Port Independence for Fuerteventura and Lanzarote from Gran Canaria Isn't Crazy

Nationalist deputy Mario Cabrera denounces the mistreatment of non‑capital islands by the Port Authority

It is a matter of coherence, declares Mario Cabrera in response to the announcement of a new maritime line linking Agadir with Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

“We must denounce this mistreatment. The bad habit we have in the Canary Islands for many years is to keep concentrating all services in the capital islands. Now we see the Port Authority launching a commercial expedition to Agadir, inviting people to come to the Canaries, and the line being discussed is Agadir – Port of La Luz.”

Cabrera questions why the sanitary and pest‑risk concerns that previously prevented the restoration of the Fuerteventura‑Tarfaya line now seem to have vanished.

“It looks as if pathogens only affect the non‑capital islands, that they don’t board the ship, that the primary sector isn’t infected when goods enter through Gran Canaria—it’s pure hypocrisy. This is the stance of the Port Authority, of the agrarian organisations, and of the institutions that raised concerns when we talked about the Puerto Rosario‑Tarfaya line.”

From Fuerteventura’s perspective, the connection with Tarfaya—just 140 km away—is a historic demand that has already proven viable. Cabrera argues that the island has the capacity to carry out rigorous border controls and calls for equal conditions.

“It is a logical connection because it is the closest point; the crossing would take only three or four hours of navigation, compared with a longer, more energy‑intensive voyage from Agadir to the Port of La Luz. We are a state port, just like the ports of Lanzarote, Arrecife, and La Luz in Gran Canaria. Yet this Port Authority thinks solely and exclusively about the Port of La Luz.”

He also points to a logistical centralisation strategy, accusing the authority of favouring La Luz to concentrate economic activity at the expense of Puerto del Rosario or Arrecife.

“It is not absurd. In other parts of Spain there are already greater autonomies for ports like ours. Greater independence or a separate Port Authority is feasible, but to achieve it the future presidency of the Port Authority must be pro‑regional rather than pro‑central.”

For the nationalist leader, the Port Authority must abandon this model and pursue a real balance that allows all islands to compete on an equal footing.