In the offices of the major international groups that control the islands' concrete industry, silence is the most eloquent response today. Masaveu Corporation and the Brazilian giant Votorantim, key shareholders in the Canary Islands cement industry, have chosen not to deny what is already an open secret in economic circles: the agreement to develop a hotel on the land currently occupied by the factory in southern Gran Canaria, a factory established by the Falange during the Franco era. This industry benefits from the AIEM tariff protection. The Canary Islands Government has the power to remove the AIEM from cement.
This strategic silence only confirms the changing times. Santa Águeda, the industrial port that for 70 years was the heart of construction in the archipelago, is being pushed toward a tourism-focused transformation. However, while the future is being designed with plans for hotel complexes, the present has become entrenched in the courts.
Just hours after news of the hotel deal gained traction, Cementos Especiales de las Islas (CEISA) – a joint venture between Masaveu and the Brazilian giant Votorantim – launched a desperate legal counterattack. The company filed a petition with the Administrative Court No. 4 of Las Palmas seeking the immediate suspension of the dismantling of the Port of Santa Águeda, ordered by Puertos Canarios (Canary Islands Port Authority).
The contradictions in this scenario are as dense as the clapboard itself. The "Indivisible Whole" at stake for CEISA rests on a previous ruling (July 2024) that defined the quarry, the factory, and the port as an "indivisible whole." For the cement company, demanding the port's demolition while the factory remains standing is a logistical amputation that would paralyze the cement supply to the islands.
The specter of economic waste looms. The company calls the demolition order "reckless." If the courts ultimately rule in their favor, the cost of rebuilding the demolished structure would exceed 38 million euros. A waste that, they warn, would fall on the public coffers.
The Canary Islands Ports Plan
Dismantle the port to open the space for recreational and tourist use. The Asturian company's argument: If the port closes, 100 heavy trucks a day will have to travel on the southern roads to move raw materials, increasing the carbon footprint by 3.000 tons of CO2 per year. The Port of Santa Águeda handles almost half a million tons annually. It is the logistical hub that feeds the construction industry on all seven islands. However, the advance of the tourism model seems unstoppable, and the coincidence of the owners' (Masaveu and Votorantim) silence with the dismantling order suggests that the future of southern Gran Canaria is no longer being written in concrete, but in sunbeds and hotels.
The ball is now in the judge's court. His decision regarding these precautionary measures will determine whether Santa Águeda remains the industrial heart of the 20th century or definitively transforms into the tourist paradise of the 21st. In the Canary Islands, history isn't just written on paper; it's etched in stone and washed away by the tide. The Santa Águeda conflict reflects an island trying to decide what it wants to be when the factory noise finally fades.
