Arrecife (Lanzarote, Canary Islands)

Arrecife de Lanzarote is a port city and municipality located in the Canary Islands, Spain. It is situated on Lanzarote Island's center-eastern part, covers total area approx 23 km2 (9 mi2) and has population around 60,000.

Port Arrecife (locode ESACE) is managed by the Las Palmas Port Authority and currently operated under concession by GPCI-Global Ports Canary Islands (80:20 joint venture company between GPH-Global Ports Holding Plc and Groupo Sepcan SL).

• In mid-November 2021, following a public tender process, the Las Palmas Port Authority awarded GPCI a 20-year concession for the cruise operations in Port Arrecife (thru 2042). The company also won the bidding for Port Las Palmas on Gran Canaria (40-year concession deal/thru 2062) and Puerto del Rosario on Fuerteventura (20-year concession deal).
• GPH is currently the world's largest cruise port operator, with 24x total ports globally (as of 2022).
• The concession deal included GPCI investing ~EUR 40 million into a new cruise terminal (in Las Palmas) and modular cruise terminal facilities in Arrecife and Puerto del Rosario.

The Canaries are very popular for winter cruising vacations due to the archipelago's mild climate in comparison to other European regions. Las Palmas Ports (Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote) are also cruise destinations with great international flight connections. During the Coronavirus crisis in 2020, unlike other European seaports that closed for passenger shipping traffic, these Canary ports handled 0,5+ million tourists via "bubble cruises" around the Canaries.

The city of Arrecife owes its name to a rock reef ('Arrecife' means 'reef' in Spanish) which covers a beach situated in the city. Arrecife also gives its name to nearby Arrecife Airport.

Arrecife is east of Tinajo, northeast of Yaiza and south of Haria. Regular ferries link to the other isles, mainland Spain and Northern Africa (Morocco). The tallest building in Lanzarote Island is Gran Hotel Arrecife, located on the front alongside the city's harbor.

Arrecife's earliest records date from the 15th century when the town was a fishing settlement. Towards the end of the 16th century, the settlement started to grow in response to the need for accommodation to support the growing trade between the new and old worlds. The first church was built at this time, consecrated to Arrecife's first bishop, San Gines. Growing prosperity increased the city's attractiveness as a pirate target: the notorious pirate named Dogan almost completely destroyed the port town in 1571.

Arrecife cruise terminal