The opening of private passenger transport in Gran Canaria rekindles a hidden war for control of one of the most lucrative businesses in the southern tourist area of the island. Millions of euros are at stake in tourist transfers, school lines, and corporate services. Salcai, the long-standing local operator, is preparing for a frontal assault by the giant ALSA, while the emerging party Primero Canarias (Prica) faces its first institutional test by fire… without a safety net and with elections just around the corner.
Because the melon was sealed with duct tape, under seven keys, protected by tacit agreements, political comfort zones, and a decades-long network of patronage woven around the discretionary passenger transport business. But now it's been opened, and with it, the old rules of the game have been blown out of the water.
ALSA, the Asturian giant headquartered in Madrid—controlled by the British fund Mobico Group, formerly National Express—has set its sights on Canary Islands tourism. Its interest in entering the leisure transport business in southern Gran Canaria is not new, but it has never before had so many factors in its favor: a quiet regulatory opening, the reputational erosion of local operators, and a volatile political context where Prica, the party born out of the disenchantment of the Canary Islands center-right, is trying to navigate its first institutional cycle without solid partners or a clientele network.
Salcai-Utinsa SL, Global's formal name, has until now been the "lord of the rings" of island transport. It controls the concession for regular road transport and a large part of the non-regular transport, a gold mine linked to the unstoppable growth of tourism. Group transport from the airport, transfers to water parks, excursions to Maspalomas or Mogán, hotel services... all of this passes—or passed—through its hands.
But there is a wind of change. The PSOE's move has been clear and surgical: they propose that the Gran Canaria Island Council become a shareholder in Salcai, a sort of partial renationalization under the guise of the general interest, tariff control, and the ecological transition. This proposal seeks to protect the incumbent operator from giants like ALSA, but it has also raised alarm bells in the private sector and among advocates of free competition.
The initiative has the tacit support of Nueva Canarias, the open support of the UGT (Union of Workers' Unions), and the expectant silence of Podemos. But it clashes head-on with Prica, which in southern Gran Canaria is trying to combine its liberal rhetoric with the fear of not being able to gain ground in a key stronghold: tourism.
Since 2023, ALSA has operated the public bus service in Tenerife through partnerships. This experience has served as a launchpad for its strategy in the Canary Islands. The company has already registered trademarks, licensed occasional fleets in the Canary Islands, and has initiated contacts with hotel groups in southern Gran Canaria to offer them direct contracts for state-of-the-art hybrid and electric buses.
“Discretionary transportation generates more money than regular transportation. There are hotels that pay more than €700.000 a year just for transfers,” explains a former manager of a large chain in Playa del Inglés. “Whoever controls that business has real power in the south.”
Prica, without a pact with the PSOE… and without a shield
In the midst of this political landscape, Prica faces its first real test. The party, led by a handful of disenchanted island councilors and mayors, has failed to seal a stable pact with the PSOE in the Gran Canaria Island Council, leaving it out of key decisions in the area of transport. The leader of the optics division, Teodoro Sosa, is the Councilor for Transport of the Gran Canaria Island Council.
Salcai is keeping a close eye on the matter, and if there's no renewal in the offing in 2027, the first election year for Prica, passenger transport could be ruined by street protests.
Prica will have to heed electoral pressure, and pressure from hotel and tourism industry leaders in favor of opening the market is beginning to be felt. Several local operators are already reporting "favorable treatment" toward ALSA in licensing and authorization procedures, and some suspect that liberalization will not be as neutral as claimed.
At stake: control of a business worth more than 50 million
According to industry estimates, occasional transport in Gran Canaria generates between €50 and €70 million annually, spanning tourist, school, and corporate travel. The arrival of ALSA could, in theory, reduce prices and modernize fleets. But it could also destroy local business, generate new dependence on foreign companies, and leave a strategic part of the Canary Islands' tourism industry in the hands of British funds.
The issue also has a European dimension: the Cabildo's possible entry into Salcai could conflict with EU law on state aid and freedom of establishment. Legal experts consulted warn that if it is not structured as a joint venture with open and neutral participation, it could be challenged in Brussels.
A storm is brewing on the asphalt of southern Gran Canaria. The Island Council wants to play the businessman. ALSA wants to play the conqueror. And Prica, without pacts, without a shield, and with elections looming, must decide whether to be the referee or a pawn in the most strategic game the island's transport sector has seen in 30 years.
