Canary Islands holiday lets: 90% of homes for residents

What does the new law Ley 6/2025 regulate?

The Canary Islands Parliament passed a law in 2025 on the sustainable tourist use of homes, intended to replace the earlier regulation from 2015. It has applied since 13 December 2025 as Ley 6/2025. The central change: municipalities should be able to decide whether, where and to what extent new holiday lets are permitted.

New holiday lets require a municipal urban planning basis. According to government statements, new listings should initially not be created without the corresponding municipal planning. Publicly subsidised housing, abbreviated VPO, may not be used for tourism.

Newly built homes should generally be used for residential purposes for at least ten years before a tourist letting can be applied for. The law treats these three islands as "green islands" with partly more generous transitional rules.

The government states as a political goal that 90 percent of homes should serve residential purposes and no more than 10 percent tourist use. On the three green islands, a quota of 80 percent applies for permanent residential use.

What deadlines apply for existing holiday lets?

Existing holiday lets in the cases covered by the law have time, according to the Gobierno de Canarias, to submit a required notification about the classified activity. This deadline is the most important practical detail for owners who want to continue letting legally.

The concrete consequences depend on the final text of the law, its publication in the Boletín Oficial de Canarias, abbreviated BOC, and on the respective municipal development and tourism regulations. For owners and guests, checking the Canary Islands tourism register and the responsible municipality is therefore decisive.

The law normally requires a responsible declaration to the island council, the Cabildo, and registration in the tourism register. Existing permits are generally limited in time. Violations can be punished with high fines, as the summaries of Ley 6/2025 show.

How high are rents in the Canary Islands in 2026?

A reliable, officially uniform rent series for 2026 by island, municipality, flat size and contract type is not available from the available sources. It is therefore not possible to seriously state blanket figures such as "on average X euros per square metre in the Canary Islands" without a concrete ISTAC, INE or municipal source.

These values are examples, not a Canary Islands-wide average. For a reliable rent analysis, long-term residential letting and seasonal letting, asking rent and actually concluded rental contract, island and municipality, flat size and furnishing, and main residence, second home or holiday let must be separated.

The pressure varies by region. Tenerife and Gran Canaria record the strongest pressure in Santa Cruz, Las Palmas, the tourist south and in places with high employment. Lanzarote and Fuerteventura have high tourist and seasonal pressure. La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro have smaller markets and fewer rental listings.

Why are people protesting in the Canary Islands?

Demands included affordable rents, measures against speculation and stronger regulation of tourist letting, as media reports show.

Among the problems named by the organisers are holiday lets, short-term lets, foreign investment and what they see as an insufficient supply of permanent housing. These points should be classified as positions of the protest groups, not as a fully officially confirmed causal analysis.

The protests are not directed exclusively against holiday lets. The organisers also link the housing question with rents, speculation, a lack of new construction and political decisions. Media reports name demonstrations in the two provincial capitals as well as further actions, including on Tenerife.

For a factual assessment, three levels should be distinguished: official facts such as laws and registers, measurable indicators such as rental listings and housing stock, and political assessments by tenants' associations, citizens' initiatives or parties.

What does the law mean for travellers and tenants?

Accommodation should be able to prove valid tourist registration or the required legal basis. The official Canary Islands tourism authority provides procedures for registering, changing and ending a holiday let. Statements by landlords or platforms do not replace a check of official admissibility.

For already booked accommodation, travellers should document the name of the operator, the registration details and the exact address. In case of problems, the operator, the booking platform and then the responsible consumer protection or tourism bodies should be contacted first.

For tenants, the Spanish rules of tenancy law also apply, including a written contract, deposit and protection against abusive contract terms. Practical enforcement, however, depends on the municipality, contract type and actual use.

Anyone staying for several weeks or months should look for "alquiler de temporada", student or employee housing. Rooms or flat shares are often cheaper than a complete flat. Early booking is advisable before the winter season, for seasonal jobs and at the start of the university term.

How do the seven islands differ?

Tenerife and Gran Canaria record the strongest pressure in the capitals Santa Cruz and Las Palmas as well as in the tourist south. Santa Cruz had already recorded a particularly strong rent increase and housing shortage by 2020, as research from the University of La Laguna shows.

Lanzarote and Fuerteventura have high tourist and seasonal pressure. For employees in the hotel and service sector, permanent and holiday lettings compete for the same stock. Demand is particularly high in the tourist centres.

La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro have lower tourist pressure, but smaller markets, fewer rental listings and partly higher search costs. The new law treats these islands as "green islands" with partly more generous transitional rules and a quota of 80 percent for permanent residential use.

Equating the island with the place is a common mistake. Rental pressure, public transport and prices differ greatly between tourist centres, towns and rural municipalities. Less touristy places in the island interior or outside the southern and city centres are often cheaper.