Mogán will revive the Arguineguín Popular Race on Saturday, August 8th, returning as the Mogán Sunset Run after six editions held until 2020.

The main race will cover five kilometers, while young people aged 14 to 18 can participate in a 1,600-meter race. The program also includes children’s races of 400 and 800 meters.

The start and finish lines will be located on the pedestrian section of Miguel Marrero Rodríguez Street, next to the main entrance to Las Marañuelas Beach. The course will run along the Arguineguín coastline at sunset.

The event will begin at 7:00 p.m. with music and entertainment. Children aged six to eight will start at 8:00 p.m. to complete 400 meters, followed by participants aged nine to thirteen, who will run 800 meters.

The 1,600-meter race will start at 8:25 p.m., while the main race, for adults only, will begin at 9:00 p.m. and will consist of two laps of a 2.5-kilometer course.

Registration will remain open until August 4th, inclusive. The rules and registration form are available on the Mogán en Movimiento website.

The Carmen Festival in Arguineguín is the town’s big maritime event: mass, maritime procession with the image of the Virgen del Carmen, blessing of boats, open-air dances and Canarian gastronomy by the port.

Arguineguín will celebrate its maritime procession on Sunday, July 19th. At 9:00 a.m., the statue will be taken to the dock, where Mass will be celebrated on the papal stage. Afterward, it will be placed on a boat to travel along the coast to Playa de Mogán, where it will meet its namesake.

Abundant winter rains and less frequent heat waves suggest that the 2026 harvest for the Gran Canaria Protected Designation of Origin will be double that of 2025. Winegrowers in the Gran Canaria have already begun the 2026 harvest, starting, as in recent years, at the Los Azules estate in San Bartolomé de Tirajana. This harvest yielded a similar quantity of grapes to that of 2025, around 340 kilos of white grapes of the Malvasía Volcánica and Albillo Criollo varieties.

The grape harvest, which is now underway, still has a long way to go, as it will continue until approximately mid-October. For example, the grapes from the Monte Lentiscal (Santa Brigida) area will be picked at the end of August, while those from the summit and San Mateo areas will be harvested at the end of September and beginning of October.

The abundant rainfall last winter and the fewer heat waves so far this summer point to a much larger harvest in terms of kilos than last year’s, which isn’t surprising given that the 2025 harvest was the worst since records began. It yielded around 170,000 kilos of grapes, less than half of the previous year’s, due to the drought and heat that prevailed.

It is estimates that the 2026 harvest will double the previous year’s production, reaching between 300,000 and 400,000 kilos, among the 250 associated winegrowers, provided the weather conditions remain favorable.

Unlike other islands in the archipelago, such as Lanzarote, this year’s Gran Canaria harvest is not expected to be earlier than usual, generally due to the heat and faster fruit ripening.

While the 2026 harvest is expected to be much better, the expectations for the 2027 harvest are even more optimistic because the drought of previous years is still affecting the production of many vines, and some plantings established in recent years in different parts of the island will not begin to bear fruit until then.

The events will take place from July 14 to September 19 in Arguineguín, Playa de Mogán, and other locations within the municipality.

Mogán will host eight events between July 14 and September 19, including fitness, running, open water swimming, swimrun, and children’s sports.

The schedule kicks off on July 14 with “Your Best Sunset” in Arguineguín, featuring boxing exhibitions and free classes in training, yoga, and stretching. Following this, the Summer Games will bring together 24 teams on July 17 and 18, while the Kids’ Games will be held on July 25 with ten groups of adults and children. Registration for both events is now closed.

On the other hand, the 18th Eufemiano Verde Mogán Beach–Taurito–Mogán Beach Open Water Swim will take place on August 1st, with a main race of 2,400 meters and children’s races. The deadline to register is July 22nd.

The Mogán Sunset Run will cover five kilometers along the Arguineguín coast on August 8th, with adult and children’s categories. Registration will remain open until the 4th. On August 9th, El Perchel beach will host the third edition of Canary Combat for goalkeepers from Pre-Benjamin to Junior categories.

Finally, the Anfi Gran Canaria Mogán Swim Run will take place on September 5th with a 9.1-kilometer course between Anfi del Mar and Arguineguín, divided between swimming and running. And on September 19th, the first Acebuches Trail Kids, aimed at children, will be held.

The Las Palmas Federation of Hospitality and Tourism Businesses Defends Legal Certainty and Tax Fairness Following the Annulment of the Tourist Tax.

The Las Palmas Federation of Hospitality and Tourism Businesses (FEHT) has expressed its satisfaction with the ruling that annuls the overnight tourist tax approved by the Mogán City Council. This decision supports the legal and substantive arguments maintained by the business association since the beginning of the proceedings.

This court decision is also good news for the sector and for the Canary Islands population in general, who were also negatively impacted by the increased costs resulting from this tax when enjoying hotels and other accommodation establishments in the archipelago.

The FEHT emphasizes that its appeal was never intended as an institutional confrontation, but rather as a response to the need to defend legal certainty and fairness in the tax burden borne by the sector.

The Federation understood from the outset that the measure created by the council could not be considered a fee in the legal sense, but rather acted materially as a tax, since it levied a charge on the mere overnight stay in tourist establishments without any specific public service being provided to justify the charge.

However, the creation of new taxes falls under the purview of the legislature (national or regional) and cannot be assumed by local administrations. The FEHT also points out that the tourism sector is already the main contributor to the maintenance of public services in the Canary Islands.

Through the economic activity it generates and, in particular, through the collection of the IGIC (Canary Islands General Indirect Tax), tourism contributes a very significant portion (around 40%) of the public revenue that subsequently funds the Autonomous Community, the island councils, and the municipalities each year.

Specifically, accommodation in tourist establishments is already subject to a 7% IGIC, a tax paid by tourists visiting the Islands as well as by Canary Island residents themselves.

Therefore, the Federation maintains that it is inappropriate to establish mechanisms that impose double taxation on an economic activity that already bears a tax burden and that, moreover, generates tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and constitutes the main support of the Canary Islands’ economy.

The specific overnight stay tax was a clear example of double taxation on the same item, to the detriment of the sector’s competitiveness and also of Canary Islanders themselves who wish to stay in the Islands’ establishments, insofar as they also had to pay the tax now annulled by the High Court of Justice.

The tourism employers’ association reiterates its full willingness to collaborate with all public administrations to continue improving the quality of tourist destinations, strengthen their sustainability, and guarantee public services commensurate with the importance of tourism for the Canary Islands.

For example, the FEHT (Federation of Hospitality and Tourism Businesses) has already expressed its support for implementing fees for visiting the islands’ natural areas, a measure justified by the provision of specific services during these visits and aimed at raising the necessary funds for their proper conservation and management.

For tourism businesses, these shared objectives must be achieved while respecting the current legal framework and through ongoing dialogue between institutions and the business sector.

The Maspalomas Gran Canaria Consortium is promoting the first phase of improvements to the GC-500 between the roundabout accessing El Hornillo-Meloneras and the Pasito Blanco interchange. This project will transform nearly one kilometer of this road into a more accessible, safer environment adapted to sustainable mobility. The project is now open for tender with a base budget of €2,447,670.49 and includes new bike lanes, continuous sidewalks, rest areas, improvements to street lighting, and two new roundabouts.

The project involves the redevelopment of approximately one kilometer of the GC-500 road, maintaining the existing roadway for vehicular traffic and incorporating new infrastructure to promote walking and cycling.

Among the main planned works are the construction of two new roundabouts to improve connections with future urbanized areas, as well as the construction of continuous sidewalks on both sides of the road and the creation of separate bike lanes.

The project also includes new pedestrian crossings, rest areas next to bus stops, installation of street furniture, bicycle parking, signage, pergolas, and a renewed public lighting system.

In addition, the project will incorporate technical work aimed at improving the safety and durability of the infrastructure, such as drainage improvements, resurfacing, pipe installation, retaining walls, and adaptation of the spaces to the existing environment.

During the construction, traffic diversions and perimeter fencing will be implemented to ensure the safety of users and minimize disruption to traffic on this section of the GC-500.

The project will be financed by the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council and carried out by the Maspalomas Gran Canaria Consortium as part of the accessibility and mobility improvement plan. The estimated completion time is approximately eight months from the date of the site survey verification report.

In addition to economic criteria, the tender will consider proposals that reduce the execution time and incorporate improvements to the road surface. Interested companies have until Tuesday, August 4, at 12:59 a.m. to submit their bids through the State Procurement Platform.

The Parliament of the Canary Islands has approved a sector-specific law that alters the legal and financial framework of the archipelago’s main economic drivers. The new Canary Islands Tourist Municipalities Law, for the first time, grants local governments their own administrative system. The legislation is designed to address the structural deficit in the municipal finances of southern Gran Canaria, which have historically been forced to fund public services designed for millions of annual visitors with budgets calculated solely based on the registered population. The law introduces a weighting system that recognizes the impact of the transient population on the allocation of public resources.

The municipalities of San Bartolomé de Tirajana and Mogán, where the largest concentration of tourist accommodation in the province is located, are the driving force behind this legislation, which they promoted through the Association of Tourist Municipalities of the Canary Islands (AMTC). Insufficient funds for maintaining critical areas such as street cleaning, beach safety, and coastal infrastructure have strained the budgets of these southern municipalities for decades. The law allows for the legal adaptation of local councils’ organizational structure to the actual demographics they serve, overcoming the limitations of the resident census.

The law eliminates the previous generic designation of tourist territory and establishes a classification model based on auditable macroeconomic variables. The regulations establish the categories of Municipality of Tourist Excellence and Municipality of Unique Tourist Character. To achieve the status of Excellence, destinations in southern Gran Canaria must certify that tourism generates more than 15% of their local economy. Furthermore, the text requires simultaneous compliance with two of three objective criteria: a specific volume of annual floating population, a substantial accommodation capacity, or a significant density of high-end four- and five-star hotels.

The new legal framework entails strict operational obligations for the beneficiary municipalities. Local authorities that achieve excellence status will be required to design and implement a municipal tourism management plan. The text defines a comprehensive catalog of mandatory minimum services that exceeds the traditional powers granted by the Local Government Act. Municipalities in southern Gran Canaria are legally obligated to undertake environmental monitoring, noise control in leisure areas, enhanced waste collection, the creation of urban climate shelters, and the permanent deployment of lifeguards along the coast.

The institutional counterpart to this requirement is the direct inclusion of tourist municipalities in the governing bodies of the autonomous community. Mayors in the south will have a voice and a vote in strategic planning committees and in the forums for the distribution of public funds by the Government of the Canary Islands, a space where traditional representation depended on residential population rather than on the contribution to the regional gross domestic product (GDP). This co-decision-making capacity aims to redirect infrastructure investments toward the renovation of degraded public spaces in Playa del Inglés and Puerto Rico.

The Virgen del Carmen will be proclaimed perpetual mayor of Mogán, and the Pilgrimage-Offering will debut a longer route at the request of residents.

Arguineguín and Playa de Mogán will celebrate the festivities in honor of the Virgen del Carmen between July 6 and August 2 with a program that combines religious ceremonies, tradition, and popular activities.

One of the highlights will take place on July 16, when the image of the Virgen del Carmen of Arguineguín will be proclaimed perpetual mayor of Mogán during the Eucharist presided over by the Bishop of the Diocese of the Canary Islands, before the procession through the town’s streets.

Another new feature affects the Arguineguín Pilgrimage-Offering, scheduled for July 11. The procession will follow a longer route, starting from El Perchel beach, in response to a request from participating groups.

The images of the Virgen del Carmen from Arguineguín and Playa de Mogán will also debut new vestments for this year’s festivities.

The traditional maritime processions will once again connect the two coastal towns. The image from Arguineguín will sail to Playa de Mogán on July 19th, and the image from Playa de Mogán will return the visit on August 2nd.

The program also includes open-air dances, concerts, outdoor cinema, children’s activities, traditional tournaments, and a seafood fair.

More than 120 athletes from three continents will compete for nine days in one of the most prestigious events on the international wave circuit

Arenal Beach in Pozo Izquierdo once again became the epicenter of world windsurfing this Saturday with the start of the 38th Gran Canaria Windsurf World Cup. This event brings together more than 120 competitors from three continents and will place Santa Lucía de Tirajana in the international spotlight of the sport for the next nine days.

The opening day began with the traditional group photo of the participants. Although wind conditions prevented the start of the competition heats, the atmosphere on the beach was electric with athletes preparing and anticipation for the start of the championship.

The competition is part of the PWA wave circuit and the World Wave Tour. The event will once again pit young local talents against some of the world’s best specialists.

The Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup is endorsed by the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation and has the support of the Government of the Canary Islands, the Gran Canaria Island Council, the Santa Lucía de Tirajana City Council and various public and private entities that collaborate in the organization of the event.