The rising number of cruise ships docking in Arrecife’s harbour has led the Port Authorities of Las Palmas to announce that they intend to invest €100,000 in a new passenger station in Puerto Marmoles, as the port of Arrecife is known. This latest initiative is just another part of the gradual remodeling of the capital of Lanzarote, as the local city council strives to turn the city into an attractive tourist destination in its own right.
The existing cruise ship terminal already includes an area for passport control but this will be extended to ensure that passengers disembarking for a day trip to Lanzarote can be dealt with efficiently, with a sixty metre square waiting area envisaged as part of the plans. There will be wheelchair ramps, air conditioning and direct access to the bus terminals that are already in existence, giving visitors a more streamlined experience when they leave their ships.
Cruise passengers have grown in volume during the last decade and there has been a noticeable increase of 36.9% in visitors choosing this method of visiting the island in the first three months of this in comparison with figures from 2013. 178,624 people came to Lanzarote via a cruise voyage between January and March this year, considerably more than the 130,475 tourists who travelled to the Canary Islands in this fashion during the same three months last year.
Over the last decade there has also been considerably more investment in both the port area and more generally in Arrecife, allowing the city to create a new image for itself, with improvements to access routes particularly noticeable. Three years ago the new seafront walk way which extends out to Puerto Marmoles from the town centre was completed, giving passengers the opportunity to walk into the heart of Arrecife without having to hug the edge of a reasonably busy road.
This walkway brings foot bound visitors to the Charco area of the town, where the free tourist train can be taken all the way along the seafront, past the main shopping area and out towards the beach at Playa del Reducto and the Parque Islas Canarias. Those who choose to continue exploring the city on foot are beginning to make the Charco area, with its numerous tapas bars and market, noticeably busier. And once the new sport marina at Puerto Naos is opened, which is scheduled to happen later this year, there will be yet another attraction to draw cruise liner visitors into the capital.
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