Airbnb License in the
Canary Islands 2026

YES, there is a mandatory prior step, although strictly speaking it is not a license. Before renting any property to tourists for short-term stays in the Canary Islands as a "Vivienda Vacacional" (VV) you must file a responsible declaration ("declaración responsable") with the Cabildo Insular (island council), which registers the activity in the Canary Islands General Tourism Register (art. 7 of Law 6/2025). The registration number must appear in every listing: advertising without it is a very serious infringement under the Canary Islands Tourism Act (Law 7/1995), with fines from €30,001 to €300,000. You file with the Cabildo of the island where the property is located: Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro. Since 15 August 2026, a let of 31 days or less is also presumed to be a tourist let unless proven otherwise (art. 11 of Law 6/2025, added by Law 7/2026).

Law 6/2025, of 10 December, on the Sustainable Planning of the Tourist Use of Housing ("Ley 6/2025, de 10 de diciembre, de Ordenación Sostenible del Uso Turístico de Viviendas") is the Canary Islands law on the tourist use of homes, in force since 13 December 2025. It was amended by Law 7/2026, of 31 July, in force since 15 August 2026. Key changes: tourist use is only allowed where municipal planning expressly permits it; as a rule, that planning must reserve at least 90% of the residential buildable area (or of the number of homes) for exclusively residential use (80% on La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro); the property must generally be at least 10 years old; until the implementing regulation comes into force, it must also meet the technical requirements of the seventh transitional provision, as amended by Law 7/2026 (as a rule, at least 35 m² of usable floor area, with two full bathrooms if it has more than four guest places and three bathrooms if it has more than eight); the responsible declaration is generally valid for 5 years and must then be renewed; and properties already registered under Decree 113/2015 have a transitional regime of, as a rule, 5 years. Fines under the Canary Islands Tourism Act (Law 7/1995) reach €300,000, and Law 6/2025 (second final provision) also added art. 383.3 to the Canary Islands Land Act (Law 4/2017): continuing the tourist use of a home once the relevant enabling title has ceased to have effect is a serious planning infringement, fined between €15,000 and €150,000. The declaration is filed with the Cabildo Insular of each island.

It depends. If the building has a community of owners (homeowners’ association) and the bylaws or a community resolution prohibit tourist use, you cannot operate (art. 5.1.c of Law 6/2025). Communities can approve, limit, condition or prohibit short-term tourist rentals with the favourable vote of three-fifths of all owners who in turn represent three-fifths of the participation quotas (art. 17.12 of the Spanish Horizontal Property Act), and since 3 April 2025 you need the community’s prior express approval before starting (art. 7.3 of the same Act). The declaration filed with the Cabildo must be accompanied by a certificate from the community of owners. Always check the property registry, the urban plan of the municipality, and the community bylaws BEFORE buying or filing. ALY Abogados performs full due diligence.

Costs: €1,500-3,000 in legal fees if you need representation. As for official charges, the law allows each Cabildo to introduce a fee for checking responsible declarations (third additional provision of Law 6/2025, as amended by Law 7/2026), so ask the Cabildo of your island whether one applies. Timeline: there is no approval from the Cabildo to wait for. Filing the complete responsible declaration with its supporting documents allows you to start the activity that same day, and the Cabildo registers it ex officio and notifies you (art. 8.1 of Law 6/2025). However, do not advertise the property until you hold the registration number, which must appear in every listing (art. 8.6 of Law 6/2025), and bear in mind that registration does not validate the activity or limit later inspections (art. 8.2). What takes time is the preparation: the activity report with plans and photographs, the planning certificate (cédula urbanística; under the ninth transitional provision of Law 6/2025 it is not required on El Hierro, La Gomera and La Palma during the two years following the entry into force of the law) and, in buildings with a community of owners, the community’s certificate. In areas declared a stressed residential market zone, putting new homes into tourist use is automatically suspended while that declaration lasts.

You have several legal options: (1) Challenge the community resolution if procedural defects exist or the required majority (three-fifths of all owners who in turn represent three-fifths of the participation quotas) was not reached; (2) Negotiate with the community: art. 17.12 of the Horizontal Property Act lets it limit or condition the activity instead of prohibiting it outright; (3) If the seller gave you incorrect information about tourist use or concealed an existing prohibition, have the purchase contract reviewed to see whether a claim against the seller is possible; (4) Consider other lawful uses of the property, such as a non-tourist seasonal let, after checking the community bylaws and the rules that apply to that kind of rental; since 15 August 2026 a let of 31 days or less is presumed to be a tourist let unless proven otherwise, and the lease must record the tenant’s reason for needing temporary accommodation (arts. 11 and 12 of Law 6/2025, added by Law 7/2026). Keep in mind that these resolutions have no retroactive effect (art. 17.12 of the Horizontal Property Act), which matters if you were already operating lawfully. If you had not started yet, bear in mind that since 3 April 2025 starting the activity requires the community’s prior express approval (art. 7.3 of the same Act), so overturning a prohibition does not by itself allow you to start; in addition, the responsible declaration filed with the Cabildo must be accompanied by a certificate or supporting document from the community of owners showing that neither the deed constituting the horizontal property regime of the building (título constitutivo), the bylaws nor any community resolution prevents the tourist use (art. 7.7.b of Law 6/2025). If you intend to challenge the resolution, contact us as soon as possible after it is adopted.

Since 15 August 2026 they are presumed to be, unless proven otherwise. Under art. 11 of Law 6/2025 (added by Law 7/2026), the marketing of short stays in a residential home, or in any other property, is presumed to be a regular tourist accommodation activity when either of two conditions is met. It is then subject to tourism legislation and treated as a tourist let for all purposes. The first condition is that it is advertised or marketed through a tourist channel, meaning a person or company that markets or promotes homes, or rooms in private homes, for tourist use (for example a travel agency, a booking centre or an online platform). The second is that accommodation is provided in a residential home for a continuous period of 31 days or less, once or more within the same year. For those short stays, art. 12 places a duty on the landlord: first ask the tenant for the reason that justifies the need for temporary accommodation and how it relates to the planned length of the stay, and record it expressly in the lease. If the landlord does not ask, the law treats those reasons as absent. If they are not properly set out in the lease, the lease is treated as a tourist let. Signing a lease of 31 days or less without recording that reason is a serious infringement of the Canary Islands Tourism Act (art. 76.24 of Law 7/1995, fined between €1,501 and €30,000). Signing it without having first asked the tenant for that information and checked those circumstances is a minor one (art. 77.12, up to €1,500).

It depends on the title the home operates under, so check that first. For homes with a "declaration of consolidated tourist use" (first transitional provision of Law 6/2025), the general rule is that the declaration ceases to have effect when ownership of the home is transferred by any title. Law 7/2026 added an exception for inheritance. Where the deceased was both the owner and the holder of the responsible declaration, the new owner may file a notice with the Cabildo to change the holder of the declaration and carry on the tourist activity for a maximum of 10 years from that transfer. Later inheritances do not extend that period (paragraph 11 of the first transitional provision, as amended by Law 7/2026). The Cabildo sends the change of holder and the start of the period to the General Tourism Register. If the home operates under a different title, the answer may be different: have the documents reviewed before you carry on renting.

Do not assume it does. If the seller operates under a declaration of consolidated tourist use, that declaration ceases to have effect when ownership of the home is transferred by any title, and a sale is a transfer (paragraph 11 of the first transitional provision of Law 6/2025). The exception added by Law 7/2026 is limited to inheritance. A different rule applies where tourist use was expressly authorised by the detailed planning rules (or its compatibility was recognised under Law 14/2019 for El Hierro, La Gomera and La Palma) and, on that basis, the change from residential to tourist use was formalised with the town hall, or the tourist use was authorised under Law 14/2019, before Law 6/2025 came into force on 13 December 2025: that home does not need the consolidated-use declaration, that regime does not apply to it, and the responsible declaration filed under Decree 113/2015 remains in force (paragraph 12, as amended by Law 7/2026). Paragraph 12 does not say what happens on a sale, so that point has to be checked case by case. Before you sign, have a lawyer check which title the property really holds, how long it lasts and whether the community of owners allows tourist use. If you are the seller, describe the tourist status of the home accurately in the contract.

It concerns owners or operators who filed their responsible declaration before Law 6/2025 came into force (13 December 2025) but did not file the prior notice for classified activities ("comunicación previa de actividades clasificadas") with their town hall. They may file it before 31 July 2027 (tenth transitional provision of Law 6/2025, added by Law 7/2026). The notice must be accompanied, at least, by (a) a municipal certificate showing that the home was built in line with planning rules and holds the required licences, or alternatively proof, by any admissible evidence, that the building is in an "out of planning" situation (fuera de ordenación) or that its tourist use is consolidated; and (b) a report signed by a qualified technician, with plans and photographs, showing compliance with the rules on classified activities. Filing it allows them to rely on the transitional regime of the law. If it is not filed within the deadline, the tourist activity must cease immediately and the responsible declaration of consolidated tourist use of the home is automatically extinguished. The provision does not apply to those who had already filed that prior notice before the law came into force.