With its privileged geographical location, Puerto de La Luz in Gran Canaria is the most important port area in the Mid Atlantic. It is located in the northeast of the island of Gran Canaria (15º25’W-28º09’N). Due to its size, its infrastructure and the variety and quality of the services it offers, it has established itself as a first-rate logistics hub with more than thirty shipping lines that connect to more than 180 ports around the world. The Port of La Luz in Gran Canaria is the largest in the Canary Archipelago and one of the most important merchandise distribution links in Spain. It currently has almost 16 kilometres of mooring line, distributed among all its docks, with drafts that range between 3 and 45 meters deep.
The Port of La Luz in Gran Canaria currently stands out as a logistics center for containers and other commercial cargo at an international level and as a service station for ships that ply the Atlantic routes, mainly in supplying ships, fishing, naval repairs (specializing in the offshore sector) and in fuel supply. In this last segment of activity, this port is the leader in Spain and is already known as the “gas station of the Atlantic”. During 2018, 2,330,190 tons were supplied. Looking to the future, work is already being done on facilities and means for the supply of Liquefied Natural Gas to ships.
Containers are one of the most relevant indicators of activity; in 2018 the Port of La Luz in Gran Canaria registered a movement of 1,034,063, surpassing for the second year in a row, the figure of one million units. Another facet in which this port has a wide margin for future development is in the cruise sector. Nearly 674,000 cruise passengers passed through its docks, which represented an increase of almost 5% compared to 2017. To facilitate the expansion of this sector, projects have been launched to increase the mooring line at the Passenger Dock and to build a new cruise station.
The Port of La Luz has enjoyed traditional commercial freedom, which it has perfected through the special Economic and Fiscal Regime of the Canary Islands, which has a special fiscal status within the European Union.
Located in the capital of Lanzarote, Arrecife (13º318’W-28º580’N), this port was created mainly as an fishing refuge. Over time, and given the outstanding growth of the tourist industry on the Island, it has become the third largest port in the Canary Islands for goods.
The Port of Arrecife in Lanzarote is a true pole of economic development for the island and will acquire even more importance in the coming years with new plans for the use of port spaces, basic expansion projects and the application of special land management plans. The expansion projects of the port are related to the improvement of the infrastructure for containers, tourist cruises and recreational sailing. In total, the 3 kilometers of mooring line space will be exceeded.
Lanzarote is located 68 nautical miles from the African continent and is in a key geostrategic position, on the route between the European, African and American continents. This location, together with the interior economic development, enables it as a port enclave for the transit of containers. Through its terminal, which already has three gantry cranes, more than 65,000 TEUs can be moved each year.
In cruise ships, this port receives around 450,000 cruise passengers each year, a fact that makes it the most desired port by tourists and the second port of the Canary Islands in receiving cruise ships. Once the new infrastructure work is completed, its docks will have the capacity to receive up to eight ships simultaneously and to become a base port.
As for its fishing activity, the port of Lanzarote stands out for its proximity to the rich African fishing grounds and for its infrastructure. It registers an annual movement of 1,600 tons of fresh fish and 5,500 tons of frozen fish. It has an ice factory located in an area of 3,500 square meters, which supplies the European artisanal fleets that fish in nearby African fishing grounds. It has a storage capacity of up to 80 tons of ice.
The Port of Arrecife in Lanzarote offers inspection services through a Border Inspection Post and an Authorized Customs Precinct, centers managed by the Port Authority of Las Palmas and the Lanzarote Chamber of Commerce.
