The political battle of the Government of the Canary Islands before Brussels to extend exemptions to the carbon tax (ETS) beyond 2030 deliberately conceals the chronic structural problem suffered by its port terminals: the stevedoring right. While CC pressures Moncloa warning of a ‘nefarious’ impact and price increases of up to 20 euros for tickets to the peninsula, global shipping alliances focus on a much more detrimental internal variable for daily competitiveness: the high wages and rigidity of the labor model of Canary stevedores. Salaries of 8,800 euros net per month compared to an average of 450 euros in Morocco or 150 euros per month in Senegal. The true guarantees demanded by operating companies in Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife are not only regulatory but also related to cargo handling costs. The salary structures and collective agreements of Canary stevedores, historically sheltered under Francoist contracting frameworks, place the cost per container movement at unsustainable levels compared to the western African front. Competing enclaves in Morocco, Senegal, or Mauritania do not base their current success solely on the fact that the European Union applies a 50% reduced emissions rate to them. Their advantage lies in drastically lower labor costs and total operational shift flexibility 24/7. The climate framework of the European Commission actually acts as the tipping point for a port system that already suffers from internal inefficiencies. The executive report commissioned by the Canary Executive highlights severe tariff distortions due to the collection of 100% of the emission rights for vessels docking on the islands. However, for a shipping sector exposed to maximum margin optimization, the combination of punitive green taxation with the impossibility of flexibly adjusting the labor costs of local stevedoring makes the islands a logistically unviable option. The commercial paralysis threatening maritime transport in the archipelago as the 2026 horizon approaches will not be resolved solely with climate diplomacy in Brussels; it requires correcting the internal salary and operational gap that prevents equal competition with North Africa. This tax gap nullifies any effort to optimize internal costs. The executive report commissioned by the regional government warns that the environmental regulations of the European Commission function de facto as a punitive tariff against island connectivity. Against the stability of local port rates, the carbon cost required by Brussels exponentially increases freight rates. For major global shipping alliances, the decision to evade Canary customs facilities and consolidate their operations in the emerging terminals of the western African front does not respond to a dispute over the collective agreements of stevedoring, but rather to basic financial mathematics imposed by the European Emissions Trading System.
© 2026 canarymaritime