€177 a day, €24.4 billion a year: the Canaries are catching up with Catalonia — but does «quality over quantity» really pay off?

The single number that explains everything

A British tourist on Gran Canaria today spends an average of €177 a day — hotel, restaurant, hire car, day trip. Six years ago it was considerably less. In that same period the number of tourists on the Canaries has barely grown, while spending has jumped 41%. From €14.1 billion (2019) to €23 billion (2025) by Canarian figures — €24.4 billion by INE methodology.

That's the story Fernando Clavijo and his tourism minister Jessica de León wanted to tell in Madrid at the FITUR fair in January: the Canaries are no longer growing in breadth, they're growing in depth. Fewer tourists per head, more money per tourist.

The figures are official. Catalonia leads 2025 by only €376 million — a 1.5% margin against a market arriving from the south at twice the speed. In March 2026 it was already over: the Canaries topped Spain's monthly spending leaderboard with 25.8%, Catalonia trailing on 17%. The monthly picture has already turned — but at the current pace, the annual figure for 2026 will overtake Catalonia too.

What «quality over quantity» actually means

The strategy isn't just rhetoric. It's measurable — and it costs.

The investment: since 2023, over a billion euros a year has gone into refurbishing old hotel complexes. In 2024 alone, €1.18 billion. It's not paid by the government but by the hotel chains themselves — Lopesan, Riu, Iberostar, Barceló, Meliá. Canarian politicians have made clear, through incentives, permits and a ban on new bed capacity: if you want to grow, grow upwards — not outwards.

The result in numbers: 5-star places from 2019 to 2025: plus 30.7%. In the last year alone: 1,781 new 5-star beds, 2,688 fewer 1- to 3-star beds. The overall bed count has stayed the same — the mix has shifted.

Where you can see it: Maspalomas, Playa del Inglés, Costa Adeje, Los Cristianos. The old 1970s mega-resorts have been systematically reworked over three years: pools resurfaced, floors compressed, suites carved out. Walk into the lobby of the RIU Palace Maspalomas or the Lopesan Costa Meloneras in November and you'll see a different clientele than in 2018 — older, considerably wealthier, direct flights from Manchester or Gatwick rather than a bus from the airport.

The other side of the coin

The numbers impress. But the story has a catch — three, really.

First: the «fewer tourists» strategy works only on paper. 2025 brought 18 million tourists to the Canaries. For 2.2 million residents. Eight tourists per Canarian. More than ever before in the archipelago's history. The strategy isn't «fewer tourists» — it's «more money per tourist without the count dropping». Mass tourism remains the engine. The reform just adds a polish on top.

Second: tourism dominates the economy as in barely any other European region. 37.7% of GDP. 42.3% of jobs. If Brexit, a war, a pandemic or simply a hot summer in northern Europe hits, an entire economy stands on one leg. Diversification has been preached for decades — the numbers say it isn't happening.

Third: the housing crisis. While hotels are upgraded to luxury suites, Canarian rents can't keep up with the yields landlords earn on Airbnb and the like. In Las Palmas, locals pay over €1,300 for a 60-square-metre flat — on an average gross monthly income of €1,900. Tie your economy to tourists and you push rents to heights that price the local population out.

«Wealth that actually reaches the Canaries» — that was Clavijo's pledge at FITUR. The question is whether he can keep it.

Who profits — and who pays

The winners:

The big hotel chains. Whoever was selling a 3-star apartment in Playa del Inglés for €60 a night in 2018 is selling the same complex, post-refurb, as a 5-star suite for €280 in 2026. Margin: substantially higher. Investment: paid off after three seasons.

Hotel staff — but only half. The 2024 and 2025 collective wage agreements brought rises in the «near-double digits», Clavijo says. True — but starting from a base so low that even after 9% bumps, waiters, cooks and cleaners aren't living comfortably.

The region as a whole, via taxes. IGIC (the Canarian VAT equivalent) and tourist taxes like Mogán's 15 cents a night feed more into the public purse.

The losers:

Renters in Las Palmas, Santa Cruz, Adeje, Maspalomas. Property prices rise faster than wages. If you don't inherit a flat, your chances shrink every year.

Young Canarians outside the hotel career path. If you don't work in tourism on an island where 42% of jobs are tourism, finding work gets harder — however qualified you are.

The environment. More luxury hotels means more water use, more air-con, more pools, more electricity. The Canarian shift to solar is underway, but it's lagging behind the growth of tourism.

What this means for tourists

If you're coming to the Canaries this summer, you'll notice it in several ways:

Prices. Hotel and hire-car prices have risen markedly since 2019. A mid-range hotel in Costa Adeje sits at €130–180 a night today, six years ago €80–110. A set menu in southern Gran Canaria now goes for €25–35 — six years ago €15–22.

Service. The flip side: hotels are visibly better. Refurbished, air-conditioned, cleaner. The 5-star promise is taken more seriously on the Canaries than on many Mediterranean islands.

Season. Summers are getting busier — the Canaries want to strengthen the shoulder seasons, and they're managing it only partly. November or February still gives you a quieter holiday than July.

Taxes. Sector-specific tourist taxes are coming — Mogán has started, other municipalities are following. 15 cents a night is no drama, but added over 14 nights and two people it's €4.20 — and it's only the start. For the detail: our Mogán piece.

What this means for residents

Clear expectations for 2026 and 2027:

Rents: still rising. Town halls talk a lot about rent controls, little gets done. Buy if you can. If you can't, commute in from the highlands.

Wages: rising, but slowly. The 2026 collective bargaining rounds are the next test — if tourism is up 41% in revenue, wages would need to rise more than the double-digit percentages quoted.

Jobs: being created, but mainly in service. If you want to be a programmer, engineer or civil servant, you still need to look to the mainland — Seville, Madrid, Barcelona.

Taxes: the Canaries keep their special status (IGIC instead of IVA, the ZEC special zone). Life here is comparatively cheap as a result — but the pace at which tourist spending pushes prices up is eating into that advantage.

Frequently asked questions

When will the Canaries actually overtake Catalonia?

In annual revenue: 2026, probably. The €376 million gap will be closed in a year at current growth rates. In tourist numbers: never — Catalonia has Barcelona with its city tourism, a different market altogether.

Are the Canaries now more expensive than Mallorca?

Marginally. Mallorca closed 2025 with €21 billion in revenue, behind the Canaries — but with fewer islands and a shorter season. Per-capita figures are similar. For price comparison: it depends heavily on the hotel, but on average the Canaries have got a touch pricier.

Where does the money go?

37.7% of the Canarian economy is tourism. That means roughly one in three euros of GDP comes directly from tourist spending. Much of it stays in the region — hotels, restaurants, hire cars, excursions. But some flows out — international chains headquartered on the mainland pay dividends in Madrid or Mallorca.

Is this the end of «sun and beach»?

No. Sun and beach remain the main draws — 80% of tourists come primarily for them. What's changing is everything around it. More culture, more gastronomy, more wellness, less pure party-strip offer. But the beaches stay the beaches.

Is buying a holiday flat still worth it?

A complicated question. Yes, if you buy in prime location (Maspalomas, Adeje, central Las Palmas), already have the Vv licence and get Modelo 210 and the NRA right. No, if you buy in fringe zones betting on raw rent increases. Our Modelo 210 piece has the detail.

When will the next crisis come?

No one knows. But: an economy 37.7% reliant on one sector is vulnerable. 2020 showed how fast it can collapse. Diversification remains the weak spot of the Canarian economy.