Canary Islands second in Europe for holiday rentals
The Canary Islands were Europe’s second most popular region for holiday rental bookings in the last quarter of 2024, according to new data from Eurostat. Between October and December, the archipelago recorded 7.6 million overnight stays in vacation homes booked through platforms like Airbnb, Booking, and Expedia. Only Andalusia surpassed this figure with 8.7 million bookings—though Spain’s southern region is ten times larger, making the tourism pressure on the Canaries even more significant.
Europe’s top holiday rental destinations
Eurostat’s ranking of Europe’s top 20 regions for holiday rentals features five Spanish destinations, five Italian, four French, two Portuguese, and one each from Hungary, Poland, Greece, and Austria. Across Europe, the final three months of 2024 saw 159.4 million holiday rental bookings—with the Canary Islands accounting for nearly 5% (4.76%) of the total.
Post-pandemic tourism explosion
The statistics reveal a dramatic surge in Canary Islands tourism since the pandemic. In 2018, the archipelago recorded 14.3 million holiday rental stays, with minimal growth the following year (14.9 million). After the pandemic, bookings skyrocketed: 8 million in 2020, 11.1 million in 2021, 19 million in 2022, 22.2 million in 2023, and 26.8 million in 2024. This means holiday rentals have more than tripled in just five years, capturing much of Europe’s post-pandemic travel boom.
The challenge of counting vacation homes
Official figures on Canary Islands vacation homes vary. The National Statistics Institute (INE) reports 51,286 tourist properties, while the Canary Islands Statistics Institute (ISTAC) counts approximately 48,000. The discrepancy stems from different calculation methods. Meanwhile, the Canary Islands Tourist Registry lists nearly 71,000 legally registered vacation rentals—not including illegal operations.
Regulatory delays and housing pressures
Despite drafting legislation over a year ago, the archipelago still lacks comprehensive regulation for holiday rentals. The proposed law—currently in parliamentary review—would cap tourist apartments at 10% of total housing in each municipality and require local governments to establish specific sector regulations before issuing new licenses. Amendments to the bill closed in June with 113 proposals awaiting debate, though no timeline has been set.
