The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, held this Thursday a working meeting with the president of the Port Authority of Las Palmas (APLP), Luis Ibarra, where not only the imminent expansion works of the Naos dock (Arrecife) were discussed, a basic project that has been blocked by the absence of funds and that has been possible thanks to the coordinated work between the Island Institution and Puertos del Estado.
The Lanzarote president announced during her subsequent appearance before the media the agreement with the APLP to "allow the city of Arrecife to look towards the sea and not have barriers like that wall of shame", referring to Corujo to the current perimeter closure of the port area of Naos. "Always guaranteeing security", she said, "we have agreed with Luis Ibarra to launch our project, which includes the replacement of the wall and a setback that finally allows the enjoyment of our coast".
María Dolores Corujo has also announced that there is understanding between the APLP and the Cabildo of Lanzarote so that the latter manages the old Commercial dock, on the Arrecife waterfront. An annual administrative concession of 55,812 euros will ensure the management of the Cabildo over "this wonderful and emblematic space that must be at the service of the city and the Island", the president argued.
In addition, unblocking the Naos dock expansion project will also mean the launch of the planned natural pools; and as Corujo clarified today: "We have also reached an agreement with Puertos del Estado so that together with that space we have a nautical sports center, for which we have the authorization".
The expansion of Naos, a strategic project
María Dolores Corujo has defined the Naos dock expansion project, awarded for nearly 12 million euros, as "strategic" in the industrial planning carried out by the Cabildo of Lanzarote: "I am sure that Luis Ibarra's commitment to our Island has nothing to do with his Lanzarote ancestry (Haría), but with his professionalism, which leads him to pay adequate and fair attention to the objective needs of the port. And so", added Corujo, "in recent years our demands have been met and investments in Lanzarote port infrastructure have been accelerated".
The president has stressed the greater potential that this million-dollar investment will entail: "The expansion of Naos will allow the Port of Arrecife to become a true pole of economic development for our economy", she noted.
Luis Ibarra, for his part, said he was "tremendously satisfied" with the launch of this new work, "which will be a reality this year and which has been possible thanks to the Cabildo presided over by María Dolores Corujo, thanks to which this project that had problems has been unblocked". Likewise, Ibarra has detailed that this second berthing line for interconnection boats with the peninsula and with the rest of the islands will make it possible "that in the hypothetical case that we had a problem to operate in Los Mármoles, either because there is very bad sea or because of an accident, the supply of the Island is always guaranteed by this second route".
Some data of the expansion
Both María Dolores Corujo and Luis Ibarra have referred to the expansion of the Naos dock as a strategic project for the economic development of Lanzarote. The new facilities will add 149.70 meters to its berthing line, reaching 224.70 meters with the planned placement of a mooring buoy.
The expansion will reinforce the operational capacity of the regular line and rolling cargo ships that dock at the Los Mármoles dock, facilities that in pre-pandemic times (2019) reached 196,371 regular line passengers, 85,050 automobiles in passenger regime and 68,356 Utls. In addition, as has been historically demanded, this new dock at the southern end will shelter port traffic from times of SSW component.
With respect to other technical aspects of the project, the work is structured by five boxes in line with the current dock and two other boxes as closure of the future ramp. Each box has certain dimensions, all having a puntal of 13.05 meters.
The budget of the award made by the Port Authority of Las Palmas to the UTE FCC-Tiagua is 11,199,000 euros (without IGIC). The project has an execution period of 10 months once the works have started. The forecast is that during the next month of March these important works included in the Master Plan of Infrastructures of the Port of Arrecife and financed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) will begin.
The Port of Arrecife is the only one declared of general interest in Lanzarote, being one of the five managed in the province by the Port Authority of Las Palmas.
The Cabildo bets on Arrecife
The president of the Cabildo also spoke of the "permanent and verifiable" commitment that she has been making in the city of Arrecife during this term, "because it is the third capital of the Canary Islands and because we are the main Administration on the Island". And she added: "The Cabildo has the capacity to act to assign the Municipal Cooperation Plans in a timely manner, accelerate the opening to the public of spaces such as the Islote de Fermina, or face as we will now the acquisition of two important historical buildings located on the city's seafront: the former headquarters of Correos (future Museum of the Sea and Fisheries of Lanzarote) and the Casa Pereyra, to host the Craft Center of Lanzarote".
