Shorouk Express
The Canary government has announced that for the first time it will formally request measures from the EU which limit the purchase of homes in the Spanish archipelago by foreigners and non-residents.
The Canary Islands’ regional government will take advantage of the conference being held with the European Commission by the bloc’s outermost regions (ORs) on Reunion Island on Tuesday to make the official request.
This was announced on Monday by Canary Islands government spokesperson Alfonso Cabello, who explained that Canary President Fernando Clavijo’s participation in the summit represents “the starting gun for a political and legal offensive” on housing and the protection of the popular tourist region “to get the European Union to limit the purchase of homes by foreigners” on the eight islands.
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The idea of placing restrictions on foreigners from buying properties in the Atlantic archipelago has been touted since at least 2022, when Canary nationalist political party Nueva Canarias asked the regional government to address the large number of property purchases by non-residents in the archipelago.
This however is the first time the Canaries’ regional government, led by local political party Coalición Canaria, has decided to take the matter to Brussels.
Cabello explained that part of the objective of this proposal is to limit the purchase of homes in the Canary Islands by non-residents and foreigners, seeking “the broadest possible approach” in order to avoid the possibility that this limitation could conflict with European regulations regarding EU foreigners.
Although he did not state it explicitly, his comments suggest that a limitation on property purchases would apply to non-EU nationals such as Britons, Americans or Canadians, although it remains unclear if such restrictions would apply to these third-country citizens if they were actually residents in the Canaries.
This comes after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced in January that his government was considering either a supertax on non-resident non-EU property buyers, or completely preventing them from buying Spanish homes, unless they can prove links to Spain.
In late March, Catalan party ERC went one step further when proposing that foreigners who are residents in Spain but who haven’t lived in the country for five years should first have to apply to the Spanish government before being allowed to buy property.
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Cabello announced that the Canary government will appeal to the special treatment granted to the outermost regions by European treaties, given their need for a specific level of protection.
“It’s a path that we are fully aware is not without many difficulties, but there have been many other issues that have been considered impossible over the last few years and that have been happening in the Canary Islands,” such as the 100 percent discount on public land transport or the 75 percent discount on flights to the peninsula, the spokesperson added.
“The situation in the Canary Islands, the rate of population growth in the archipelago, and the disparity between the islands mean we need this type of measure,” he said.
The islands are facing what’s been dubbed el reto demográfico (the demographic challenge), with more than 2 million inhabitants mostly on Tenerife and Gran Canaria, one of the highest population densities in Europe due to the islands’ limited size, too many vehicles, not enough homes and a population growth of more than 27,000 people in 2024 largely due to the arrival of more foreigners.
According to Cabello, 23 percent of homes sold in the Canary Islands end up in the hands of foreign citizens.
The Coalición Canaria politician stated that being part of the EU has brought the Canary Islands “many joys and very important advances, but those improvements must also help protect the ecosystem and the future of the islands, and that requires corrective measures like this restriction.”
Locals, known as Canarios, have grown increasingly unhappy with the situation their archipelago faces, from pollution, overpopulation, overdevelopment, overtourism and most of all the rising cost of housing.
In 2024, there were two major anti-mass tourism protests held across the eight islands, which spurred a wave of similar demos across other holiday hotspots in Spain.
The Canaries have been a popular tourism destination since the 1960s but now that locals are struggling to afford rents and properties, while wealthier foreigners buy up many of the limited homes that are available, there are resounding calls for an economic and tourism model change.
READ ALSO: ‘The island can’t take it anymore’ – Why Tenerife is rejecting mass tourism
