What does Haría hold against the Ironman?

Alfredo Villalba, mayor of Haría, tells Gazette Life that the closures hit shops and restaurants in his municipality hard. He calls it “unreasonable” to make them bear the cost every year without a change of route.

The municipality says the closures leave villages in the north isolated for six hours. For residents, it says, that means considerable disruption.

Haría made the Cabildo (island government) two proposals. The first would concentrate the closures on the LZ-10 from Teguise through Los Valles and Haría to Arrieta and keep other roads open.

The second would move the swim and the race start to Arrieta. That would let the north share more in the event, the municipality argues.

According to Gazette Life, the Cabildo rejected both proposals after a meeting. The date of the meeting has not been published, and no primary statement from the Cabildo or the municipality was found, nor any Cabildo reply to Villalba's remarks.

How long were the roads really closed in 2026?

At the 34th Ironman on Saturday 23 May 2026, the LZ-10 in Haría's municipal area was closed from 09:00 to 17:30. That is about 8.5 hours, as the Cabildo announced on 13 May.

The figure of six hours does not match that. Most other restrictions in the north lasted roughly 5.5 to 6.5 hours, such as the village streets of Haría (10:00 to 15:30) and the LZ-202 and LZ-203 (10:30 to 16:00).

The report does not say which figure Haría means. The municipality simply speaks of six hours.

The LZ-1 between Arrieta and Guatiza was shut from 10:00 to 17:00, and the LZ-202 (Hoya de la Pila to Mirador del Río) and LZ-203 from 10:30 to 16:00. Yé stayed cut off during that time, with any necessary transfers handled by the organisers under the Cabildo plan.

Órzola, Punta Mujeres and Arrieta stayed reachable via the LZ-1 from Arrecife. Haría itself could be reached from Arrieta via Calle San Juan and the LZ-208 through Trujillo.

From Máguez, the plan sent residents along Calle La Cruz and Calle Romero. Guinate was reachable from Máguez via the Camino del Cuervo.

What changes for visitors?

The closures were not limited to the north. In 2026 Timanfaya National Park was shut from 08:00 to 13:30, and the LZ-30 in Teguise from 08:00 to 18:00.

In Puerto del Carmen, a restriction applied on Avenida Las Playas. It ran from 11:00 to 01:00 and fell within the municipality of Tías.

Jameos del Agua, Cueva de los Verdes and Mirador del Río were hard to reach during the closures. If you want to visit them, it is best to plan them for another day.

The Cabildo has not yet published a plan for 2027. The 2026 closure list appeared about ten days before the race, so the Cabildo notice is worth a look shortly before the date.

The 2027 date is not confirmed. One event calendar gives 15 May 2027, but neither the organiser nor the Cabildo has confirmed it.

Who organises the race from 2027?

Club La Santa in Tinajo announced in April 2026 that it will no longer stage the race from 2027. It has run the event since the first European Ironman in 1992 and will also stop lending its name.

Juan Monzón, the Cabildo's sports councillor, called the withdrawal the club's own decision and pointed to brand policy. An agreement between the Cabildo and Ironman is to be announced “very soon”, he said on 15 April 2026.

Gazette Life writes that the Cabildo will take responsibility for the race next May, without naming a year. Ironman says, according to Slowtwitch, that the event continues in 2027 without Club La Santa.

Monzón said in 2026, by contrast, that the Ironman brand runs the race, with the municipalities, the Cabildo and the Canary government taking part. A signed agreement and the Cabildo's exact role have not been published.

According to Monzón, each participant pays almost 800 euros in entry fees. On average more than 900 athletes start, and the target is 1,500.

Is the dispute new, and what does the race bring?

This is not the first time Haría has complained. In May 2018 the then mayor, Marci Acuña, called residents the “main victims” of the Ironman and demanded a review of the route.

He pointed to restaurants forced to close on their busiest day, farmers unable to work and the affected market in Haría.

For the island, a Club La Santa study puts the direct effect of the 2023 edition at more than 4.5 million euros. It draws on data from Promotur and ISTAC (the Canary Islands statistics institute), and does not say who commissioned it.

It counts more than 4,000 people mobilised, including 2,500 triathletes and companions spending about 1,100 euros each. Of the triathletes, 82.5% came from abroad, mainly from the UK and Spain.

What is still open?

Neither a route nor a closure plan for 2027 has been published, and it is open whether affected businesses will get compensation. Villalba criticises the lack of route changes or offsetting measures; the Cabildo has said nothing on this.

Whether the municipality plans a pleno (council vote) or a complaint is not known. The next reliable word is likely to be the Cabildo's official closure notice before the race.