In March, Arrecife welcomed 35.8% more cruise passengers than in the same month last year. By comparison, cruise ship arrivals increased by 15.4% in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and fell by 12% in Puerto del Rosario.
During March, Arrecife accounted for 31% of all cruise passengers passing through ports managed by the Las Palmas Port Authority.
In the first quarter of the year, Arrecife recorded a 28.7% increase compared with the same period in 2025. Between January and March 2026, state run ports in the province of Las Palmas received 1,068,230 cruise passengers, of whom 321,795 were handled in Arrecife. This means the capital of Lanzarote represented 50% of all cruise passengers received in 2025.
Mayor Yonathan de León said: “Making Arrecife a home port for shipping companies is paying off in terms of tourist arrivals, many of whom arrive on luxury cruise ships and have high purchasing power.”
The mayor also pointed to Arrecife’s strategic advantages within the national port network. As the Canary Islands’ closest port to both the European mainland and North Africa, he argued that the city is the ideal location for deploying the Entry/Exit System (EES) in Canarian ports.
“According to the Port Authority’s regular forecasts, many of the cruise ships calling at Arrecife have previously departed from Casablanca, Gibraltar or southern England – all of which are located in non‑EU countries,” de León added.
Councillor for Tourism and Commerce, Eli Merino, believes the surge in cruise traffic is delivering tangible economic benefits. “The increase in cruise ships is contributing to higher revenues during their stops for the retail, hospitality, leisure and transportation sectors,” she said.
Ms Merino highlighted a notable shift in local trading patterns. “There are businesses that are now opening on holidays or Sundays to coincide with cruise ship stopovers, something that was unthinkable just a few years ago,” she said.
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