Cementos Especiales de las Islas SA (CEISA) has requested new authorisation from Puertos Canarios to renew their private port concession to continue using the Santa Águeda Pier, the only privately-owned industrial port on the islands, after the current concession ends. The request was made and processed this Tuesday morning, as the port’s concession term, granted in 1972, expires in October of next year, reports the company in a statement.
“The port infrastructure, located at the foot of the cement factory facilities, is essential for the production of this construction material, since it allows reception of part of the raw materials from the Peninsula and the transfer of the finished product to the port of Las Palmas and the rest of the islands of the Archipelago, “explained CEISA, specifying that “these operations involve the movement of half a million tons of materials annually and, thanks to this installation, the circulation of one hundred trucks per day is avoided via the South GC-1 highway along with the emission of 3,000 tons of CO2.”
The CEISA group, based in the province of Las Palmas, has 15 production, storage and sales points on Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and La Palma, has a turnover of €60 million and creates 150 direct jobs, of which 30% are of a technical profile. The indirect employment generated amounts to a further 450 people. The El Pajar factory has a production capacity of 1.5 million tons of cement and its materials are sold exclusively in the Canary Islands. Last year, despite the pandemic, the plant maintained its normal activity with the entire workforce, except for one fortnight was limited to essential jobs only.
“We have been in El Pajar for more than 60 years, generating wealth and employment, and our objective is to continue developing our activity with the three fundamental pillars, our factory, located on company land; quality and exclusivity to the Canary Islands, and the port, which allows us to be absolutely efficient by reducing transfers to a minimum”, said Claudio Piernavieja , General Coordinator of the CEISA group.
Cementos Especiales de las Islas began their journey in 1957, gaining their private port concession to build a large industrial loading pier in 1972 and have already spent more than six decades dedicated to the manufacture and sale of cement, mortar and construction materials for Gran Canaria and the rest of the islands. From their factory in El Pajar, in San Bartolomé de Tirajana, four types of cement and one type of mortar are produced adapted to constructions on the Islands, thanks to the Canarian pozzolana, the special volcanic silicate that is added to special underwater cements and hardwearing cements like Portland, considered one of the best such additives in the world for the manufacture of cement.
There are some who wish to develop the Bahía Santa Agueda as a tourist resort, with various interested parties having expressed a desire to take full advantage of what is thought to be the most tranquil and sunny spot on the whole island. There is a lovely little beach at El Pajar, overlooked by what some believe could have been the very first christian chapel ever built on the island, in a cave in the cliffside above the beach. Though there is no reason to think that CEISA will not be able to renew their concession, it will be of interest to some who may be looking for opportunities to exploit the privileged position, currently occupied by the cement factory, for more touristic aims. Only time will tell whether this will be simply an administrative process of renewal, or if any objections are to be raised about the manner in which this now prime piece of real estate is being exploited. With the Be Cordial Hotel Santa Agueda having just finished construction there is already some reason to suspect that further tourism interests might make themselves known.
