canary islands coastal management law consultation

Canary Islands to Draft New Coastal Management Law

Public Consultation Opens for New Coastal Law

The Canary Islands Government’s Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Mobility will launch a public consultation this coming Monday for the preliminary draft of the Coastal Management Law. The new legislation aims to adapt the basic national framework on coastal matters to the unique territorial, environmental, and socio-economic characteristics of the archipelago.

Balancing Economy and Ecology

The proposal responds to the mandate set out in Article 157 of the Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands, which grants the Autonomous Community exclusive powers for the planning and management of the coastline, while respecting the general regime of the public maritime-terrestrial domain. The Director General of Coasts and Maritime Space Management, Antonio Acosta, emphasised that the initiative seeks to provide the Canaries with its own regulatory framework to manage the coastline in a way adapted to its particularities, following the transfer of powers in 2023.

The future law intends to balance economic and social development with the protection of coastal ecosystems and natural resources, ensuring their long-term sustainability. The Canary Islands’ coastline, which stretches for 1,126 kilometres and has the discontinuous configuration typical of an archipelago, is home to a significant portion of the resident population and the main economic activities, especially those linked to tourism. Simultaneously, it hosts marine biodiversity of great value and fragility, which requires differentiated and locally-informed management.

A Framework for Island Realities

The objective of the future law is to specify and adapt the provisions of basic state legislation to the island reality, fully integrate coastal planning into the environmental, territorial, and urban planning of the Canary Islands, and establish a clear procedural and competency framework that reinforces legal certainty. All this is based on the premise of achieving an effective balance between environmental protection and the maintenance of the social and economic activities historically developed on the coast, in an island context where it is not generally viable to displace these activities inland.

The law will be inspired by the principles of sustainable development, integrated coastal management, priority conservation of coastal ecosystems, adaptation to climate change, public participation, and consideration of the best available scientific evidence. It will also address the appropriate distribution of powers between the regional administration, the island councils (cabildos), and the town halls, ensuring coherent planning of a territorial space that, despite being insular and discontinuous, requires an integral and coordinated vision.

How to Participate

The public consultation period will remain open for one month, until 16 April 2026, via the Canary Islands Government’s Citizen Participation Portal. This allows citizens and representative organisations to submit their contributions before the definitive drafting of the preliminary bill. Contributions can be made via the following link: https://www.gobiernodecanarias.org/participacionciudadana/iniciativas/iniciativas/detalle/CPP-Anteproyecto-de-Ley-de-Gestion-del-Litoral-y-las-Costas-Canarias/.

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