Lanzar

Massive Breakdowns Leave Dozens of Lanzarote Towns Without Water

Lanzarote is facing an uncertain period regarding its water supply on an island that relies entirely on desalinated seawater. Outdated infrastructure, recent privatization of the service, and an ongoing conflict between the concessionaire and the island’s governing bodies, led by the Cabildo, have compounded the problem.

As a result, dozens of villages in the north, west, and central parts of Lanzarote remained without drinking water on Friday. The concessionaire, Canal Gestión, attributes the massive outage to serious technical issues: simultaneous failures at the Lanzarote Cinco plant and at the portable desalination units managed by the Water Consortium. Reporters visited San Bartolomé to see how locals were affected.

“Yes, it affected us a bit, because if we used up Tuesday’s reserves, imagine Wednesday. Picture a fish shop without water—how do you work?”
— Alejandro Motoa, Meromar fish market

Motoa added that the shop serves not only walk‑in customers but also restaurants and hotels:

“We have a back‑area that supplies restaurants, hotels, and all kinds of deliveries. It makes things a bit harder.”

The owners of Bar La Avenida said they avoided problems thanks to an on‑site water tank (aljibe).

“It didn’t affect us because we have a tank, so the cut didn’t reach us.”

They also noted that closing the bar the next day helped limit the impact:

“We closed the following day, so it didn’t affect us. Thanks to the tank, we still have water.”

Alfonso Martín, of Kanela Café, recounted that the issues began on Tuesday night.

“We ran out of water and the small reservoir we have emptied.”

The café was forced to act quickly:

“We had to hire a water tank first thing at seven in the morning to fill our aljibe.”

While waiting for the supply, staff worked under difficult conditions:

“We were washing by hand all night and all morning, up to eleven a.m., by hand.”

These cascading failures have crippled daily water production, causing extreme fluctuations in regulator tank levels. The situation is so volatile that the company warned scheduled cut‑off calendars are now unreliable.

Motoa also conveyed the growing anxiety among residents and customers.

“I talk to customers and they tell me they’ve had no water since Sunday.”

He highlighted how basic daily tasks are being disrupted:

“Imagine people who can’t wash, shower, or do laundry.”

He described the situation as “a bit worrying,” especially because what used to be a periodic issue now risks becoming prolonged, leaving people “not knowing what to do.”

From now on, additional real‑time maneuvers and cuts are being implemented as the system evolves. The recent breakdowns have prevented roughly 70,000 cubic metres of water from being distributed to the network this week.