The planned cycling infrastructure to connect the Maspalomas Promenade with Meloneras has stalled in administrative offices due to the rigidity of EU deadlines. The Maspalomas Gran Canaria Consortium, which this May awarded an Andalusian cooperative the contract to draft the advertising campaign for this hub, has officially withdrawn from the simplified open procedure for awarding the works. This decision was motivated by the need to mitigate legal and economic risks linked to the European Union's Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). Brussels' requirements mandated that the works be completed before March 31, 2026, an insurmountable deadline for the project's actual progress.
The project, technically named 'Cycle Paths in Meloneras' and drafted by civil engineer Miguel Morales González, had a base budget of €500.000. The funds came from the Impulsa Maspalomas direct grant, a total of €5,5 million awarded by the Canary Islands Government's Ministry of Tourism and Employment to the Island Council to promote the green transition of the tourist destination.
The unfeasibility of the schedule precipitated a review of the emergency tender initiated on December 9, 2025. The period for submitting proposals from interested construction companies expired on January 5, 2026, creating a scenario where the three-month execution period stipulated in the contract directly clashed with the expiry date set by European regulations for justifying expenditure. A technical report and proposal signed by the consortium's Director of Public Procurement, Kevin Calero, formally endorsed halting the selection process to safeguard the public interest before any bids were submitted.
The withdrawal, authorized under the Public Sector Contracts Law, cancels the credit reserves that had been formalized in the local entity's budget accounting. These reserves totaled €305.000 allocated through the Gran Canaria Tourism strategic grant plan for fiscal year 2024 and another €195.000 corresponding to the 2025 fiscal year. The resolution issued by the consortium's president, in the exercise of its delegated powers, terminates the public tender as a preventative measure, thus avoiding the additional costs of a potential loss of funding from the Next Generation EU funds having to be borne by the local coffers.
