Favorable environmental report for the expansion of the Arinaga terminal

The General Directorate of Environmental Quality has issued a favorable environmental impact report for the expansion of the liquid bulk terminal (asphalt bitumens and emulsions) of the Port of Arinaga, promoted by Asfaltos de Arinaga, S.A. The resolution, dated July 16, 2026, concludes that the project will not produce significant adverse effects on the environment and is published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands no. 193, of September 25, 2026 (page 35378). Consequently, submitting the action to the ordinary environmental impact assessment procedure has been ruled out.

The resolution, signed by the Director General of Environmental Quality, Ángel Pablo Montañés Ríos, closes the simplified procedure opened at the request of the General Directorate of Industry, the substantive body of the project. The request for initiation was registered on December 27, 2024, under number CTEE/131797, and the consultation process with affected administrations and interested parties began on February 4, 2025, with a maximum period of twenty business days. The administrative file is 1/2025-0102125710.

The project is supported by article 7.2.a) of Law 21/2013, of December 9, on environmental assessment, as it appears in Annex II (Group 6, chemical and petrochemical industry). The environmental impact report is mandatory and decisive, and its environmental measures are compulsory and must be fully incorporated into the substantive authorization of the project.

An expanded terminal with a 5.9 million budget

The objective is to increase the productivity of the Terminal through the expansion and improvement of its current facilities, with new auxiliary installations and the adaptation of existing ones, as well as extending the transfer pipeline to the 2nd alignment of the pier. The Environmental Document studied three alternatives and selected the one to improve and expand the existing installation, due to its lower land occupation and greater integration.

The main figures of the project are as follows:

• Total budget: 5,937,111.09 euros.
• Execution period: 24 months, divided into Phase 1 (20 months) and Phase 2 (4 months).
• Expansion of the concession area by 225.2 m² for the new transfer pipeline, up to the 2nd alignment of the pier, between bollards B31 and B32.
• Mobile modified bitumen preparation plant of 20 t/h, barrel loader, photovoltaic installation of 35.00 kW (71 panels, 64,189.55 kWh/year), thermal energy storage system, and a new transformation center of 2,500 kVA.
• The existing terminal has five tanks and a storage capacity of 10,630 m³.

Public health and marine biodiversity

The Environmental Health Service of the General Directorate of Public Health identified potentially exposed populations within a radius of up to 2.7 km: Playa de Arinaga at 800 m, Cuartería El Uno at 1,700 m, and Pozo Izquierdo at 2,760 m. In its report dated March 5, 2025, it recommended an air quality measurement campaign within a 2 km radius with receptors in inhabited areas; the environmental body did not incorporate this as a measure, considering the activity to be strictly logistical and with a net reduction in emissions.

The report from the General Directorate of Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, dated July 24, 2025, is mandatory and binding. It notes that the port borders the special area of conservation SAC ES7010053 “Playa del Cabrón”, a habitat for the loggerhead sea turtle and the bottlenose dolphin, and that the nearby marine area is a sensitive area for the angel shark, an endangered species.

Twelve additional mandatory measures

The annex of the resolution incorporates additional environmental measures, including:

• Perimeter security fencing and covering of stockpiles before starting the gallery works.
• Prior observation of the marine environment and a minimum wait of thirty minutes since the last sighting of cetaceans, seabirds, or turtles.
• Prohibition of any discharge into the land or marine environment, with notification to 112 in the event of polluting episodes.
• Construction and Demolition Waste Management Plan and a waste management plan in accordance with Law 7/2022.
• Reduction of outdoor night lighting, using low light pollution luminaires below 2200 K.
• Retention basins for the bitumen modification plant and the barrel loading area.
• Update of the Self-Protection Plan and annual submission of the Environmental Monitoring Program to the Sub-Directorate General of Terrestrial and Marine Biodiversity.

Validity and notifications

The report will lose its validity if the project is not authorized within a maximum period of four years from its publication, unless extended. The resolution will be notified to the General Directorate of Industry, Asfaltos de Arinaga, S.A., the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, and the Agüimes City Council, and is not subject to any administrative appeal, without prejudice to those that may proceed against the project authorization act.

The ruling clears the main environmental procedure for an investment of nearly six million euros in the Arinaga port industrial estate, a consolidated industrial environment where residents of Agüimes, sector companies, and environmental groups coexist. Authorization is now conditional upon full compliance with the preventive, corrective, and monitoring measures, which shall prevail over those proposed by the promoter in case of controversy.

Source: Official Gazette of the Canary Islands, no. 193, of September 25, 2026, section III. Other Resolutions, page 35378 (official reference: resolution no. 3342).