What is new on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura for flights and visitor numbers?
AENA, the airport operator, says César Manrique-Lanzarote airport handled 4,312,800 passengers from January to June 2026, 1% fewer than in the first half of 2025. Fuerteventura recorded 3,271,894 passengers, 3% below the previous year.
All Canary Islands airports together counted 26,847,826 passengers in the half-year, according to AENA. For both islands, 2026 has so far been a year of stagnation, not a record.
Figures for July or later months could not be reliably confirmed. The situation may have changed since.
In June 2026 Lanzarote counted 255,547 tourists, 1,674 fewer than in June 2025, according to the Lanzarote Data Centre as cited by Gazette Life. Britain led by origin with 138,086, ahead of Spain with 32,329, Ireland with 30,271, France with 15,705 and Germany with 14,039.
From January to June 2026 the Lanzarote Data Centre counted 1,739,138 tourists, including 884,720 from Britain, 193,157 from Ireland and 169,759 from Germany. The German market therefore makes up about 10% of arrivals.
Lanzarote is therefore not a mainly German destination. That may show in language services and local signage.
What is new on Lanzarote for visitors and residents?
According to Canarian Weekly, the Cabildo (island government) began a procedure in 2023. It aimed to declare the island saturated with tourism.
After a change of leadership, that procedure is on hold. Holiday rentals and new hotels have kept growing since.
The visitor profile is shifting, says La Voz de Lanzarote, which analyses Lanzarote Data Centre data. The figures below come from that analysis.
Peace and quiet was named by 53.3%. Beaches (30.4%) and the sea (38.2%) are losing weight.
Food and drink (28.1%), authenticity (27.4%) and culture (11.5%) gain importance in the same analysis. According to the sources, both islands are betting on controlled growth and higher spending per visitor.
Lanzarote is officially focusing on culture, gastronomy and authenticity. That explains why off-road tourism is being curbed.
What is new on Fuerteventura?
The Premios de Turismo Islas Canarias 2026 go to Fuerteventura for the first time, the Gobierno de Canarias (regional government) announced. The date was 24 September 2026 at the Palacio de Formación y Congresos in Puerto del Rosario.
The information comes from a regional government statement. For travellers it is mainly a signal for the island as a tourist destination.
ZEL by Meliá is announced for 2026, but there is no confirmed opening date. Princess Canarias is renovating the Esencia de Fuerteventura by Princess, with new facilities from 1 June 2026.
Travel Extra also describes a finished, 12-kilometre paved footpath and cycle path between Morro Jable and Costa Calma. The Cabildo of Fuerteventura has not confirmed it.
The same outlet notes that no major new attraction opens on Fuerteventura in 2026. New are beach facilities in Corralejo and Costa Calma, plus stargazing, volcano tours and whale and dolphin watching.
Further reports exist only as hints and are unconfirmed. The Cabildo and the municipality of Pájara are said to have announced 4.5 million euros together in January 2026 for footpaths and harbour facilities in the south.
Construction of a new cruise terminal in Puerto del Rosario is said to start on 6 November, but source and year are unchecked. A new direct route to Romania was announced for summer 2026, without naming an airline.
Which rules and fines apply to holiday rentals, off-road tours, camping and nature reserves?
Law 6/2025 (Ley de Ordenación Sostenible del Uso Turístico de Viviendas, the law on the sustainable tourist use of homes) came into force on 13 December 2025, says LanzaroteOn. New holiday-rental licences (vivienda vacacional) are frozen for five years, so until about the end of 2030.
Holiday homes may make up no more than 10% of a municipality's housing stock. Individual municipalities may raise that to 20%.
According to LanzaroteOn, new properties must be at least ten years old. A listing without the Spanish registration number (NRA), which was compulsory by mid-2026, is illegal.
Serious breaches can bring fines of up to €300,000. The article advises travellers to book earlier and check the registration number.
The exact deadlines have not been cross-checked. Unconfirmed short reports say Lanzarote and Fuerteventura hold 16% and 14% respectively of the Canary Islands' holiday-rental stock.
Buggy, quad and jeep safaris off-road on rural land are banned on Lanzarote, Canarian Weekly reports. Driving is allowed only on roads and designated routes.
Cabildo president Oswaldo Betancort gives dust, noise and environmental damage as reasons. The article names no start date or fine amounts, and a mention of a ban “until August” is unconfirmed.
On Fuerteventura the Cabildo has started regulating buggies and quads, according to Canarian Weekly, but this is passed on only as a hint. Cabildo president Lola García also wants to limit the entry of motorhomes and campers from outside.
Fuerteventura is said to be the only Canary island without a designated camping zone, and the camping association is calling for more official sites. No official fine amounts for Fuerteventura are available.
On Lanzarote, the authorities imposed 305 sanctions for environmental offences in 2025, against 250 in 2024, says La Voz de Lanzarote. That is a rise of 22%.
For 2026, 130 complaints were being processed by the publication date. The number of environmental officers was doubled to ten.
According to the same source, 40.8% of offences involve vehicles, such as parking, driving off the paths and illegal buggy tours. Entering craters in the Los Volcanes natural park costs €1,800, and illegal parking there up to €360.
A drone flight in La Geria is punished with €360 to €600, and climbing a protected mountain in La Geria with €3,001. In the Archipiélago Chinijo, La Voz de Lanzarote lists €150 for wild camping, €90 for lighting fires and up to €900 for cycling off the paths.
The maximum penalty for serious breaches in sensitive zones is €4,500. The most common visitor mistakes are climbing craters, flying drones, parking illegally and wild camping.
Timanfaya is a national park, and other protected areas are Los Volcanes, La Geria and the Archipiélago Chinijo. The Corralejo dunes on Fuerteventura are a natural park.
What does a visit cost, and how do you get between the islands?
The ferry between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura takes about 30 minutes. Líneas Romero runs the Playa Blanca–Corralejo route and is the operator named in the sources.
Timetables and prices for 2026 could not be checked, so ask the operator directly. The same applies to the crossing to Isla de Lobos.
A blog (lamaletainquieta.com) lists these 2026 entry prices: Timanfaya (Montañas del Fuego) costs €30 for adults and €15 for children. Jameos del Agua and Cueva de los Verdes cost €17 each, children €8.50.
These figures are unconfirmed. They need checking with the provider, Centros de Arte, Cultura y Turismo of the Cabildo.
For the Ruta de los Volcanes in Timanfaya, advance booking is said to be compulsory. This applies especially in August.
That too is not confirmed on the park's official page. Opening hours and prices of the national park are not documented.
On entry rules such as EES and ETIAS, the sources allow no binding statement. The PSOE is calling for a tourist tax for Lanzarote and La Graciosa, according to La Voz de Lanzarote, but none has been introduced.
Lanzarote has more than 150,000 vehicles, according to short reports. That is about one car per adult resident.
What is still open, and what comes next?
Fuerteventura and Lanzarote together account for about nine billion euros of tourism spending this year, RTVC reported on 29 October 2026. There is no breakdown by island and no exact period.
According to RTVC, the two airports handle 24% of arrivals in the Canary Islands. Tourism accounts for over 30% of regional economic output.
It remains open how passenger numbers develop in the second half of the year. For Fuerteventura there are no confirmed 2026 visitor figures from ISTAC (the Canary Islands statistics office) or the Cabildo.
Canarian Weekly reports that TUI and Jet2 moved capacity to the Canary Islands in summer 2026. Routes and figures are not available.
On Lanzarote the saturation debate is not over. Off-road tours and holiday rentals are being restricted.
According to the sources, the Cabildo is betting on quality over mass. How strictly the new rules are enforced will probably show in the 2026 figures for environmental officers and sanctions.
On Fuerteventura it is open whether the Cabildo will turn its plans for buggies, quads and motorhomes into fine rules, and whether designated camping zones will appear. The opening of ZEL by Meliá is still pending.
The terminal construction in Puerto del Rosario is confirmed only once an official source exists. Current values and warnings are available from CITA Weather (cita.news/de/wetter.html) and AEMET (Spain's state weather agency).