What changes now for visitors to Lanzarote and Fuerteventura?

The report names no new rules for guests or residents. Zapata told the Pleno (plenary session) of the Canary Islands parliament on 10 November that Lanzarote's most urgent project has stood still for too long.

The power grids of the two islands are linked, and Zapata warned that problems on one island could spill over to the other. A single 66-kilovolt line carries the whole load today, according to the report on the session.

Playa Blanca kept its power during the outage on 3 October because the resort is connected to Fuerteventura, Zapata said. The rest of Lanzarote has no such detour.

The report gives no start date for construction, and no compensation for those affected. Anyone booking in the coming weeks should ask their accommodation or tour operator how they handle a power cut.

What happened on 3 October on Lanzarote and La Graciosa?

A cable fault at the Mácher substation, run by grid operator Red Eléctrica (REE), knocked the facility out on 3 October, Zapata explained. That cut Lanzarote and Fuerteventura off from each other electrically.

The system could not cope with the sudden drop in demand that followed, and the power failed. Lanzarote and La Graciosa were affected.

According to Zapata, the regional government asked REE and the generator Endesa for answers on the morning of 3 October. The reports arrived in the week before 10 November, and his department is now checking whether the outage could have been avoided.

The Socialist deputy Marcos Bergaz had called the debate. Zapata said: “We want to know what failed, why it failed and who answers for it.”

Why did the grid have to throttle desalination?

In the week before 10 November, the grid had to shut down desalination plants so that Fuerteventura or Lanzarote did not go dark, Zapata said. There was no wind, and the ageing power station units could not meet demand.

Throttled desalination plants cut electricity demand and stopped the system from collapsing. Zapata stressed that the situation is even more serious when families are left without water as well.

REE reports show Fuerteventura is 50 megawatts short on generation. In a few weeks, the first of two emergency measures from the “concurso exprés” (fast-track tender) will start up.

Together, the two measures supply just over 30 megawatts and are due to start running in November. The Canary Islands government does not rule out another fast-track tender at one of the cabinet meetings before the elections on 29 November.

The replacement for the ageing units at the Las Salinas power station will not arrive before 2030, and that is if all goes well. It is on its way, but only then will more flexible machines join the grid that can take in more renewable energy.

Why has the line between the islands stood still for years?

The REE project is meant to reinforce the link between the power systems of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. The Ayuntamiento de Yaiza (town council) first came out against it almost ten years ago.

The plan called for 53 pylons, and the council and the Cabildo de Lanzarote (island government) criticised it fiercely. Disputes between authorities, and in part with landowners, held the scheme back.

Two years ago, the Cabildo set aside 18.5 million euros to bury seven kilometres of the route underground. According to the report, nothing has changed since.

Zapata says the Canary Islands government has reserved money to co-fund the burying of the cable and would pay once the obstacle is cleared. All the authorities involved would have to take that step, he said, and the report names no sum.

Bergaz urged Zapata to resolve the conflict with the Cabildo. The earlier government, led by the PSOE, also failed to bring the matter to a close, the report says.

Does this also affect Tenerife and the south?

On Tenerife, a storm cut two 220-kilovolt lines in the south at 08:24 on 1 November, Granadilla-Vallitos and Vallitos-Abona. About 140 megawatts of load was lost, and a large generating unit at Granadilla failed.

According to Red Eléctrica sources, supply was fully restored by 08:51, with all available plants, emergency power included, running. The Cecoes 112 emergency centre counted about 50 incidents on Tenerife and La Palma.

The last blackout across the whole island dates back further. It hit Tenerife on 29 September 2019 and lasted about nine hours, and another followed on 15 July 2020.

Which other projects are stuck, and what happens next?

On Tenerife, the approval process for the line between Adeje and Guía de Isora has run since 2008. The last section only got the green light in May 2026.

After an outage on La Palma, Zapata described a similar pattern on 4 November. The island's second line has been planned for over four years, but an agreement between the Cabildo and REE, unsigned for about three years, blocks it.

Zapata's department is checking whether the 3 October outage was avoidable and who is liable. The report gives no deadline.

The emergency plants for Fuerteventura are due to start running in November. There is no date for the line between the islands.