What 35.7 per cent actually measures
What was measured is not how much ground the plant covers, but in how many of the 417 grid cells it could be detected at all. A single specimen counts as a hit exactly as a dense carpet does. So 35.7 per cent means the species has arrived in a good third of the cells – not that a third of the dunes is covered by it.
Elsewhere the presence rate understates the situation: in parts of the stabilised dunes Neurada procumbens is now the dominant herbaceous plant, according to Atlántico Hoy. It has advanced mainly southwards, with small new patches near the urban access points.
The fruit that hooks on
The species comes from the desert belt between North Africa and western India and is known on Gran Canaria as pata de camello, camel’s foot. Its fruit is a woody, hairy disc whose spines sit on the upper surface and turn hard and sharp as it dries. A thing like that holds fast to hooves, to fur, to tyre treads – and to the soles of shoes.
The study mapped official and informal paths alike and found a relationship between trail density and occurrence, particularly in newly colonised areas. It also turned up a quirk: the footfall that carries the fruit away prevents it germinating where it lands. Seeds accumulated on the paths without coming up, while the plant grew a few metres to either side.
The real driver is the sand
This finding puts the headline in proportion: what decides the spread is not the flow of visitors but sediment dynamics. The correlation analyses identify aeolian sediment transport as the primary limiting factor. Where the sand is constantly on the move, the plant barely establishes itself; where it settles, the plant thrives.
Here biology meets planning law. The hotel line built along Playa del Inglés in the 1960s and 1970s changed the airflow, creating zones where the sand comes to rest. Lead author Medina-Lorenzo told eldiario.es/Canarias Ahora in January 2026 that the dunes were «in intensive care».
What it displaces – and what is still open
The study offers an indirect clue: high vegetation density acts as biotic resistance, so densely vegetated cells are colonised less readily. Where Neurada procumbens is very abundant the authors found fewer other herbaceous plants – but they state explicitly that no specific study has yet been made of how far it displaces the vegetation native to Maspalomas.
The summary names no species. In reporting on an earlier analysis by the same team, the juncia de mar (Cyperus capitatus), species of the genus Lotus and the tomillo marino (Frankenia capitata) were named as being at risk. Nor is the Neurada the only intruder: the Australian Maireana brevifolia was present in 40 cells in 2023, 9.6 per cent.
What the Cabildo and the town hall are doing
The work was prompted, according to the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, by its own Servicio de Biodiversidad, and the study says the results are already feeding into control and monitoring. Eldiario.es/Canarias Ahora reported hand removal in the north of the reserve – the entrance area and paths one and two of five –, planned posts and ropes to mark the routes better, and a volunteer day on 10 January 2026 that brought in seven kilograms.
Since 2 September 2026 the Conecta Dunas project of the Asociación Canaria de Educación Forestal Fénix has been running: 30,000 euros over four years, observation totems with QR codes, information panels in Spanish, English and German, sensors, sand-trapping barriers and removal days with 40 to 50 volunteers, as Maspalomas Ahora reported. The path rule is enforced by eight environmental officers, backed by Policía Local, Policía Canaria, Guardia Civil and drones.