The General Assembly of the Water Consortium of Lanzarote unanimously approved this Monday the definitive resolution of the concession contract for the water supply, sanitation, and reuse services of Lanzarote and La Graciosa, thus culminating an administrative procedure initiated due to the serious breaches detected in the management of Canal Gestión Lanzarote.
The decision was unanimously adopted by all the associated municipalities and the Cabildo of Lanzarote, continuing the contract termination procedure and simultaneously activating the process of reverting the service to the Water Consortium to guarantee the continuity of supply to the citizens. The Assembly also unanimously approved the future takeover of the facilities, assets, and means assigned to the service.
The date of the approval has significant symbolic value, as this June 1st marks exactly 13 years since the signing of the concession contract signed between the Water Consortium and Canal Gestión Lanzarote, ratified on June 1, 2013.
The president of the Water Consortium and the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, highlighted that “today we take a historic step to regain control of an essential service and begin to rebuild a system that for years has suffered from breaches, lack of investment, and continuous supply problems. Our obligation is to guarantee the general interest and respond to the needs of the residents of Lanzarote and La Graciosa.”
Betancort particularly highlighted the unanimous support obtained in the Assembly. “I want to thank the will, responsibility, and foresight shown by all the mayors of Lanzarote and La Graciosa. Today there were no political colors, but a joint decision to defend the general interest of the citizens and guarantee the future of water on our island. That institutional unity greatly strengthens this process and shows that when it comes to solving people's real problems, we know how to rise to the occasion.”
For his part, the Water counselor, Domingo Cejas, stressed that "the termination of the contract is not a political decision, but the consequence of breaches proven technically and legally over years". Cejas recalled that the file has followed all the required legal procedures and has had the express support of the Canary Islands Consultative Council, "which has forcefully endorsed the Consortium's action and the need to put an end to an unsustainable situation for the island".
The contract termination procedure was formally initiated by the General Assembly of the Water Consortium on October 6, 2025, after repeated breaches by the concessionaire in the provision of the service were verified. In accordance with the provisions of the contract itself signed on June 1, 2013, Canal Gestión was granted an initial period of three months to negotiate a possible assignment of the concession to a third party. Subsequently, at the company's request, this period was extended for another three additional months.
Once the maximum period of six months contractually provided for had expired, on April 6, 2026, without any agreement being reached for the transfer of the concession, the Consortium continued with the processing of the file until it culminated this Monday with the definitive approval of the contract termination.
The Assembly also unanimously approved the taking possession of the facilities, assets, and means assigned to the service. However, this measure will become effective once the termination of the contract is officially notified to Canal Gestión and the legal services of the Cabildo inform the president of the Consortium that such communication has been formally received by the concessionaire. From that moment on, the effective reversion process of the service and the assumption of control of the infrastructures by the Water Consortium will be activated.
Likewise, the collaboration of the town councils integrated into the Consortium will be requested to facilitate the reversion process and ensure that the provision of the service is maintained with complete normality during the transition.
At Monday's Assembly, held in the Commission Room of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, the secretary and the comptroller of the Water Consortium and the director of Human Resources of the Cabildo of Lanzarote were also present.
Oswaldo Betancort, as president of the Consortium, once again conveyed a message of reassurance to the Canal Gestión staff, as he had done at the Workers' Assembly held last month, regarding the maintenance of their working conditions and "asked for enthusiasm and motivation from the staff to reverse the situation of that 30 percent of absenteeism, at a time when the human factor is essential."
“From now on,” Betancort told journalists after the Assembly concluded, “the procedure for the liquidation of the contract begins, and the legal department will then determine the possible damages and losses that may have occurred in the management of water by the concessionaire.”
Monday's agreement is adopted after the Canary Islands Consultative Council issued a ruling in favor of terminating the contract, concluding that the breaches observed are structural and persistent, not merely occasional. The consultative body considers proven the existence of a serious disruption of public service, arising from both continuous supply incidents and the breach of the exploitation plan and investment obligations undertaken by the concessionaire.
The report from the highest consultative body in the Canary Islands also supports that the regularity and continuity of the supply constitute the very essence of the concession contract, pointing out that the repeated problems recorded in recent years fully justify the exercise of the termination power by the Consortium.
With the approval of this agreement, the Water Consortium begins a new stage aimed at the recovery and modernization of the integral water cycle in Lanzarote and La Graciosa, with the objective of improving production, reducing network losses, increasing investments, and guaranteeing a stable and quality service for the citizens.
“The citizens put us at the head of this institution to solve problems, not to look the other way. Today we fulfill that responsibility and begin to lay the foundations for a management model that guarantees the water that Lanzarote and La Graciosa deserve,” Betancort concluded.
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