Government shuts down Matas Blancas landfill
The Territorial Policy, Territorial Cohesion and Water Department of the Canary Islands Government has today received the closure and sealing works of the Matas Blancas landfill, located in the municipality of Pájara (Fuerteventura). The operation was funded with a budget of €1,062,444.95 and was carried out over four months, from 30 September 2025 to 28 January 2026.
The reception ceremony was attended by Territorial Policy Minister Manuel Miranda, President of the Fuerteventura Island Council Lola García, Mayor of Pájara Alejandro Jesús Jorge Moreno, and Director of the Canary Islands Agency for Natural Environment Protection (ACPMN) Montserrat Ortega, the agency responsible for executing the project through its restoration service.
“This is a strategic intervention for the environmental and landscape restoration of one of the most degraded areas by uncontrolled waste dumping in the archipelago,” Miranda emphasized during the event.
President García thanked the Territorial Policy, Cohesion and Water Department of the Canary Islands Government and its head for their sensitivity toward the preservation of territory and landscape.
“Within the Island Council’s strategy to protect our land, it is crucial to have this coordination between administrations and, in this case, the Canary Islands Natural Environment Agency. We appreciate their commitment to this important roadmap for restoring the surroundings of the Matas Blancas landfill.”
The first waste deposits at Matas Blancas date back to 1993‑1994, according to the earliest available digital images. Initially, the dumping occurred on both sides of the Güerepe–Matas Blancas rural road, but over time it spread progressively and uncontrolled, eventually filling the channel of the Fuente Nueva–Güerepe ravine and severely disrupting its natural flow. The accumulation of waste piled up the ravine’s slopes, forming large, visually striking terraces and platforms. As a result, the landfill now covers 246,553 m², making it one of the largest in the islands.
Miranda underscored that “the closure of Matas Blancas is an essential step in the Canary Islands’ landfill recovery strategy, aimed at correcting historic environmental impacts and returning degraded spaces to nature.” He recalled that a priority for his department this legislative term is the restoration of all landfills included in the infringement procedure opened by the European Commission in 2015.
To that end, approximately €4.5 million has been allocated between 2024 and 2025 to seal eight landfills across the archipelago.
The closure and sealing project covered the entire affected area, even expanding beyond the scope defined in the European opinion. ACPMN determined that proper landscape restoration required intervening in additional zones with scattered waste, adding a substantial manual‑cleaning area that was not originally planned.
Work carried out included:
- Stabilisation of slopes.
- Sealing of waste—mainly construction and demolition debris, along with vegetal remains, wood, metals and discarded tires.
- Restoration of the ravine’s channel.
Because of the operation’s complexity, the site was divided into eight distinct zones, each treated with specific technical solutions and materials selected according to the soil’s colour variation, to achieve a final result fully integrated into the landscape.
Special attention was given to protecting a temporary lagoon located downstream of the landfill, an ecologically valuable refuge for local flora and fauna. This area was kept free of heavy machinery, with cleaning performed exclusively by hand to minimise any impact.
The works took place on rustic land, partially adjoining rustic land under landscape‑protection status, within the Fuerteventura Biosphere Reserve. The project also considered the presence of the Guirre or Canary Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus majorensis), a species protected by both Canary and national endangered‑species catalogs and the sole representative of the vulture family in the Canary Islands.
With this action, the Government of the Canary Islands makes decisive progress in recovering areas degraded by past waste dumping, reinforcing its commitment to natural‑environment protection, landscape restoration, and inter‑administrative cooperation to build a more sustainable territorial model.