The Arguineguín cement works at Santa Águeda: status, history and the fight over its port

By Terje Moy, editor · Published 25 October 2026

The cement works at Santa Águeda, next to Arguineguín, has not closed and has not been demolished. Its port is the subject of an open legal fight, and nobody has approved what might replace it.

The cement works that people call "the Arguineguín cement works" is still there and, according to its owner, still working. It has not been closed or demolished, and there is no approved plan for what replaces it. What is live is a court dispute over its port. In December 2024 the Canary Islands ports body, Puertos Canarios, formally refused the company a concession for the port; on 15 October 2026 the Canary Islands High Court (TSJC) cancelled an earlier lower-court judgment in the company's favour and sent the case back. The final answer is still some way off.

The rest of this page sets out where the plant is, who runs it, what has happened since 2021, and what it means for a visitor.

Where the plant actually is

The factory and its harbour are at Santa Águeda, on the coast just east of Arguineguín. That stretch of coast, including El Pajar and Pasito Blanco, belongs to the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana (the Maspalomas municipality), not to Mogán, which is why the plant is not part of the town in a formal sense. Spanish media nevertheless call it "la cementera de Arguineguín", and so do most people in the area. If you want the town's own geography first, see the map and layout of Arguineguín; for the villages on the San Bartolomé side, see El Pajar and Santa Águeda.

Who runs it and how long it has been there

The operator is Cementos Especiales de las Islas, known as CEISA. Canary public television reported in 2022 that the company had run the Santa Águeda port and plant for more than 65 years; CEISA itself speaks of about 70 years of industrial activity at the port. The plant makes cement, and the port is used to bring in raw materials and to ship finished product to other islands.

The site's connection to the growth of the nearby resorts is plausible, since Gran Canaria's construction boom needed cement, but no published source documents it. The story of the town itself is in the history of Arguineguín.

Timeline of the port dispute

What the October 2026 ruling does, and does not, mean

The TSJC's decision is narrower than some headlines suggest. It says the company could not demand a new decision on an application that Puertos Canarios had already answered in December 2024, and it sends the case back to the first court to rule on the substance. It does not grant CEISA a concession, and it does not say the port must close. The ruling is not final: an appeal to the Supreme Court (cassation) is possible. Until the courts finish, the plant is neither safe from closure nor on a closing date.

The two sides, in their own terms

The Canary government has said it will not renew the industrial concession and that the island plan foresees tourist and sporting use of the port, with industry moving elsewhere. CEISA's position, as it put it in December 2025, is that the quarry, factory and port are "an indivisible whole". It says the port handles almost half a million tonnes a year, that dismantling and rebuilding would cost more than €38 million, that hundreds of jobs depend on it, and that moving the cargo by road would mean close to 100 lorries a day. Those are the company's own figures, with no independent audit cited.

What might replace it

A marina has been mentioned as a future use for the port, following the island plan's tourist-sporting designation. No project has been approved and none has a date. Anyone selling a "marina at Santa Águeda" as a done deal is getting ahead of the process. For the harbours that exist now, see the Arguineguín fishing harbour and boats from Arguineguín.

What it means for a visitor

For a holiday in Arguineguín, very little changes day to day. The plant lies outside the town, and the town's beaches, market and promenade are unaffected by the legal case. Effects on views from particular beaches or flats are not documented in the sources, so check with a map or photos before booking if it matters to you. The practical questions about where to stay are in where to stay in Arguineguín, and the beaches nearest the town are covered in the town beach guide.

How to follow the story

The case is reported in the Canary press (Canarias Ahora, Radio Televisión Canaria, Libertad Digital Canarias). The next steps to watch are a new judgment from the Las Palmas court and any decision on a cassation appeal. The text above reflects the situation on 24 October 2026.