VV in the Canary Islands: 2026 guide after Ley 6/2025

What is a vivienda vacacional (VV) in the Canary Islands?

The VV regime applies as soon as a residential dwelling is marketed as tourist accommodation — on platforms like Airbnb or Booking, on the host's own website, or through any other channel — for a fee. Unlike non-hotel tourist apartments, a VV is always a complete residential unit: room-by-room letting is not allowed under the VV regime in the Canary Islands, an important difference from Andalusia or Catalonia.

Until 12 December 2025, registration was a free responsible declaration verified after the fact. Ley 6/2025 has reversed the logic: registration now requires a prior urban habilitation granted by the municipality, which checks that the residential floor-space available in the municipality leaves room to allocate the dwelling to tourist use. It is the strictest regime in Spain and reflects the social pressure that built across the archipelago after the mass protests of 2024.

What did Ley 6/2025 change from December 2025?

Ley 6/2025, published in BOE-A-2025-26358 and BOC nº 246 of 12 December 2025, came into force on 13 December 2025. It is the outcome of two years of legislative work after the social pressure of 20 April 2024, when around 200,000 people protested across all the islands under the slogan "Canarias tiene un límite" ("the Canaries have a limit"), and the second mass protest of 18 May 2024. The preamble explicitly invokes the principle of use specialisation: separating residential from tourist use to protect access to permanent housing.

The qualitative change is twofold. First, registering a new VV ceases to be a free responsible declaration and now requires a prior municipal urban habilitation based on available residential floor-space. Second, VVs already legally registered in the RGT may continue operating for five years without any additional procedure; within that window they can opt for the "consolidated tourist use" declaration, which allows indefinite continuity but binds the dwelling inseparably to tourist use — with that right, the dwelling cannot be freely converted back to residential use.

What requirements must you meet before registering?

Decreto 113/2015 remains partially in force as the technical regulation for VVs. The minimum useful surface is 35 m² (art. 3.2). Occupancy is calculated from the bedroom typology defined in Decreto 117/2006 (Annex I): a single bedroom must be at least 6 m² and houses one person; a double bedroom must be at least 10 m² with a 2.50 m clear side and houses two. Rooms larger than 8 m² are counted as doubles for occupancy. There is no "x m² per person" formula in the Canaries: capacity follows from room typology.

The distinctive plate is mandatory under article 6 of Decreto 113/2015. It must be aluminium, 30 × 30 cm, with the RGT number clearly legible, fixed visibly to the façade. There is one exception: if the community of owners expressly forbids exterior plates, it is enough to have it available for inspection without displaying it on the façade.

The official complaint sheets in four languages (Spanish, English, German and French) are mandatory. The minimum equipment includes full furniture, hot water, refrigerator, hob, crockery and basic cookware, bed-linen and towels matching declared capacity, and a first-aid kit.

• Minimum useful surface 35 m² (Decreto 113/2015 art. 3.2).
• Capacity by bedroom typology — Decreto 117/2006 Annex I: single ≥ 6 m², double ≥ 10 m² (2.50 m clear side).
• Valid habitability certificate or first-occupation licence.
• Aluminium 30 × 30 cm distinctive plate with the RGT number (exception: community that bans exterior plates).
• Official complaint sheets in Spanish, English, German and French.
• Full equipment: furniture, hot water, refrigerator, hob, crockery, bed-linen, first-aid kit.
• NIE for non-resident titleholders; digital certificate, e-DNI or Cl@ve PIN for electronic submission.
• 3/5 community-of-owners consent — state LPH 17.12 regime, in force since April 2025.

How do you register a VV step by step in 2026?

Registering a VV in the Canary Islands in 2026 follows a strict order. Before Ley 6/2025, a single responsible declaration was enough and the activity could start the same day. Now the bottleneck is the prior municipal urban habilitation: the municipality verifies that the residential floor-space available in the town allows the dwelling to be assigned to tourist use within the 10% cap (tourism islands) or 20% cap (green islands). Without that habilitation, the autonomous responsible declaration cannot be processed.

Once habilitation has been granted, submission goes through electronic procedure 5548 on sede.gobiernodecanarias.org, addressed to the Dirección General de Ordenación y Promoción Turística. RGT registration is notified with a number that is printed on the distinctive plate and, since the entry into force of the national NRUA and EU 2024/1028, becomes integrated with the European registration code for digital platforms.

How is a VV taxed in the Canary Islands? IGIC, IRPF and IBI

Canarian indirect taxation differs sharply from mainland Spain. Instead of IVA, VVs charge the Canary General Indirect Tax (IGIC) at the general rate of 7% when no hotel-style services are provided (reception, daily cleaning, catering…). If hotel services are provided, the activity is taxed as hotel and the codes change. The usual IAE code is 685 (non-hotel tourist accommodation). Registration is done with model 400 before the Canarian Tax Agency, and the annual summary with model 425.

The Small Business Special Regime (REPEP) allows hosts with less than €30,000 in annual turnover to avoid charging IGIC while still being registered. That is the typical situation of a private host with one or two VVs on Tenerife or Gran Canaria.

For IRPF, net income from the VV is declared as economic-activity income when hotel services are provided, or as immovable-property income when only the building is let. The 60% reduction for permanent-housing leases does NOT apply to a VV: tourist use is expressly excluded. For non-residents, the route is Model 210 with annual filing from 2024.

IBI is municipal and varies by town hall. The Canarian Special Zone (ZEC) does NOT apply to VVs: after a European Commission observation, the ZEC Council issued an official note clarifying that integral holiday-rental management services cannot enjoy the ZEC tax benefits. The Canary Islands have no autonomous overnight tax, unlike the Balearics (ITS), Catalonia (IEET) or Valencia (in force in 2026). The Cabildo of Tenerife has approved a specific access fee for the Teide of around €25 from 2026, but that is a local environmental fee, not an overnight tourist tax.

How does the island split work and what sanctions apply?

The territorial split is one of the most distinctive features of the Canarian law. On the four islands with the heaviest tourist pressure — Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura — at least 90% of residential floor-space must remain residential, and no more than 10% may be allocated to tourist use per municipality. That cap is the raw material the town hall uses to grant or deny the prior urban habilitation.

On the so-called "green islands" — La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro — the regime is more flexible: at least 80% residential and up to 20% tourist. The stated reason is to facilitate economic diversification in territories with less pressure and more need for activity. The practical consequence is that a host with a property in Valverde (El Hierro) will find it easier to obtain habilitation than one in Adeje (Tenerife) or Yaiza (Lanzarote).

On sanctions, Ley 6/2025 sets a new framework. Very serious infringements are punished with fines from €15,000 to €150,000. For minor and serious infringements, the exact figures require direct consultation of the sanction chapter of the law. The administration may order closure or cessation, as well as a declaration of impossibility based on functional incompatibility, economic unviability or intense residentialisation of the surroundings. A VV inactive for six months can be subject to definitive cessation ex officio.