History is made as the Canary Islands will take over control of their coasts

The Council of Ministers has approved the Royal Decree by which functions and services of the General State Administration (AGE) are transferred from Costas to the Canary Islands Government for matters of coastal planning and management.

The rule approved by the Central Government of Spain, which comes after the agreement reached by the Mixed Transfer Commission on July 27th, states that said transfer of functions and services will be effective on 1^st January 2023, as agreed by both administrations.

By virtue of this agreement, the authorizations for seasonal uses on the beaches, and in the territorial sea (anchoring areas, floating pontoons and similar uses), are transferred to the Canary Islands, within the framework of the legislation established by the State; authorizations of activities in which special circumstances of intensity, danger or profitability concur, and authorizations of occupation of the maritime-terrestrial public domain with removable installations or with personal property.

Authorizations in areas of traffic easement and access to the sea is also transferred; the public concessions referred to in article 64 of Law 22/1988, of July 28, on Coasts, including their management, registration, the issuance of the report before their redemption, and the sanctioning power, in what refers to non-compliance with the conditions for granting municipal concessions.

All regional governments in Spain have been restricted in what they could and couldn’t do on their own coastlines due to the Spanish constitution, and the control of Costas.

Now, with guidelines in place to meet, if events or works are of general interest they will have the authority to decide themselves if they are allowed, for example, concerts on beaches. The transfer of these powers will not mean a reinterpretation of the current law to favour certain interests or activities, but it will be a greater closeness on the part of the administrations when analyzing these procedures.

The Ministry of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Ministry of Territorial Policy, will soon set up a technical commission to analyze all the ongoing files related to the competence of Costas, which will be assumed by the regional government from January 1st.

They will assess the volume of files, set priorities and establish a roadmap that allows the transition to be much easier for the technicians and politicians who will take on these tasks.