Gran Canaria takes center stage in the global cruise industry
This week, the Port of Las Palmas becomes the spotlight of the international maritime community by hosting Seatrade Cruise Med 2026, one of the world's most influential cruise industry trade events
The Canary Islands, once a frontier cruise circuit, are now standing at the heart of industry growth: 2026 saw indeed a year-round activity that surpassed the 2-million passenger threshold in the combined Port Authority of Las Palmas records.
Gran Canaria, home of the Port of Las Palmas, maintains market leadership in business, investment & cruise activity.
Gran Canaria plays a central role in this success, consolidating its position as a leading cruise destination and maritime services base in the Atlantic. The Port of Las Palmas alone welcomed 1.1 million cruise passengers in the last year (Aug 2025 - July 2026), up +9.8%, while it also stands out for its high volume of homeport operations and exceptional passenger satisfaction.
Home to Europe’s largest cruise terminal, Las Palmas Cruise Port offers the infrastructure, innovation, and sustainability credentials needed to support the next era of cruising. Launched last winter season, the purpose-built €40 million cruise terminal provides a seamless, secured and digitized 14,000 m² facility featuring three boarding bridges and capacity to serve up to five vessels simultaneously. Equipped with cutting-edge tech to streamline operations and enhance guest experience, the terminal sits steps away from the city center, serving as the gateway to the island's diverse natural resources and experiences.
Now that you are in Gran Canaria, let's start a whole new conversation
Seatrade Cruise Med 2026 will bring together over 2,000 professionals from 97 countries, along with 180 exhibitors representing cruise lines, shorex operators, shipping agencies, tech companies, passenger service providers, and destinations
They will arrive at an island with a strategic value far beyond standard port operations. The Las Palmas port-hub is a one-stop-shop for bunkering (including sustainable biofuel blends) and ship repair, and it offers solutions in logistics, supplies, ground handling and other shorex services. Gran Canaria also provides an unmatched environment for tech companies, startups, and service providers to establish operations or develop pilots or launch global products and services -supported by unique financial incentives, including up to 45% tax credits for technological innovation and a 4% corporate tax rate.
If you are wondering why Gran Canaria boasts the highest average stay, why it shines as a premier homeport destination, why it is a must-call in all regional itineraries, why it is home for grand events, and why tech companies, startups, and shorex operators choose the island to scale their operations... see you at Seatrade Cruise Med!
Four projects supported by the Marine & Maritime High Tech Incubator, selected by the Spanish Ports 4.0 funding programme
The second call from the Plan to Promote Entrepreneurship for Innovation in the Port Sector (Ports 4.0) being promoted by the Spanish ports authority (Puertos del Estado) will finance 30 pre-commercial projects throughout the country, of which eight are backed by the Port Authority of Las Palmas. Four of these projects, which have obtained a combined total of close on 1.4 million euros between them, received advice from the Economic Promotion Agency of Gran Canaria (SPEGC) - a body run by the Island Council of Gran Canaria - under the specialised service offered by the Marine & Maritime High Tech Incubator to help Spanish companies and startups in the maritime and naval sector gain access to this funding initiative.
The Silex project presented by Apsu Agua Limpia S.L. aims to develop a prototype microwave reactor capable of absorbing combustion gases from ship engines and transforming them into salts with a neutral impact on the environment, thereby reducing the greenhouse gas emissions produced by seagoing vessels.
The Carbon Wave Gauge project by Vázquez Torres Ingeniería, S.L. and Automation Designs and Custom Applications, S.L. seeks to develop a portable system for precisely measuring swell and tides in real time using carbon fibre threads.
In turn, the Beta-Blue project by Tiamet Energy S.L. will develop undimotor (wave) power prototypes for installation on maritime buoyage systems. The company will also make use of spaces owned by the Port Authority to test the system in a real environment.
The fourth project to have received funding from this call for proposals is Smart Coast AI Solutions 4.0 by the consortium set up by QAISC (Qualitas Artificial Intelligence and Science, S.A) and Plocan. The project aims to design and develop new technology solutions applied to the coast and port-maritime space based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) capable of efficiently and sustainably automating maritime transport.
Gran Canaria offers the ideal maritime-marine ecosystem for developing a wide range of productive and business activities related to this sector: ship repair, port services, power generation, logistics, transport and off-shore services are just some of the areas in which data analytics and artificial intelligence technology solutions are playing a major role.
Against that backdrop, the High-Tech Incubator for Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence applied to the maritime-marine environment promoted by the Island Council of Gran Canaria via SPEGC is a benchmark centre in Spain that supports entrepreneurs and SMEs engaged in innovative projects tied to these fields of technology. It offers technical support and technological-business guidance through integrated incubation and acceleration programmes, custom advice and consultancy, workshops, testing and experimentation opportunities in real environments, cloud computing services and work spaces, among other things.
Gran Canaria improves its competitiveness in the marine- maritime sector with new programs and spaces for companies and entrepreneurs
Gran Canaria is the ideal destination for the development of companies and projects related to the marine-maritime sector, given its strategic position between Africa, Europe, and America, its natural and economic characteristics and its role as a logistics and industrial hub of the Canary Islands archipelago.
Gran Canaria's advantages in the sector lie in the activities linked to the Port of Las Palmas (bunkering, ship repair, offshore wind, cargo traffic, cruise ships or crew changes), the attractive tax incentives and the presence of blue research spaces, such as The Canarian Oceanic Platform, which provides efficient access to the ocean in an environmentally sustainable way.
To all this, with the promotion and financing of Promoción Económica de Gran Canaria and Cabildo de Gran Canaria, there are two new offers that will boost Gran Canaria's competitiveness to hold blue economy business projects: the new services of IAT Marino Marítima are launched and the new spaces of Centro de Innovación Marino Marítima get started.
The novelties that reinforce Gran Canaria as a leading destination:
Marine-maritime IAT
The High Technology Incubator in Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence, IAT Marino Marítima is a national reference center to attend entrepreneurs and SMEs that develop innovative projects in the artifitial intelligence and conected technology fields, with potential for local, national, and international projection and represents a decisive impulse for companies to be provided with technical support and technological-entrepreneurial accompaniment in their process of project acceleration and generation of new business models.
In addition, it has specialized advisory and consulting services in the areas of business, internationalization, legal and tax advice, finance, and technology consulting; group and specialized workshops and programs, testing and experimentation opportunities; promotion programs and knowledge dissemination actions; cloud computing services; and promotion of collaboration between the entrepreneurs of the different projects, companies and collaborating entities.
Marine-Maritime Innovation Center
The building has meeting and office rooms, recreation areas and training rooms. The minimum stay will be six months and the maximum three years, with the possibility of an extension.
The Marine Maritime Innovation Center is located in the Fundación Puerto de Las Palmas Building, in a privileged location in the Port-City environment, within the space recently renovated by the SPEGC. It is a strategic location within the port area of the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, perfectly communicated with the rest of the city's services, as it is located next to the Santa Catalina bus station and Maritime Avenue, which connects with the Gran Canaria Airport.
Taxation and financing: a unique framework in Gran Canaria
Canary Island enjoys a special Economic and Fiscal Regimen (REF) that contributes to business development:
- Free Trade Zone: with its special conditions of tax exemption and customs simplification.
- Deductions applicable to RD&I expenses: which can reach up to 75. 6% of the eligible expenses executed in the Canary Islands.
- Canary Islands Special Zone (ZEC): 4% corporate tax rate.
- Tax deduction for the production of physical goods: 50% reduction in company tax, applicable to businesses producing fishing and industrial goods.
- Deduction for investment in fixed assets: reduction of company tax equivalent to 25% of the amount destined for the acquisition of fixed assets.
- The Canary Islands Investment Reserve (RIC): the tax burden can be reduced by up to 90% of the company’s profits.
The Canary Islands benefit from other incentive instruments of investment such as the Special Regime for Ships and Shipping Companies in the Canary Islands.
To receive personalized information on the different instruments of the SPEGC, such as financing or advice, you can access the Business Support Service (SAE) of the Sociedad de Promoción Económica of Gran Canaria.