Gran Canaria’s plans for a rail link between the north and south of the island have suffered a blow with the rejection of its appeal against a decision not to award it EU funding.
Ferrocarriles de Gran Canaria, the company created by the island’s governing Cabildo to implement the massive infrastructure project to facilitate transport between the capital and the resorts lodged an appeal in May 2024 to the European Union’s General Court against the decision by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) not to review its earlier decision to refuse funding.
The project aims to build a light rail link of almost 60 kilometres between the Las Palmas city centre and Meloneras in the south, with eleven stations along the way. However, its cost – estimated originally at 1.6 billion euros but now felt to be much higher – has been a major concern and various avenues of funding have been explored by the authorities, including 190 million euros from the EU’s Connect Europe fund for the first phase.
The rebuff by CINEA in early 2024 was a serious blow and its subsequent decision not to reopen the application was swiftly challenged by Gran Canaria in the EU’s General Court. According to reports, the original rejection was due, among other reasons, to the applicant’s failure to meet one of the requirements (a document from Spain certifying its support for the project) within the deadline. The crucial document was submitted shortly afterwards and the Gran Canaria authorities were hopeful that the funding application could be revisited.
However, in a further blow, judges at the Court have ruled that the appeal is groundless and have ordered Ferrocarriles de Gran Canaria to pay costs and also the costs incurred by CINEA in responding to the appeal.
