Canary Islands unveils smart eco-port model for regional harbours

Compiled with the help of artificial intelligence, based on Spanish-language information. Source below the article.

A pioneering model for regional ports

Fundamentally, this is about creating a new format, a distinctive blueprint for the Canary Islands’ regional ports. The management of these ports is arguably the great unknown for the population and even for institutions, because a clear distinction must be drawn between the ports run by the Port Authority, which operate under state regulations as industrialised ports with national and international traffic in the island capitals, and the rest of the harbours that connect our islands.

The latter, with their tradition as fishing refuges, the highest number of recreational and sports moorings, and a more commercial configuration with a range of services, fall under the competence of the regional government. In this context, developing a model of sustainable, intelligent eco-ports is probably our most significant contribution.

This approach serves two purposes: it establishes a distinctly Canarian port model with its own specific flag and conditions, and it helps differentiate the infrastructure managed by the regional government from the port cities that have grown up around the island capitals’ harbours.

Three distinct categories

There are three main groups. First, there are the fishing refuges, which exist solely as traditional elements of the fishing sector. In Gran Canaria, we have Sardina del Norte, Castillo del Romeral, Puerto de La Aldea and San Cristóbal. These are differentiated contexts exclusively dedicated to fishing. We have made significant progress here by agreeing that the transfer of these facilities should fall under the Directorate General for Fisheries, which acts as the valid, direct interlocutor with the fishing sector. This management approach will professionalise what the fishermen’s guilds (cofradías) already do in their own environment.

The second group consists of sports marinas, also exclusive in nature. These are leisure ports that exist solely to support a commercial sector for recreational and sports vessels, and we concession them to private operators who are specialists in the field. Puerto de Mogán, Puerto Rico and Pasito Blanco are clear examples in southern Gran Canaria, and the vast majority of Tenerife’s ports also fall into this category.

Finally, there are the ports of general interest, which combine mixed conditions, so to speak. Some even have regular scheduled services operated by concessionaires such as Fred Olsen or Balearia, which currently operate in our ports, or Líneas Romero and others connecting Órzola with La Graciosa. In these ports, you will also find the fishing sector alongside sports and commercial moorings. Additionally, there are the shore-side areas where we provide services such as restaurants, shops and cafés, creating a clean port ecosystem. These are the three differentiated groups within the regional port network.

Blue Flags and public maritime squares

The goal is to create open public spaces, maritime squares that serve as models of climate refuges, where the Blue Flag – indicating sustainable, environmentally sound ports – reflects a tangible reality. I always use the same example: wherever there is a regional port, there is usually a beach nearby, and these are generally the beaches with the cleanest, most carefully monitored waters.

Take Agaete or San Cristóbal, or the southern beaches – at no point are there any pollution readings. Why? Because they are regulated, monitored, controlled and measured. The eco-port model involves installing water, air and noise quality monitors, implementing environmental actions, managing waste control, and inspecting all vessels and activities taking place there. We are talking about completely different ports.

This is the model we want for the Canary Islands: ports with public maritime squares that will set an example, not just externally but also internally. A square that is regulated, conditioned and cared for, because we care for what we have come to know, protect and love. That is the message we want to convey to all the people of the Canary Islands.

Six Canary Island ports of general interest – half of those we have – have now been presented in this first batch. This is a milestone for the whole of Spain because they are the first publicly managed ports of general interest to achieve Blue Flag status. It means that the meticulousness of our quality indicators and environmental actions has been measured, evaluated and found compliant. In a second phase, we will complete the process so that all ports of general interest in the Canary Islands hold this Blue Flag.

What does “eco” mean?

Eco means clean energy. All electricity supply management will come from renewable sources – solar panels, wind turbines – with no fossil fuels whatsoever. The Canary Islands ports are already home to the first hydrogen refuelling stations in our region, which is a very visual example. Secondly, all waste management is channelled so that no rubbish is visible outside approved containers, in places with 300 or 400 vessels. Thirdly, eco means environmental education, for users, for visitors to our ports and for the services offered there.

All this, combined with quality monitors – primarily for water, air and noise – plus a weather station at each port, demonstrates that we are talking about a clean port, a genuine climate refuge, which is what we want to export to the world.

The intelligent side

On the other hand, there is the intelligent side. Everything is measured, digitalised and controlled. At any given moment, we know the port’s status: how many vessels are present, how many personnel, what needs improving based on visitor numbers or frequency. We are talking about a highly complex but highly controllable model: the smart eco-ports.

That is the path we are on. We are currently extending the concessions for sports marinas with these conditions attached. When we agree to transfer fishing refuges to the Directorate General for Fisheries, we apply these same conditions in parallel with the professionalisation of the fishermen’s guilds, which will ultimately manage those facilities. With our ports of general interest, that is the direction of travel. We want all regional infrastructure in the Canary Islands to become smart eco-ports.

Investment and enforcement

Last year, we invested €30 million because this requires physical works: installing shaded areas, all with photovoltaic panels; managing waste – those invisible elements of infrastructure that ensure not a single drop of contaminant is produced in our port territory. Investment is precisely directed towards that format and model.

We have doubled the number of port officers and port police, regardless of the activity taking place, to ensure compliance with these conditions. All this is done in communication with the municipalities and town councils where our ports are located, because they too are responsible partners in sharing this model within their own territory. Often, port infrastructure is used for events, and sometimes these do not meet conditions and can cause pollution. From now on, we have that communication channel to prevent this happening, at least in what we want to call protected spaces.

Key ports and connections

Some ports handle regular traffic, all located in the eastern islands. We have the port of Agaete, which positively bears the brunt of maximum connectivity between Gran Canaria and Tenerife – 1.3 million passengers pass through Agaete, not to mention thousands of vehicles and lorries transporting goods between the islands. Fuerteventura connects directly with Lanzarote – there is no other passenger route linking those two islands. And to reach La Graciosa, you must pass through our ports. Morro Jable, Corralejo, Playa Blanca, Órzola, Caleta de Sebo and Agaete are the main ports, the busiest, and where we are focusing most of our efforts.

The ports that have already achieved Blue Flag status include Agaete, a port with maximum activity and exquisite control – we are close to declaring it a fully realised model. The same applies to Caleta de Sebo and Playa Blanca, which currently meets all conditions, including the incorporation of short-length cruise ships that comply with these requirements. We already have models that demonstrate what a smart eco-port looks like.

Protecting La Graciosa

You are absolutely right, and what we have done is ensure it does not grow. When we announced the works at Caleta de Sebo, they are reduction works, not expansion works. We often have to say: “They are going to expand the port” – no, they are not. We are currently in the first phase, paving the square to organise the flow channels to La Graciosa.

La Graciosa cannot grow any more. We are, probably, and I say this in inverted commas, destroying a treasure that has been permitted until now. What we are doing with the port is channelling the flows of goods, passengers and vehicles that have not been adequately controlled. From the port, we can do something about this. The works are aimed at controlling those flows, and together with the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the local council, we are ensuring that control becomes meticulous. There cannot be mass numbers of vehicles on the island of La Graciosa. There cannot be a condition of tourist overcrowding or daily visitor numbers as is currently happening. We must control all of that.

No large cruise ships

We do not currently have cruise tourism. What we have done is plan our infrastructure and state clearly: we do not want large tourist cruise ships – that is not our remit. Large cruise ships require associated technical services: refuelling, container handling, pilots, tugs, mooring gangs. That kind of service would industrialise our regional ports and rather undermine the word “eco”.

We are not going to bet on large cruise ships. Instead, we favour medium and short-length cruises – a higher quality, more considerate form of tourism. I do not mean the others are inconsiderate, but rather that this type is more controllable and does not disrupt our normal operational format. The municipality-port relationship is carefully managed in smart eco-ports. That is why I mentioned public squares earlier – you cannot put a thousand tourists in a square; our islands can no longer bear that. In that sense, when I talk about an example to follow, I mean an example involving 52 port facilities. Perhaps this is the model we should follow, not just for this type of infrastructure, but for the islands in general.

Arguineguín and the Pope’s visit

Well, that was an example of how different administrations worked together on port infrastructure. When the Diocese placed the event itself in our hands, it was first an honour, and secondly it gave importance to demonstrating that coexistence at a port is possible in any context. That port, which experienced the shameful episode – in inverted commas – of immigration, the human gridlock that cannot be permitted, meant that the disruption was not intolerable for fishermen, users or other activities. There was more of an aesthetic disruption than an operational one, as also happened in La Restinga.

In that sense, maintaining the infrastructure, being receptive in a context where the Canary Islands has always been hospitable – but also regulated, with clear rules – requires collaboration from other administrations. Ultimately, when a world figure comes to deliver a message from one of our ports, it is not just a showcase for the port of Arguineguín and that particular jetty, now called Muelle de la Esperanza, but for the whole of the Canary Islands. Things must be done properly, regulated and ordered. I found Pope Leo XIV’s messages in Arguineguín very powerful – a window to the world, showing that a first-world country and territory like the Canary Islands can send a message to other realities that exist on our planet.

Clarifying the immigration situation

There is a situation that I believe the public is unaware of. Having a Salvamento Marítimo (Maritime Rescue) and Red Cross facility at a port is not for immigration – it is for the diver, the fisherman, the person whose boat breaks down, for any incident that occurs at sea. To say that part of the jetty has been “sequestered” or that moorings are being held because they are only being used for immigration is unjust. The port’s activity has not ceased.

That is why I spoke earlier about the difference between the aesthetic situation and the real situation. Ultimately, these ports are a point of arrival for Europe, and other agencies step in to ensure port activity continues as normal. In that sense, the occupation of space – which could increase because immigration is now a global phenomenon – has not, and we have done everything possible to ensure, hindered any of the other activities taking place in these ports.

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