What do the protests mean for tenants and newcomers?
The average rent in the Canary Islands is 1,211 euros a month, according to the rent barometer for the third quarter of 2026 from Observatorio del Alquiler and Fundación Alquiler Seguro. That is 8.81% more than at the end of 2025 and 4.94% more than in the previous quarter.
The barometer puts the Spanish average at 1,214 euros, so the islands are almost level with the national figure. Only Baleares, Cataluña, Madrid and País Vasco cost more.
For Las Palmas the barometer gives 1,183 euros (up 4.23%), and for Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1,240 euros (up 13.76%). It has no figures for individual islands or the southern resorts.
Tenants and newcomers have nothing new to arrange because of the marches, as no deadlines, procedures or laws have changed. There are no reports of disruption to flights, ferries or tourism on the strike day.
Where did how many people march?
On Gran Canaria, participants estimate that around 8,000 people walked from the Parque de Santa Catalina in Las Palmas to the Delegación del Gobierno (the central government's representation). The march set off half an hour later than planned, and there is no official figure.
In Santa Cruz de Tenerife the march began at the Plaza de Weyler, where a banner demanded: “Homes are for living in, not for speculating.” The Sindicato de Inquilinas (tenants' union) puts turnout at more than 10,000, and there is no official estimate.
Keys and key rings were the symbol of the protest. Many marchers held them up and rattled them, chanting that they had no home.
In Arrecife the march ran from the Casa Amarilla along the Avenida marítima to the Charco de San Ginés, setting off slightly early because of threatened rain. The organisers read out a manifesto there.
More than 5,000 people came, according to the organisers, the Asamblea por la Vivienda Digna and the unions. Police counted around 2,300.
On La Palma, UGT and CCOO called off the afternoon march because of the weather warning and Storm Charles. The unions said people's safety must come first.
UGT and CCOO stress that their demands stand. They asked people not to travel and did not want to tie up Protección Civil (civil protection) crews, and they gave no new date.
Why are unions calling a strike over housing?
UGT and CCOO called a general strike for 11 November from 00:00 to 24:00. They took up the demand of the Sindicato de Inquilinas, which a few weeks ago already brought thousands to protest camps in the squares.
The other driver, in the unions' account, is pay that barely covers the cost of living. Around 1 May 2026 UGT said the islands had the second-lowest wages in the country.
Francisco González, deputy general secretary of UGT Canarias, admitted that turnout in the strike was uneven. He said, though, that a “strike mood” prevailed on the islands all day.
Esther Ortega, head of CCOO on Gran Canaria, praised turnout at large employers such as the transport firm Global and the postal service Correos, despite excessive minimum services. She said it was lower in private firms because workers cannot afford to lose a day's pay.
David González of the Sindicato de Inquilinas on Tenerife said rents in the Canary Islands had risen by an average of 143% in 13 years. That is the union's figure, and he named no source.
He said the strike targeted the central government and its housing ministry, but also the Canarian government.
What do the protesters demand, and what applies so far?
The Arrecife manifesto asks the municipalities to declare zonas tensionadas and names holiday flats (viviendas vacacionales) as a problem. Participants want more funding from the Cabildo de Lanzarote (island government) and want the Canarian government to use its powers.
A 13-point plan from the organisers, the Plan de Emergencia Habitacional (housing emergency plan), calls for rent caps and open-ended tenancies, among other things. It also seeks a tax on empty homes and a halt to new holiday-let licences.
The plan further demands that half of all new builds be public or affordable housing, and a suspension of evictions. President Clavijo's government declared a housing emergency by decree in February 2024 but rejects rent caps.
Ley 6/2025 on the tourist use of housing has been in force since 13 December 2025, according to the information available, and appeared in the BOC (the Canary Islands official gazette) no. 246/2025. The municipalities decide where and how many holiday flats are allowed.
In planning, at least 90% of homes must stay reserved for living in, and 80% on La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro. Existing holiday flats get a five-year transition period or the status of consolidated tourist use (uso turístico consolidado).
PSOE, NC and Vox voted against the law in parliament, and the PSOE pointed to more than 32,000 new holiday flats since 2023. There is no information on the size of possible fines.
What should newcomers know, and what comes next?
According to media reports, the Canarian “prioridad nacional” rule for publicly subsidised housing (VPO) requires twelve years of unbroken registration on the local residents' register (empadronamiento). That would exclude one in four Canarians, so recent arrivals should ask the relevant office about the conditions.
Public housing is scarce: the organisation Provivienda counts around 18,000 homes, under 2% of the stock, against 34,000 applicants. According to ICAVI figures, only 24 homes were handed over in three years.
Thousands already protested in Santa Cruz and Las Palmas on 3 October 2026 under the slogan “Hacia la huelga general”. In Santa Cruz the organisers counted 10,000 people and police 2,000.
Nobody has announced further mobilisations so far, and La Palma has no new date. González of UGT hopes employers and the parties in the parliamentary election have heard the message, though the source gives no election date.
At the end of September the central government passed two urgent housing decrees, and the available documents do not show what they change for the Canary Islands. The unions CSIF and USO did not join the strike.