The mayors of Arrecife and Puerto del Rosario have formalised a strategic partnership to jointly promote their cities as premier cruise destinations.
Yonathan de León of Arrecife and David de Vera of Puerto del Rosario cemented the agreement during a meeting at the International Tourism Fair (FITUR) in Madrid last week.
The partnership comes as official port statistics underscore the role both Canary Islands ports play in the cruise sector. The combined passenger traffic through Arrecife and Puerto del Rosario in 2025 accounted for 52 percent of the total cruise tourism revenue reported in the Las Palmas’s Port Authority income report.
Last year, the province of Las Palmas welcomed over 2.08 million cruise passengers. Of these, 1,094,088 visitors arrived via the ports of Arrecife and Puerto del Rosario in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, surpassing the 994,954 passengers received by the ports of La Luz and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Mayor David de Vera stated, “The union between Puerto del Rosario and Arrecife is now a key factor in understanding the development and consolidation of cruise tourism in the province of Las Palmas. Through collaboration and joint work, both capitals are demonstrating that Fuerteventura and Lanzarote play a fundamental strategic role within the provincial port system.”
Mayor Yonathan de León added, “Both island capitals, in Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, have economic strength in cruise tourism and will continue to grow over the next five years, as predicted by the shipping companies. If we contribute more than 50 percent of the revenue generated by these passengers to the Port Authority of Las Palmas, we should be rewarded with investments and improvements in our port facilities of equal importance.”
The mayors were accompanied at the Madrid meeting by their respective tourism councillors, Rosa Rodríguez (Puerto del Rosario) and Eli Merino (Arrecife). Beyond cruise promotion, they agreed that the tourism departments of both councils would plan further joint initiatives to benefit the two capitals and their islands.
De León and De Vera have scheduled a follow-up meeting to be held in Arrecife in the near future. The focus will be on developing new actions and strategies to leverage the importance of their state-owned ports for tourism, trade, and the wider economy of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
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