The Spanish Government has unveiled plans to create 17 new protected marine areas around the Canary Islands, covering almost 17,000 square kilometres of ocean, as part of a major expansion of the Natura 2000 conservation network.

If approved, the new protected areas would help safeguard important marine habitats, coral reefs, seagrass meadows, sea turtles, dolphins, whales and seabirds across the archipelago.

Protection across five islands

The proposals include 17 new Sites of Community Importance (LICs) in Canary waters, along with two new Special Protection Areas for Birds (ZEPAs).

The new protected marine areas would be distributed as follows:

• Tenerife: Five new protected areas covering around 564 km²
• Gran Canaria: Five areas covering around 323 km²
• Lanzarote: One new protected area of around 24 km²
• La Palma: Three areas covering approximately 793 km²
• La Gomera: Three areas totalling just over 500 km²

A new bird protection zone would also cover the waters between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, while another would link marine areas around Tenerife and La Gomera.

Unique underwater habitats

Among the largest proposals is a protected area along Tenerife's northern coastline, stretching between Ladera Castillo and Roque de Antequera.

The site includes the underwater mountain chain known as Las Siete Hermanas (The Seven Sisters), where coral communities thrive at depths of around 50 to 70 metres. It also includes La Rapadura, off Santa Úrsula, which is home to striking basalt columns and valuable marine ecosystems.

Other proposed protected areas around Tenerife include:

• The marine strip between Teno and Rasca, an important habitat for loggerhead and green turtles, bottlenose dolphins, and deep-diving whales such as pilot whales.
• Waters off San Juan de la Rambla, where underwater caves support black coral, sea fans and other rare marine species.
• Seagrass meadows off Güímar, Arafo, Candelaria, Arico and Granadilla de Abona, which provide vital breeding and feeding grounds for marine life.

Other islands included

The proposals also include marine conservation areas around:

• La Palma, including waters off Garafía and the volcanic sea cave known as Cueva del Infierno.
• La Gomera, with protected waters around Santiago, Valle Gran Rey and the island's eastern seagrass beds.
• Gran Canaria, where new protected areas would focus on reefs, seagrass habitats and the north-west coastline.
• Lanzarote, where the seagrass beds off Famara would receive additional protection.

Dolphins in their natural habitat off the coast of Tenerife (Image: That Lady From Europe)

Moving towards European conservation targets

If the plans receive final approval, Spain's protected marine area would increase from 22.45% to 24.53% of its territorial waters.

However, this would still fall short of the European Union's target of protecting 30% of marine waters by 2030 under its Biodiversity Strategy.

What happens next?

The proposed sites are currently at the public consultation stage.

Following consultation, Spain will submit the proposals to the European Commission for approval. If accepted, the sites will become Sites of Community Importance (LICs) before eventually being designated as Special Areas of Conservation (ZECs).

That final stage could take up to six years and will require detailed conservation and management plans for each protected area.

If approved, the expansion would represent one of the largest increases in marine conservation ever proposed for the Canary Islands, further recognising the archipelago as one of Europe's most important regions for marine biodiversity.