“More income, more benefits and greater well-being for Lanzarote with fewer visitors”, this is how the councilor of the Art, Culture and Tourism Centers, Ángel Vázquez, summarized the economic year of 2024 during an informative conference.
Vázquez announced that the operating result in 2024 rose above 15 million euros with 739,991 fewer visitors, which represents 21.2% fewer tickets.
The Centers councilor described the net profit as “historic”, since it amounted to 5.6 million euros. He also shared that the turnover amounted to 49 and a half million euros, 31.9% more than the previous year.
Vázquez pointed out that “the update of the rates; the new calculation of the fees; the control of current spending and the effective management of technical and human resources” are the “great pillars on which a management model is based that has allowed us to increase our contribution to the well-being of the island's population and, simultaneously, reduce the pressure of the human footprint on Manrique's work.”
Yaiza, Haría and Tinajo earned 66% more
Regarding the fees, Vázquez highlighted having accrued “one million euros to the Cabildo of Lanzarote during 2024”, and, above all, “having promoted the approval of the fiscal ordinance that objectifies the concept and eliminates the whim and arbitrariness. From next year”, he explained, ”it will be linked to the Entity's turnover, so the more income we generate, the more we will pay”, he clarified.
With respect to the municipalities of Yaiza, Haría and Tinajo, the councilor explained that they have benefited from the agreement reached last year between the Cabildo, the Tourist Centers and the City Councils, which has generated an overall increase of 66% in the income of the city councils for this concept, going from 2.6M euros in 2023 to 4.4 M last 2024.
The councilor stated that “the effective and efficient management of administrative processes is one of the keys that helps to understand these historical figures. Doing things in a timely manner has allowed us to generate a tax saving for the Entity of 400,000 euros with the allocation of the Capitalization Reserve, increasing the contribution of own funds to give greater business strength and self-financing. In addition, we have benefited from a 99% tax bonus on income from the sale of tickets, which amounts to almost one million euros”, he explained.
“Complying with the deadlines and with a rigorous application of current tax regulations, we have gone from paying 1.1 million euros in Corporate Tax in 2022 to receiving a tax credit of almost 11,000 euros in 2024”, he exemplified.
Along these lines, Vázquez also highlighted the quantitative leap experienced in the Contracting procedures: ”we have gone from processing 58 bidding files during the period 2019-2023 to 98 (69% more), in these barely two years of legislature”, he concluded.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Vázquez highlighted the creation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as one of the “great successes” of this legislature. Aligned with the Entity's Statutes, the purpose of CSR is to reinforce the commitment of the Tourist Centers to the well-being of the population of Lanzarote and the conservation of the natural environment by making social, sports, educational and cultural projects a reality. “It helps us build the island by returning to society a part of what the tourism industry generates”, he explained.
Thus, the CSR allowed to finance actions that generated a positive impact on the population worth 4 million euros (specifically 4,032,596.96 euros), which includes sponsorships of different areas worth almost one million euros.
Milestones in 2024, new offices and benefits in 2025
The councilor highlighted among the 2024 initiatives the open tender to recover the original uniforms designed by César Manrique; the integral restoration of the Sculpture of Fertility and the definitive implementation of the online ticket sales system for access to the Cueva de los Verdes.
He also referred to the new gastronomic proposals: “Now yes, up to what we represent”.
In addition, he explained that the “correction of the errors made for the execution of the Collective Agreement with full guarantees” and the acquisition of a property in the industrial area of Puerto Naos, in the vicinity of the Castillo de San José, to house the future offices of the entity for a value of 1.4 million paid with own funds.
In this sense, he recalled that the GPY Arquitectos studio will be in charge of materializing the adaptation project of the new offices of the Art, Culture and Tourism Centers.
Finally, the councilor announced that the progress of the Entity's accounts contemplates a profit of 4.2 million euros as of May 31, 2025.
