Page 7 - Demo

November 2025 | Gazette Life | 7Lanzarote%u2019s Water Consortium has granted Canal Gesti%u00f3n three months to find a new company to operate the island%u2019s water supply.The vote means that legal proceedings against the Madrid-based company for breach of contract will be temporarily suspended while it seeks an alternative company to take over the administration of the island%u2019s water supply. At least two companies are reported to have expressed interest. The motion was passed with the votes of Arrecife, Teguise, Tinajo and the Cabildo. The Socialist-run councils of T%u00edas, San Bartolom%u00e9 and Har%u00eda, who favour a publicly-run service, voted against, while Yaiza abstained.Around 30 travel agents from Canada and the USA visited Lanzarote last month, invited by the Cabildo%u2019s Department of Overseas Promotion as a way of reinforcing the presence of Lanzarote as a tourist destination in North America.The visitors, many of whom had previously visited Gran Canaria, will visit Timanfaya and the Salinas at Janubio, as well as sampling local dishes.The visit adds to a series of actions in Boston and Toronto intended to attract long-haul visitors, diversify Lanzarote%u2019s tourist base, and reinforce its model of high-quality, sustainable tourism. Cabildo president Oswaldo Betancort said, %u201cThe aim is not to attract more tourists, but to attract ones with a greater spending power.%u201dPrevious attempts by Lanzarote to appeal to the North American market have not worked out, mainly because of problems establishing regular flights.CANAL GESTI%u00d3N REPRIEVELanzarote has experienced its strongest-ever start to a year, with an increase in international arrivals putting it firmly on the map as a top global destination.The island has recorded a new tourism milestone, having welcomed a record-breaking 2.3 million visitors between January and August, according to data.This figure, provided by the Lanzarote Data Centre, is the highest the island has ever seen in that eight-month period. It also shows a dramatic increase of around 100,000 travellers compared to the same months in 2024. To put the boom into a longer-term perspective, the island has welcomed 400,000 more tourists than it did a decade ago in 2015.However, the record numbers are tempered by statistics that show a sharp drop in tourist spending. In spring this year, spending was %u20ac30 million down on last year despite the arrival of 35,000 more tourists. WORKING FOR THE YANKEE DOLLARSpanish airport authority AENA has signed a contract for the cleaning and tidying of the grounds of C%u00e9sar Manrique Airport, which has been the subject of several complaints in recent months.The Traslimp company will take charge of maintenance and upkeep of the exterior airport zones, which have fallen into neglect for months. In May, airport authority AENA terminated the contract with the previous company after its failure to pay employees and serious deficiencies in the service.The airport grounds have extensive green areas and a wide variety of plants and were once marketed as a botanical garden by the island. However, the build-up of litter and dead vegetation has caused several complaints.BOOM TIMEAIRPORT CLEANING CONTRACT SIGNED