What exactly was occupancy in August 2026?

80.97 percent by places, against 66.60 percent in August 2025; by rooms, 82.99 percent. Source: INE's Encuesta de Ocupación Hotelera of 22 September 2026, provisional.

Did new hotels cause the rise?

No. INE counted 17 establishments open instead of 18 and 4,751 places instead of 4,794 — 0.9 percent less capacity.

Did doubling Madrid–La Palma carry the summer?

The data do not support that: nights by guests from Spain fell 3.8 percent and their number fell 11.0 percent.

Was August 2025 an unusually weak month to compare with?

No. At 99,540 nights it was the strongest August since 2019. Only domestic demand was unusually high, at 68,150 nights — the 3.8 percent fall comes off that peak.

Is La Palma back to where it was before the volcano?

On hotel nights, almost: 701,824 from January to August 2026 against 705,196 in the same period of 2019 — on that measure, not on reconstruction as a whole.

LA PALMA · ECONOMY

81 percent hotel occupancy on La Palma in August — and the lift came from abroad, not from Madrid

Hotels on La Palma were 80.97 percent full in August 2026, up from 66.60 percent in August 2025 — 14.4 points more, and by far the biggest rise among the eight Canary tourist zones the statistics office INE reports separately. It was not new beds: 17 hotels open instead of 18, 4,751 places instead of 4,794. And the lift did not come from Spain: nights by guests resident abroad rose 76.2 percent, while nights by guests resident in Spain fell 3.8 percent.

23 September 2026 · By Martin Kosinski · 5 min · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0 (illustrative image).

The figures and their sources

INE, Encuesta de Ocupación Hotelera, August 2026 (released 22 September 2026, flagged provisional): occupancy by places 80.97 percent, against 66.60 percent.
120,878 hotel nights against 99,540, up 21.44 percent. The seven other Canary zones: plus 0.57 (La Gomera) to plus 2.44 percent (Lanzarote).
By residence (INE): 55,303 nights by guests from abroad (up 76.2 percent), 65,575 from Spain (down 3.8 percent).
INE, Indicadores de Rentabilidad del Sector Hotelero: average daily rate €87.27 against €87.64, the lowest of all Canary zones; Lanzarote €180.51. Revenue per available room €71.86 (up 6.9 percent).
Capacity (INE): 17 establishments open (2025: 18), 4,751 places (4,794), 902 staff (818).
Aena, monthly report August 2026 (provisional): 148,857 passengers at La Palma airport, up 7.2 percent — the biggest gain of the eight Canary airports. 2,328 aircraft movements, up 2.6 percent.

More nights, barely more guests

Only a small part of the extra nights came from extra guests. INE counted 21,624 hotel guests in August against 20,569, up 5.13 percent. Set one against the other and the average stay was 5.59 nights instead of 4.84 — about 15 percent longer. The island did not mainly attract more people; it attracted people who stay longer. That is the pattern of a long-haul market.

The Madrid route does not explain August

In April we reported Iberia Express doubling Madrid–La Palma to ten weekly frequencies. That is a domestic route — and it was the domestic side that shrank: 14,465 hotel guests from Spain against 16,248, down 11.0 percent. The month was carried by guests from abroad, 7,159 against 4,321. Their share of nights rose from 31.5 to 45.8 percent, the highest since 2019. That matches the plan the Cabildo de La Palma published on 9 April: 67,459 international airline seats for the summer instead of 46,676 (up 44.5 percent), against only 56,100 domestic seats instead of 52,458 (up 6.9 percent). Island tourism councillor Raquel Rebollo named Jet2's entry from Manchester, Condor from Munich, a new link to Wrocław and more charter capacity from Düsseldorf.

What the air figures carry — and what they do not

Air capacity explains the direction, not the size: the airport grew 7.2 percent, hotel nights 21.44 percent. Aircraft movements rose only 2.6 percent — the aircraft were fuller or larger, not much more numerous. From January to August Aena counted 1,073,454 passengers (up 5.2 percent). The Cabildo put the summer seat increase at 28.34 percent; its own figures (99,134 to 123,559) work out at 24.6 percent — and it is a plan, not counted traffic.

The cheapest island — and the price even fell

La Palma is the only Canary zone where the room rate fell: €87.27 against €87.64. Lanzarote charged €180.51, Tenerife €162.53, Gran Canaria €151.13, Fuerteventura €149.95, La Gomera €126.67 — a room on La Palma cost less than half a room on Lanzarote. The houses still came out ahead: revenue per available room rose 6.9 percent to €71.86, and establishments reported 902 staff instead of 818. On Gran Canaria and Mogán we have a separate analysis.

Five years after Tajogaite: the curve is right, the island is not fixed

The fifth anniversary fell on Saturday 19 September 2026; the eruption lasted 85 days, from 19 September to 13 December 2021. The INE series shows how deep the collapse was: in October 2021, the first full month of the eruption, La Palma counted 34,168 nights against 78,383 in October 2019 — down 56 percent. The year 2021 came to 399,982 against 1,047,806 in 2019, then 703,263 (2022), 677,395 (2023), 758,300 (2024), 911,588 (2025). January to August 2026 stands at 701,824 — just 0.5 percent below the 705,196 of the same period in 2019. On that one measure La Palma is back to pre-crisis level. The island is not fixed: carbon dioxide still seeps from the ground in Puerto Naos, and of roughly 340 million euros in aid mobilised, more than 250 million had not been paid out by the anniversary.

On the INE figures La Palma is the cheapest Canary island: an average daily rate of €87.27 in August against €180.51 on Lanzarote. The catch is size — 4,751 hotel places, against 41,596 on Lanzarote and 98,296 on Tenerife. At 81 percent occupancy there is little left at short notice. Outside the peak there is far more room: occupancy was 48.42 percent in May 2026 and 45.82 percent in October 2025. The survey also counts hotels only; casas rurales and holiday flats do not appear in it.

All INE figures for August 2026 are provisional and may be revised; Aena flags its monthly figures the same way. The base is small: 17 establishments open and 4,751 places for a whole island. If a single house opens or closes, the percentages move by several points — double-digit rates of change are more normal on La Palma than on Tenerife. And a good August is one month, not a year.

FAQ

What exactly was occupancy in August 2026?: 80.97 percent by places, against 66.60 percent in August 2025; by rooms, 82.99 percent. Source: INE's Encuesta de Ocupación Hotelera of 22 September 2026, provisional.
Did new hotels cause the rise?: No. INE counted 17 establishments open instead of 18 and 4,751 places instead of 4,794 — 0.9 percent less capacity.
Did doubling Madrid–La Palma carry the summer?: The data do not support that: nights by guests from Spain fell 3.8 percent and their number fell 11.0 percent.
Was August 2025 an unusually weak month to compare with?: No. At 99,540 nights it was the strongest August since 2019. Only domestic demand was unusually high, at 68,150 nights — the 3.8 percent fall comes off that peak.
Is La Palma back to where it was before the volcano?: On hotel nights, almost: 701,824 from January to August 2026 against 705,196 in the same period of 2019 — on that measure, not on reconstruction as a whole.

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