The municipal contracting committee of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has proposed awarding a €316,042.65 public lighting renewal contract to IMESAPI, S.A. for the upgrade of Paseo Tomás Morales and Calle Alfonso XIII in the city’s Centro District. The proposal, put forward by the Mesa de Contratación, now moves to the final contracting stage pending a financial audit from the Intervención office. Eight companies competed for the contract.
A Decades-Old Lighting Deficit Drives Renewal
The project responds to a structural illumination problem that has developed progressively along one of the city’s most central arteries. Tree cover added to the Paseo Tomás Morales in previous years, intended to expand the urban green zone, has steadily diminished effective light levels in several sections of the road, leaving pedestrian and vehicle zones below acceptable safety thresholds.
The intervention will remove 256 high-pressure sodium vapour luminaires and install 210 new LED units, representing a net reduction in fixture count but a significant improvement in coverage quality and energy consumption. The project is being funded through the Cabildo de Gran Canaria’s municipal cooperation programme, which channels island-level funding to local infrastructure improvements.
Dual-Height Columns and Separated Light Zones
The technical design for Paseo Tomás Morales introduces a more sophisticated spatial approach than a straightforward like-for-like replacement. Existing five-metre columns with double light points will be replaced by curved structures ranging from 10 to 12 metres in height, installed in a staggered triangular formation along the carriageway.
This arrangement creates two distinct light planes: fixtures at ten metres direct illumination toward the road surface, while lower-set points at five metres address pedestrian walkways and pavements independently. The separation improves uniformity across the full cross-section of the road and reduces the shadowing caused by overhanging canopy cover.
On Calle Alfonso XIII, the upgrade is more conservative: sodium luminaires will be replaced with LED technology but the existing layout of columns and positions will remain unchanged.
Smart Control Infrastructure and Telemanagement
Beyond the physical fixture changes, the contract includes the installation of new control panels equipped with PLC IP55 remote management systems and electrical network analysers. This layer of intelligent infrastructure will allow the city to monitor and adjust lighting output remotely, schedule dimming profiles, and track energy consumption across the upgraded circuits in real time.
IMESAPI manages over half a million public lighting points across Spain and has held contracts in cities including Barcelona, Vigo, Terrassa, and Getafe. The company is certified as an Energy Services Company (ESE) and operates its own SIGMA platform for GIS-enabled remote lighting management. Its selection for the Paseo Tomás Morales contract follows a competitive tender that drew bids from seven other firms, among them Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios, Elecnor Servicios y Proyectos, Eulen, and SICE.
Carlos Díaz, Councillor for Roads, Works and Public Lighting, described the scope of the project in the municipality’s press release: “This project involves the removal of 256 sodium vapour luminaires and the installation of 210 new LED luminaires, which will improve lighting quality, reduce energy consumption and optimise maintenance costs.”
Dark-Sky Compliance Baked Into the Specification
The luminaires specified for the project carry certification from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), which operates the Technical Office for Sky Quality Protection (OTPC). Under Spain’s Ley 31/1988, commonly known as the Canary Islands Sky Law, outdoor lighting installations across the archipelago must comply with technical specifications designed to minimise light pollution and protect the astronomical observatories on La Palma and Tenerife.
The inclusion of IAC-certified fixtures is consistent with a formal commitment the city made just weeks before the tender closed: in April 2025, the full council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria voted unanimously to join the Starlight Declaration on the Defence of the Night Sky and the Right to Starlight, an initiative originating from a 2007 international conference in La Palma and backed by organisations including UNESCO and the International Astronomical Union. The structural specification also requires columns and supports to be fabricated from weather-resistant materials with sealed protection against water ingress and condensation.
Part of a Broader Street Renewal Programme
The lighting upgrade completes a multi-phase intervention along Paseo Tomás Morales. In January 2026, the municipality finished a full resurfacing of the promenade following an investment of €785,281, the first comprehensive repaving of the road in more than fifty years. The coordinated sequencing of road and lighting works reflects a broader municipal approach to the Centro District, where infrastructure ageing across multiple asset categories is being addressed in overlapping phases rather than in isolation.
The base tender value for the lighting contract stood at €586,474, and IMESAPI’s proposed award price of €316,042 represents a reduction of roughly 46 percent against that ceiling, a result consistent with the competitive outcome seen in other recent Spanish municipal lighting tenders where multiple established contractors participate.
