Arrecife received good news this week in Madrid. One of the major cruise companies in Europe, MSC Cruises, has confirmed to Mayor Yonathan de León that it will increase its passenger volume in the port of Lanzarote's capital, and will maintain the city of Arrecife as a home port also for the year 2028. Since the autumn of 2025, the Lanzarote capital has been hosting passenger embarkations and disembarkations for circuits around the Canary Islands.
The mayor of Arrecife, Yonathan de León, along with the Councilor for Commerce and Tourism, Eli Merino, held a meeting this week in Madrid, during the International Tourism Fair, with the general director of MSC Cruises for Spain, Fernando Pacheco. This senior executive stated that for MSC Cruises, Arrecife is becoming a strategic port, where the satisfaction level of its thousands of annual passengers finds highly valued tourist experiences in the city and on the island of Lanzarote.
As a result of MSC Cruises' commitment to Arrecife, its capacity for 2026 has increased with Arrecife serving as a **home port** for several of its Canary Islands itineraries. This includes a larger ship with a passenger capacity exceeding 4,400 passengers per ship, compared to the current 3,700. MSC Cruises is already marketing, as indicated during this meeting with Arrecife authorities, itineraries for 2028 with Arrecife as a home port in combination with **sea routes from Rome to Lanzarote**.
MSC projects more than 600 calls at Spanish ports during 2026, with Arrecife remaining a home port, as detailed to the mayor by the general director for Spain of MSC Cruises. The ship MSC Musica, which has the capital of Lanzarote as its home port for several of its annual circuits, strengthens the local economy in Lanzarote by increasing the spending capacity of its travelers in sectors such as local commerce, hospitality, leisure, transport, and accommodation by complementing combined stays in Lanzarote with cruise trips, departing from this volcanic island.
More than 170 stops in the season until April 2026
Mayor Yonathan de León, who is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Port Authority of Las Palmas, recalled that Arrecife will host 170 cruise ship calls between January and April of 2026, at a record pace, similar to that recorded in the 2025 balance. The mayor emphasized to the media in Madrid, during the FITUR International Fair, that more shipping companies are interested in incorporating Arrecife as a home port due to its significant competitive advantage as a port. "We are the closest island to the major ports of Morocco and the south of the Iberian Peninsula, we have cruise terminals, a city transforming its urban image, and with a strong commercial, hospitality, and leisure offering. Furthermore, many shipping companies position their ships in the Canary Islands circuits during the autumn and winter season due to the good climate, which makes us different in the Northern Hemisphere."
Arrecife boosts cruise activity at tourism fairs
The Councilor for Tourism and Commerce, and spokesperson for the PP, Eli Merino, who was present at this meeting in Madrid, emphasized that "the Arrecife City Council is focusing its promotion on the international tourism fairs it attends where agreements are closed with tourist shipping companies, as has been achieved with attendance at WTM London, or the Hamburg Cruise Fair". Eli Merino stressed that cruise tourism is serving as a locomotive for the relaunch of small businesses in the Arrecife Open Commercial Zone, as has been evidenced in recent times with the opening of new commercial and hospitality establishments.