The strike by employees of Salcai, the company that controls intercity passenger and tourist transport in Gran Canaria, erupted at the worst possible time: just as it marks 25 years since the National Competition Commission warned that the company should not operate as a monopoly. Today, a quarter of a century later, passengers remain trapped in a closed model with no real alternative.
The ignored Competition notice
In 2000, the now-defunct Competition Tribunal issued report C-56/00 SALCAI/UTINSA, which recognized that insularity created a geographic market limited to each island. The conclusion was clear: the regular passenger transport market in Gran Canaria should be limited to operators from the island itself, with no possibility of expansion to a "regional market." The Competition Tribunal emphasized that the merger between Salcai and Utinsa had not altered anything because the two companies never competed with each other: each was legally assigned its own geographic sector. The report warned that insularity was a natural barrier to expansion and that the resulting monopoly left the island without any possible competition.
The political shift and the protection of the monopoly
Despite this ruling, the PP's Council of Ministers annulled the creation of Global, but the powerful bus drivers' lobby forced a change of political course. Labor and corporate pressure ultimately strengthened Salcai's control, which over time consolidated its position as the sole intercity operator in Gran Canaria. The CNMC, in its subsequent ruling, incurred a contradiction that persists: it extended the geographic area of reference to the entire Autonomous Community, when the service, by nature, is insular. The confusion between administrative jurisdiction (which is autonomous) and the real market (which is island-based) opened the door to a de facto monopoly that remains in place.
Passengers held hostage in 2025
Today, in the midst of the strike, the consequences are palpable. Endless lines in San Telmo, Maspalomas, and the airport, tourists stranded with no transportation options, residents trapped between waits and overcharges. Gran Canaria is experiencing the same paradox that the Competition Authority pointed out 25 years ago: a closed market, captive to a single company, while the authorities look the other way. The comparison with the Balearic Islands, noted in that report, remains valid: there, as in the Canary Islands, insularity prevents companies from different islands from competing with each other. The Competition Authority's mistake was trying to create a single regional market, when geography dictated a different reality. The current strike is just the tip of the iceberg. Gran Canaria has endured 25 years of ignored warnings, contradictory political decisions, and absolute dependence on a single operator. Meanwhile, passengers—residents and tourists—remain the great hostages of passenger transport.
