The Canary Islands' new holiday-rental law: what Ley 6/2025 means for owners

Renting a holiday home in the Canaries used to be governed by a 2015 decree and a great deal of improvisation. Between 2024 and the end of 2025, three layers of new law arrived — and together they redraw the map for every owner in Tenerife and Fuerteventura.

Layer one: the state registry — annulled in May 2026

Royal Decree 1312/2024 created a single national rental registry: from 1 July 2025 every short-term let needed a state registration number and platforms had to delist properties without one. On 19 May 2026 the Supreme Court (judgment 620/2026, Third Chamber) annulled that registry and the duty to register: tourism and housing are regional powers, so the State could not impose a registration of its own on top of them. What survives of the decree is the digital single window and the platforms' duty to pass rental data to the State. In practice: a state number is no longer a condition for advertising, and a number you already hold has simply lost that role — your Canarian registration is the one that carries your right to operate.

Layer two: your community of owners got a veto

A reform in force since 3 April 2025 allows communities of owners to approve — or refuse — new holiday lets in the building by a three-fifths majority. Existing, lawfully operating rentals are not expelled by the vote, but anyone buying "to rent" must now read the community's minutes and statutes before signing anything.

Layer three: the Canarian law — Ley 6/2025

On 10 December 2025 the Canary Islands passed their own law on the sustainable use of housing for tourism, replacing the 2015 decree. Its headlines:

• A cap: as a rule, no more than 10% of the housing stock of each municipality (or zone) may be dedicated to holiday rental — up to 20% on El Hierro, La Gomera and La Palma.
• Municipal zoning: town halls decide in which areas new holiday-rental licences can appear; island cabildos authorise and inspect.
• New builds must wait: homes cannot be put to tourist use until ten years after completion.
• Protected housing (VPO) is excluded outright, and buildings operated wholesale as de-facto hotels are banned.
• Existing compliant rentals continue under transitional rules — but "compliant" is doing a lot of work in that sentence: registration, habitability and the paperwork trail all count.

What this means in Corralejo and Costa Adeje

Both towns are exactly where demand — and therefore the caps — will bite first. Two practical consequences:

1. If you already rent: verify that your Canarian registration is in order (the state number no longer carries your right to operate) and keep evidence of your activity — transitional protection follows the paperwork.
2. If you are buying to rent: the licence question now comes before the purchase, not after. A flat without community consent, in a saturated zone, or built last year may simply never obtain one — and its price should reflect that.

The era of "buy first, licence later" is over in the Canaries. The licence IS the asset now.

Our real-estate team checks the rental status of a property before you commit — ask us about your case.