Canary Islands President visits Playa Blanca to view ongoing projects

The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, and the Mayor of Yaiza, Óscar Noda, met this Thursday at the Casa del Camello in Uga to review progress on a series of strategic projects for the municipality and to strengthen coordination between government bodies in response to the challenges created by rapid population growth in the south of Lanzarote.

During the working meeting, Clavijo placed Yaiza’s situation within the broader context of the Canarian Government’s commitment to making the demographic challenge and territorial cohesion central pillars of public policy.

The president argued for the continued promotion of “useful policies” and stressed that growth does not happen uniformly across all islands or municipalities. As a result, public responses must be tailored to each area.

For his part, Mayor Óscar Noda highlighted several commitments made by the Canarian Government, including “the tender for the expansion of the Playa Blanca wastewater treatment plant before the end of the year with a multi-year investment of 11 million euros and the modernisation of the current plant”. He also thanked the president “for his willingness not only to listen, but to take concrete actions to solve problems in the areas of health, education, housing and roads”.

PLAYA BLANCA PORT

Following the meeting, the president and the mayor visited the Playa Blanca port, which handles more than 1.1 million passengers a year. There they observed the progress of initiatives launched by Puertos Canarios. Completed improvements include the reorganisation of access routes, lane and car park signage, the opening of the promenade behind the breakwater, and the renovation of the terminal and its surroundings.

These measures are intended to prepare the port for the arrival of its first cruise ship in November, as well as catering to boutique cruise ships, yachts and luxury megayachts.

PLAYA BLANCA HEALTH CENTRE

The visit continued at the Playa Blanca Health Centre, where the Canary Islands Health Service plans to carry out expansion work once the Yaiza Ayuntamiento has finalised the paperwork for the free transfer of the property adjacent to the building. The aim is to adapt the range of services to meet the increased demand for care from both residents and visitors.

The president reiterated the regional government’s commitment to strengthening the public healthcare network in municipalities experiencing greater demographic and healthcare pressure and emphasised that this initiative will improve the centre’s capacity to respond and bring it into line with the municipality’s growth.

Currently, the health centre serves a registered population of 16,834 individual health card holders and maintains a high level of patient care throughout the year, underscoring the need to continue expanding and improving its facilities. This initiative is part of the Canarian Government’s plan to adapt primary care to the realities of growing municipalities such as Yaiza.

SCHOOLS

The visit concluded at the CEO Montaña Roja and the CEIP Playa Blanca, two schools that reflect the municipality’s population growth and the need to continue strengthening educational infrastructure in Playa Blanca.

For CEO Montaña Roja, the Canarian Government is planning an expansion valued at more than 4.5 million euros, to create new spaces, specialised classrooms and split classrooms, as well as to improve essential services such as the cafeteria, the kitchen and outdoor areas.

At CEIP Playa Blanca, work continues to adapt the school to meet growing educational demand. Among these efforts, the annexation of the municipal preschool stands out; this will allow the school itself to manage the entire first cycle of early childhood education, thereby strengthening public educational services in one of the archipelago’s most rapidly growing areas.

The visit provided an opportunity to monitor several priority projects for Yaiza on site and to confirm the need for a coordinated response among government agencies to support the municipality’s growth with more and better public services. In this context, Fernando Clavijo emphasised that government action must be based on “planning, institutional cooperation, and a commitment to the real needs of each territory”.