The Cabildo of Lanzarote and the Chamber of Commerce of Lanzarote and La Graciosa have presented this Monday, in the Plenary Hall, an ambitious strategy to turn Puerto Naos, in Arrecife, into a university, training and business enclave linked to the blue economy. The plan contemplates six major actions that involve an estimated investment of 12 million euros.
“Naos will be an engine of innovation, sustainability and employment,” said the president of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort, who stressed that “this project connects past, present and future. Naos has been key in the economic and industrial development of Lanzarote and can now be transformed into a pole of attraction for talent, knowledge and opportunities linked to the sea, which is one of our greatest values.”
“We are moving from words to deeds,” said the president of the Chamber of Commerce, José Valle, and stressed that this transformation is “a historic opportunity to link training, business and innovation in a strategic space of Arrecife.” Valle stressed the importance of “real public-private collaboration so that this change ceases to be a discourse and becomes a reality.”
The Councilor for Fisheries, Samuel Martín, valued the connection of the project with the primary sector. “The sea has always been a source of life and culture in Lanzarote. This research center, which will also include the future Sea Museum, as well as the new training lines will allow to professionalize, innovate and protect a key sector from knowledge and sustainability.”
For her part, the Councilor for Fisheries of the City Council of Arrecife, Cathaysa Suárez, thanked the Cabildo and the Chamber of Commerce for their involvement with the municipality. “This is a great strategic project that will have a positive impact on the improvement of the quality of life of the people of Arrecife and Lanzarote in general.”
A transformative vision for Arrecife
The new 'line of collaboration' between both entities marks a before and after in the strategic planning of the capital. The project also has the support of the City Council of Arrecife, the Port Authority of Las Palmas, the General Directorate of Coast and Sea and the University Foundation of Lanzarote and La Graciosa.
The strategy of transformation and promotion in the Puerto-Ciudad de Naos area involves six main interventions: the Research Center of the marine environment and fisheries; a new university building, the new Urban Maritime Park, the completion of the Naos Dock, the revitalization of existing resources around the Maritime Fisheries Institute of Arrecife and, finally, the opening of a student residence in the Casa del Mar. All the actions involve an approximate investment of about 12 million euros.
The Research Center of the marine environment and fisheries already has the basic project drafted. It would be installed in the old Frigorsa warehouse and would have a research and museum use with future training potential. The new university building, on the plot next to the headquarters of the National Police, could house the university studies of Tourism and Nursing, also has a basic project drafted.
For the Urban Maritime Park there is an agreement with the Port Authority to carry it out on an area of 5,400 square meters and an investment of more than 2 million euros. Likewise, the completion of the Naos dock would serve to accommodate two cruise ships simultaneously, as indicated in the Port's Master Plan.
The other initiatives have to do with the improvement of resources: the implementation of the University Degree in Nautical and Maritime Transport at the Maritime Fisheries Institute and the use of the seventy rooms of its residence, as well as the creation of a new university residence with twenty rooms in the Casa del Mar, currently in disuse.