What does the figure mean for people planning to move or arrive?

Six in ten Canary Islands tenants, 60.7%, would not earn enough to rent a home at today's market terms, says the FOESSA foundation. In Spain the share is 50.6%, so the gap is 10.1 percentage points.

Anyone who wants a new lease needs 1,809 euros of household income a month, against 1,724 euros in Spain. The calculation follows the usual rule of thumb that rent should not exceed 30% of income.

A family can pay its rent today and still could not afford that very flat as a new tenant. FOESSA, a foundation close to Cáritas Española, sees a contradiction in the market.

The available figures give no values for individual islands or the southern resorts. Anyone planning a move can use 1,809 euros as a guide and should not give up an existing lease lightly.

How expensive are rents in the Canary Islands at the moment?

Rent in the Canary Islands averages 1,211 euros a month, according to the Barómetro del Alquiler (rental barometer) for the third quarter of 2026. That is 8.81% more than at the end of 2025 and 4.94% more than in the previous quarter.

The province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has the sharpest rise in the archipelago. Rent averages 1,240 euros there, up 13.76% on the end of 2025.

The province of Las Palmas stands at 1,183 euros, up from 1,135 euros at the end of 2025. The Spanish average is 1,214 euros, says the barometer.

Each advert drew about 110 enquiries in its first ten days. The figure was 109 in the province of Las Palmas and 111 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

According to the forecast, 35,800 homes are under construction instead of the earlier 33,356, a rise of 7.33%. The report says that alone does not guarantee lower prices.

Why do new leases hit harder than old ones?

Rents outran pay. New leases in the Canary Islands rose 37.5% in price from 2015 to 2024, existing leases only 22.8%, says the union CCOO.

Average pay rose 24.5% over the same period, so new leases climbed about 13 percentage points faster than wages. CCOO takes its figures from the state IPVA index and, as a union, represents workers' interests.

FOESSA bases its sums on its own 2024 survey on integration and social needs, plus market data. The study does not measure how many people are searching now, but how many current tenants could get into the market.

What is the “realquiler de supervivencia”?

FOESSA devotes a chapter to the informal subletting of rooms and calls it realquiler de supervivencia, or survival subletting. It means people with an income who cannot find a home of their own.

The report lists the lack of stable contracts and trouble registering on the residents' register (empadronamiento) as consequences. Shared rooms bring their own limits, and households with children are especially exposed.

Young people, single parents, poorer families and migrants without a family network suffer most, says FOESSA. The foundation sees the crisis as unevenly spread.

The IX FOESSA report on the Canary Islands, presented on 23 February 2026, counts more than 560,000 people in social exclusion. That is 25.5% and the highest rate in Spain.

According to that report, one in three people in the Canary Islands faces some form of housing exclusion. The report counts 218,000 people in insecure housing and 342,000 in inadequate housing.

What can tenants do, and what is still open?

FOESSA says 69.6% of Canary Islands tenants also lack the income to buy, against 69.5% in Spain. They would need 2,352 euros a month and 39,313 euros in savings.

The Canary Islands government names the Bono Alquiler Joven 2026 (youth rent grant) for 18 to 35-year-olds: 250 euros a month, up to 6,000 euros over 24 months. Rent may be 900 euros at most.

Deadline and exact conditions are unconfirmed. To check, ask the sede electrónica (online services portal) of the government.

FOESSA wants a larger public and social housing stock and warns that new building alone is not enough. The sources tie no new rule or deadline to the study.

The report dates from 2026, but its exact publication date is not known. No date for a follow-up or the next rental barometer had been given by Saturday.