Council of Ministers approves direct grant for the expansion and upgrade of the La Lajita wastewater treatment plant

Fuerteventura’s PSOE has welcomed the Council of Ministers’ decision to approve two grants of €20 million each (€40 million in total) for the development and implementation of projects related to the integrated water cycle in the two archipelagos. In the Canary Islands, one of the projects to receive funding is the expansion and upgrade of the La Lajita wastewater treatment plant (Fuerteventura), alongside projects in Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, Tenerife, El Hierro and La Gomera.

Fuerteventura PSOE secretary general Blas Acosta said: “The Spanish Government is responding to the needs of the Canary Islands with concrete action, funding projects worth €20 million linked to water treatment and making better use of water, including the La Lajita wastewater treatment plant.”

In Fuerteventura, the Royal Decree regulating the direct award of the two grants to the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands includes the expansion and upgrade of the La Lajita wastewater treatment plant, as well as the addition of tertiary treatment. The plant is in the municipality of Pájara.

“This is a major achievement for Fuerteventura, the result of a long process involving administrations and political representatives on the island and across the Canary Islands at various levels, culminating in this Royal Decree from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge,” Blas Acosta added. “The sensitivity and commitment of Minister Ángel Víctor Torres have been particularly important; his involvement was key.”

The Council of Ministers’ decision provides for two grants, one to the Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands and the other to the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. They are intended to fund investment in the integrated water cycle: water supply, sewerage, treatment and reuse. The grants are justified by the islands’ geographical situation and the scarcity of conventional water resources in both archipelagos, as well as the need to continue the named grants awarded in 2025.

In the Canary Islands, projects include, in addition to the La Lajita wastewater treatment plant, the renewal of water distribution networks supplying Arrecife and improvements to the Guacimeta ravine pipeline (Lanzarote); the expansion of the Puerto de Mogán wastewater treatment plant, including upgrades to its tertiary treatment (Gran Canaria); construction of a water reservoir in San Andrés (El Hierro); solar drying of sludge from wastewater treatment plants and septic tanks in the municipality of San Sebastián de La Gomera (La Gomera); modernisation of the General Canal La Palma I by enclosing the Aduares–Fuencaliente section (phases I and II, La Palma); and tertiary treatment at the Buenos Aires wastewater treatment plant using reversible electrodialysis, as part of the Metropolitan I sewerage and treatment system (Tenerife).

Each grant amounts to €20 million and is funded from the 2025 General State Budget, extended for 2026.