The port of Arrecife closed 2019 with the arrival of 520,192 cruise passengers, becoming the Canary Island port with the highest growth. According to figures from the Las Palmas Port Authority, the capital of Lanzarote registered 97,076 more cruise passengers than in 2018, which represented an increase of 22.94%.
In December, the total number of cruise passengers disembarked in Arrecife was 83,228, with an increase of 25.86% compared to the same period in 2018.
The increase in the port of La Luz and Las Palmas during 2019 was 6.93%, with a figure of 723,655 cruise passengers compared to 676,739 in 2018. For its part, in Puerto del Rosario, (Fuerteventura) the increase experienced in the arrival of tourists on cruise ships was 4.55%.
As for the total volume of cruise passengers disembarked during 2019 in the State Ports network in the province of Las Palmas, it amounted to 1,487,985 compared to 1,333,375 in 2018, with an increase of 11.60%.
Continue improving port infrastructure
For the mayor of Arrecife, Ástrid Pérez, these figures demonstrate "the strength of the capital of Lanzarote in the cruise tourism circuit and support the need to continue improving port infrastructure."
Pérez considers "vital" the expansion planned for 2021, in the State Ports Plan, of the second phase of the cruise ship dock in Arrecife and recalls that, currently, the Las Palmas Port Authority has put out to tender the technical assistance for the study on the project for this expansion.
In addition, the mayor points out that the completion of the construction works of the south dike is scheduled for this summer of 2020, "highly demanded by the conejero port sector in the face of frequent southern storms, which at that time of year hinder the port operability of the Los Mármoles dock and the cruise ship dock in the capital of Lanzarote."
