If you have a property in the Canary Islands and want to register it as a tourist-use home so you can let it as a holiday rental, the first thing you will look for is how to apply for the licence. But the first thing you discover is that the answer is not as simple as you expected.
Some websites talk about a “tourist licence”, others about a “responsible declaration”, and it is not always clear exactly what you need. Some pages still explain procedures that are no longer current since Law 6/2025 came into force, so right now the problem is confusion.
That is why we thought it would be useful to update the information for 2026, so you know how to obtain it and register your property without unnecessary setbacks.
Sound good? Let us start from the beginning.
The licence is not exactly a licence
Before getting into the procedure, it is worth clarifying a term that creates a lot of confusion. Depending on where you search, you will see it called a tourist rental licence, tourist flat licence or simply holiday licence.
Responsible declaration: what it means in practice
In the Canary Islands there is no prior “tourist licence” in the classic sense, meaning a permit granted by the administration after reviewing your file. The applicable model is the responsible declaration to start activity, submitted to the island council where your property is located, which automatically enables registration in the Canary Islands General Tourism Register.
What does this involve? Simply that you are declaring that you meet all the requirements.
In fact, the administration does not verify whether this is true at that point. It registers you and reserves the right to check whenever it considers appropriate. If it later turns out that something was not correct, you bear the consequences.
Holiday home regulations in the Canary Islands have been moving in this direction for years, and Law 6/2025 has consolidated and significantly tightened the system. This is now the way to proceed.
When can you start operating?
In principle, in the Canary Islands you can start the activity on the same day you submit the responsible declaration. You do not have to wait for an administrative resolution.
There is, however, one very important caveat: you cannot advertise your property before you have the registration number. Once registered, that number must appear in all your adverts: Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and any other channel. Be careful, because publishing without it means breaching the regulations.
What documentation do you need to submit?
The procedure has changed a lot since 2025, and the documentation now required by the official island council form is considerably more demanding than before.
Documents required by Law 6/2025
Law 6/2025 added requirements you should know before starting the file:
- Signed responsible declaration, which we have already discussed: this is the central document in the procedure, where you state that you meet the legal requirements and that the activity is not prohibited in your specific property.
- Detailed technical report: this must be signed by a competent technician, such as an architect, technical architect or another authorised professional, and must include property plans with SITCAN geolocation, photographs of the current condition and evidence of compliance with building, tourism, urban planning and safety regulations.
- Urban planning certificate expressly enabling tourist use: this document proves that tourist use is compatible with your municipality’s urban planning.
- First occupation communication or equivalent authorisation: a valid first occupation licence or habitability certificate.
- Cadastral reference and maximum capacity: the law requires the property to be identified precisely and the maximum number of places to be declared.
One case that is often overlooked: if the person operating the property is not the owner, you must prove that the owner has been notified and provide representation documents.
If this is your case, we recommend reading our article on the tourism operating unit in the Canary Islands, which explains how to proceed when several owners or intermediaries are involved.
If your property is in an owners’ community
This is where you need to be especially careful, because the rule leaves little room for interpretation.
Law 6/2025 requires proof that holiday rental activity is not prohibited or limited by your community statutes or agreements.
The official procedure goes further: it asks for a document showing the express approval of the owners’ community, under article 17.12 of the Horizontal Property Act.
In other words, it is not enough for the community to have said nothing against it. You need express approval.
Since 2025, communities can limit or prohibit tourist activity in a building with a three-fifths majority of owners, and can even impose a surcharge of up to 20% on common expenses. If your community has already adopted that agreement, we are sorry to say the procedure will not succeed.
How to submit the declaration step by step
Submit it to the island council, like this
The declaration is submitted to the island council of the island where the property is located. Not to the town hall and not to the Government of the Canary Islands.
The procedure is 100% electronic and open all year round, with no fixed submission periods. The positive part is that, today, the procedure does not currently require payment of fees.
Law 6/2025 does, however, allow island councils to establish fees for verification services, so it is worth checking the current position with your island council before submitting.
What happens after registration?
Once the declaration has been submitted, which is the step equivalent to applying for the tourist licence, the island council registers the property ex officio in the General Tourism Register and assigns you a registration number. That is the number we mentioned earlier, and it must be included in all your adverts.
However, registration does not close the file. The administration keeps all its powers of verification, inspection and sanction. Submission also automatically notifies the town hall of the urban planning change of use, from residential to tourist, and you must declare that change for cadastral purposes.
How long does the authorisation last and how do you renew it?
Deadlines depending on the island
The responsible declaration does not allow your property to be let as a holiday home indefinitely.
As a general rule, validity is five years, but in El Hierro, La Gomera, La Palma and municipalities facing demographic challenges, the period extends to ten years.
What do you need to renew it?
Renewal must be requested during the month before expiry. There is one nuance some owners do not take into account: it does not renew automatically.
To obtain renewal, you obviously need to prove that you still meet the requirements in force at the time of renewal, not the ones that applied when you submitted the initial declaration.
If the deadline expires and you have not renewed in time, the property is considered definitively removed from the register. Restarting activity would therefore mean beginning the procedure from scratch.
Obligations once registered
Decree 113/2015 and Law 6/2025 impose a series of operating obligations you need to consider. Let us go through them one by one.
What to include in your adverts
- Registration number in all advertising: Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, your own website, social media and any other channel.
- Information on access conditions, times, bookings and prices: the price must include IGIC where applicable.
- Maximum capacity: you cannot accommodate more people than those listed in the register, and you cannot rent individual rooms under this regime.
Documentation and guest support
- Operational support phone number: it is mandatory to have one available during the stay.
- Emergency phone number sign: it must be visible in the property.
- Contract or document signed with the guest: if the booking was not formalised in writing before arrival, a document must be signed on arrival setting out the times, maximum capacity and price including IGIC.
- Traveller registration: you are required to collect identity details from all guests at the start of the stay.
What you need to know about taxation
IGIC and Form 400
In the Canary Islands, as you know, VAT does not apply; IGIC, the Canary Islands General Indirect Tax, does. If you let your holiday home without providing hotel-type services, such as regular cleaning during the stay, mid-stay linen changes or catering, the transfer of use of the property is exempt from IGIC.
But be careful, because the Canary Islands Tax Agency considers holiday rental activity to give you entrepreneur status for IGIC purposes. This means you must register for tax using Form 400 before you start letting. In addition, intermediary commissions from platforms such as Airbnb for properties in the Canary Islands are also subject to IGIC.
How holiday rental income is taxed in personal income tax in the Canary Islands
At national level, holiday rental income is taxed in personal income tax as income from real estate capital. If you also provide hotel services, as mentioned earlier, the activity becomes income from economic activity, with different tax consequences.
If you want to see the full calculation of what it costs to get your property up and running, including processing, fees and taxes, you will find the detailed information in this article on the price of a holiday rental licence.
In any case, holiday rental taxation is quite complex, so it is always better to discuss your specific case with an adviser.
What risk is there if you do not register your property?
Many owners believe that publishing on Airbnb without being registered is a minor risk or difficult to detect. It is not.
In the Canary Islands, having a holiday home without registration is a very serious infringement, with fines of up to EUR 300,000.
Publishing on platforms without the registration number is also a very serious infringement under Law 6/2025.
Continuing to operate the property once the authorisation has expired is a serious infringement, with fines of between EUR 15,000 and EUR 150,000.
To give you a clearer sense of what is happening, in 2025 the Ministry of Consumer Affairs removed more than 65,000 unlicensed adverts from digital platforms, and Airbnb received a sanction of more than EUR 64 million, partly for publishing accommodation without a licence.
So please do not take chances with this.
Do you have questions about your specific case?
If there is one thing we can make clear, it is that a tourist licence in the Canary Islands can be obtained, but it is not simple. It now requires far more documentation, greater technical precision and more follow-up than before the current law came into force.
So if you have questions about:
- Whether your property meets the current requirements
- Exactly what documentation you need
- Or how to manage compliance once registered
At Home2Book we manage more than 600 properties and make sure owners can welcome guests to their holiday homes while complying with the law at all times.
Would you like us to review your case? Speak to holiday rental management experts.
