Tourism reminds municipalities that limiting and regulating short‑term rentals is up to them

The local administrations are the ones authorized to decide where and how vacation homes are located, said the director general. The Tourism Department has launched a series of meetings in Fuerteventura to assist Canary Island municipalities in implementing the Tourism Housing Law.

The Tourism and Employment Department of the Government of the Canary Islands, through the Directorate General for Planning, Training and Tourism Promotion, continues its roadmap to facilitate the implementation of Law 6/2025 on the Sustainable Management of Tourist Housing Use. In this context, a political‑technical meeting was held today in Fuerteventura at the request of the Puerto del Rosario City Council, coordinated with the island’s six municipalities to resolve doubts and establish the basic criteria of the new regulation.

During the meeting, Director General of Planning, Training and Tourism Promotion Miguel Ángel Rodríguez explained that urban planning has always been a municipal competence, so local administrations have the authority to decide where and how vacation homes are placed within their territories.

“In this meeting we have presented the basic criteria so that the corporations have the tools they need to make the necessary decisions and complete the regulation of vacation rentals,” Rodríguez emphasized.

To support municipalities, the Department has designed an accompanying strategy that allows them to act quickly. Rodríguez noted that municipalities adopting a moderate model, limiting vacation homes to a maximum of 10 % of the total housing stock, will have access to simplified tools such as provisional municipal ordinances.

Conversely, municipalities that wish to exceed that threshold must conduct a more thorough analysis.

“Those councils that want to allow more than ten percent will have to use more complex instruments and, above all, carry out a capacity‑load study,” the director general asserted.

Rodríguez also reminded that councils are not required to regulate their entire territory simultaneously. The Department recommends starting with priority zones, first defining the social and economic development model.

“Municipalities can partially regulate their territory, beginning with areas where regulation is a priority or less complex, and then gradually address the rest,” he added.

For David de Vera, mayor of Puerto del Rosario, the meeting stems from the municipalities’ desire to coordinate criteria across Fuerteventura regarding the law affecting vacation housing.

“We thank the Tourism and Employment Department, through its Director General of Planning, Training and Tourism Promotion, as well as all municipalities and their technical and public representatives, for establishing unified criteria and directly applying all regulations that affect vacation housing,” de Vera said.

The ultimate goal is to ensure that tourism growth does not compromise the right to decent and affordable housing. The Department aims to assist all local administrations in this transition; the meeting series, which has already visited Tenerife and Gran Canaria, seeks to reach the 88 municipalities of the archipelago.

Municipal‑level control of vacation rentals

In addition to planning, another agenda item discussed with local administrations concerns the verification, control and inspection of vacation homes. These tasks must be led by municipalities, which are responsible for inspecting classified activities to guarantee the quality of the accommodation offer.