An issue arose at the port of Los Cristianos last Sunday when the hydraulic system of one of the Naviera Armas ships ramp broke down in the afternoon. It resulted in two company ships filled with passengers being stranded at sea for three hours in the midst of the weekend’s return operation. This incident has reignited the debate on the limitations of the southern port, which plays a crucial role in connections with the islands of La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro.
The president of the Cabildo of La Gomera, Casimiro Curbelo, expressed his dissatisfaction with the inconvenience caused to the passengers and the exposure of the fragile conditions offered by the port facilities. He mentioned that the port of Los Cristianos is one of the ports with the highest passenger and vehicle traffic in Spain.
“The breakdown that occurred on Sunday on the ramp of one of the Armas ships highlights the shortcomings, the weakness, the lack of action on the part of public administrations in a strategic port such as Los Cristianos, the backbone of maritime communications with the ports of La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, to transport not only passengers but also goods and vehicles,” said the island president and leader of the Gomera Socialist Group (ASG).
Inadequate Ramps
Curbelo believes that the incident on Sunday highlights the “limitations” of the port, especially on a day when those returning from the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival chose to travel back. He pointed out that “two ramps are not even the minimum to operate in the connectivity of the western islands” and mentioned that La Gomera “has more ramps than Los Cristianos.”
“From here I call on public administrations to take into account that we cannot continue without making decisions and without already taking the actions that must be adopted to talk about the future port,” insisted the president of the Cabildo of La Gomera. He emphasized that “it is not acceptable that we have been talking for 20 years about the port of Los Cristianos and its alternative in Fonsalía, and it has been paralyzed because not a word has been said from the public.”
Mounting Pressure
Authorities have been acknowledging for years that the conditions at the port of Los Cristianos are not the best and emphasize the growing pressure that the southern infrastructure supports. There has been a notable increase in demand in recent decades, as demonstrated by the increase over time in daily frequencies by the shipping companies that operate in it.
