from the Foundation appears to be a necessary move to protect the reputational immunity of national defense in light of the accounting rift between Ports of the State and the Port Authority of Las Palmas.
