The project, named 'Eastern Islands Ring', aims to strengthen digital connections within the Canary Islands and serve as a digital node between Europe and Africa. The company Canalink is responsible for installing two independent transoceanic cables.
The location of the connection point in Tarfaya, just 35 kilometers from the Western Sahara border, has caused concern. Moroccan media have suggested Bojador, in Western Sahara, as a potential future connection point, which would raise questions about the legal framework and investments in a territory with a disputed status.
The Canary Islands government, through Fernando Clavijo, already firmly stated last year that the agreement is to connect to Tarfaya and "at no time to any point in Western Sahara," due to potential legal complications.
This situation arises amid renewed tensions between Spain and Morocco, with Western Sahara remaining a particularly sensitive issue despite recent diplomatic rapprochement. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that Western Sahara has a separate status from Morocco, requiring Sahrawi consent for agreements.
The project, with a budget of 34 million euros (23 million from community funds), is already in the deployment phase. Any future extension of the network into Western Sahara could open a new legal front regarding the application of European doctrine.
The 'ring' consists of 553 kilometers of fiber optic cable that will link Ojos de Garza (Gran Canaria) with Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura) and Playa Honda (Lanzarote) via one cable, and Barranco de Tenoya (Gran Canaria) with Corralejo and Playa Blanca (Fuerteventura and Lanzarote) via another. This will provide redundancy for Canary Islands telecommunications.
Canalink, a public company specializing in underwater connectivity and dependent on the Cabildo of Tenerife, will complete the work in 2028. The project is financed by the European program CEF Digital.
