The Minister of Public Works, Housing, and Mobility, Pablo Rodríguez, and the Director General of Coasts and Management of the Canary Maritime Space, Antonio Acosta, have presented the I Congress of Coasts of the Canary Islands. This technical and institutional event will be held in San Bartolomé de Tirajana on October 15 and 16, aiming to position the Archipelago as a benchmark for analysis and debate on coastal management.
The congress will bring together representatives from coastal autonomous communities, specialists in Administrative Law, public officials, and industry professionals. It will address the challenges of coastal management from legal, institutional, and territorial perspectives, fostering the exchange of experiences between administrations and experts in coastal protection, governance, and regulatory development.
Pablo Rodríguez highlighted the congress's intention to "highlight the enormous asset that the coastline represents for the Canary Islands" and to make the Archipelago "the center of national debate on public policies regarding coasts and coastal management." He recalled the recent assumption of coastal responsibilities by the Canary Islands, calling it an "opportunity to advance in the effective deployment of these competencies" and to build a management model adapted to the island reality, in collaboration with island councils and municipalities.
The minister emphasized that the future Canary Islands Coastal Law will enable the full development of these competencies and establish a unique legal framework that responds to the Archipelago's specificities, ensuring more effective, sustainable, and accessible coastal management.
Antonio Acosta explained that the program has been designed to gather specialists in Administrative Law and coastal management, who will analyze "the issues that will shape the future of our coasts" with "maximum technical and legal rigor." The participation of representatives from all coastal autonomous communities will allow for the sharing of experiences, analysis of management models, and dialogue to improve coastal governance from a common vision, also opening a national debate on the evolution of the regulatory framework.
The congress, to be held at the Hotel Paradisus by Meliá Gran Canaria, will include a preliminary technical session among the drafting teams of the regional coastal laws. The first day will address coastal protection, the blue economy, the circular economy, and coastal governance, followed by a session on coastal architecture and coastal zone planning. In the afternoon, the legal field will be explored with sessions on jurisdictional conflict and regional regulatory capacity.
The second day will feature the keynote lecture 'The Future of Coastal Planning in Spain,' delivered by Administrative Law professor Ángel Menéndez. Subsequently, representatives from coastal autonomous communities will debate common challenges in coastal management.
One of the central themes of the event will be the presentation of the draft of the future Canary Islands Coastal Law. This document will serve as a basis for technical and legal debate, aiming to provide the Archipelago with a regulatory framework adapted to its specificities and assumed competencies. The program will also include technical roundtables on governance, environmental protection, the blue economy, and State-community relations regarding coasts.
