The Minister of Public Works, Transport and Housing of the Government of the Canary Islands, Sebastián Franquis, and the Minister of Health, Blas Trujillo, have this Wednesday conveyed to the presidents of the two port authorities of the islands the health protocol that has finally been established by the Government of the Canary Islands to authorize cruise trips between the islands with all the health guarantees. Several shipping companies specialized in this type of tourism have expressed interest in operating cruises exclusively in the Canary Island circuit during the winter season, which is expected to start at the end of October or beginning of November.
The presidents of the port authorities of Las Palmas, Luis Ibarra, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Carlos González, for their part, pledged to convey this protocol of the Canary Islands Government to the interested shipping companies so that they can implement it on their cruises. Once these companies confirm to the Canary Islands ports that they accept these health requirements, the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Housing will ask the central government to authorize this type of economic activity in the islands, making the Canary Islands the first autonomous community in Spain to have a cruise tourism offer after the cessation of this activity decreed in March due to the health crisis of COVID-19.
"For the Government of the Canary Islands, it is essential to recover this type of tourism because it is a very necessary economic activity at this time for the Archipelago, and we want to recover it with all the health requirements," explained Minister Franquis, "there are not many markets in the winter cruise season in Europe and for the government it is essential to recover winter tourism, not only in air transport, but also in maritime transport and gradually recover the hotel industry. Therefore, we are making every effort to ensure that between October and November the cruise tourism starts to recover normally within what we are experiencing and not lose the winter tourist season."
Among the measures included in the health protocol of the Government of the Canary Islands is the requirement for cruise companies to take out insurance that covers all the expenses of cruise passengers who may be infected by COVID-19 in order to guarantee both the safety of residents in the Islands and that of the occupants of these ships. This insurance would cover all expenses arising from a coronavirus incident among travelers, such as repatriation, medical expenses and quarantine stays.
Another of the control measures established by the Government of the Canary Islands is to require shipping companies to have all travelers tested for coronavirus (PCR or serological test) before arriving in the Canary Islands to prove that they are negative for coronavirus. In addition, cruise passengers must fill out a form with all their movements in the last 15 days before arriving in the Canary Islands to monitor them in case of an incident, and confirm if they have had any contact with people who tested positive for coronavirus or if they themselves have tested positive in a recent diagnostic test.
For their part, cruise companies pledge that their ships will not exceed 60 or 70% of their capacity, that they will increase their onboard health staff, the cleaning and disinfection of the ships after each trip, and to establish a protocol for monitoring the ships each time they dock at a port in the Islands.
The Canary Islands Government has also informed the port authorities that this tourist activity will only be allowed to European companies, as the health protocols established by the EU are among the most demanding in the world. In this sense, some five European cruise tourism companies have already expressed interest in the Canary Islands winter circuit.
The company TUI is the first to have already expressed its interest in starting cruises at the end of October once the State authorizes this activity again. With only this company operating, the Canary Islands ports would be receiving an average of 1,300 tourists every week, an amount that will increase considerably once the rest of the shipping companies that have already expressed their interest in carrying out the Canary Islands circuit join.
