Holiday lets in the Canary Islands in 2026 — the registry that fell, the law that stands, and the taxes that never went away

If you own a holiday let in Fuerteventura, 2026 has given you whiplash. In January, everyone was scrambling for the new state registration number without which platforms would delist properties. By June, the newspapers said the Supreme Court had struck the whole registry down. In between, the Canary Islands brought in the most demanding holiday-rental law in their history — and that one is very much alive.

Owners can be forgiven for asking the only question that matters: what actually applies to my property today? Here is the honest answer, layer by layer.

Layer one: the state registry — annulled

Royal Decree 1312/2024 created the single rental registry (the NRUA number) and, from 1 July 2025, platforms could not advertise properties without it. Hundreds of thousands of owners registered, Canary owners included.

On 19 May 2026 the Supreme Court annulled the registry's core articles: short-term tourist rentals are a matter of tourism and housing — powers that belong to the autonomous regions — so the State lacked the competence to impose a mandatory registration of its own on top of them. The practical consequences today:

• An NRUA is no longer required to advertise a holiday let, and platforms cannot be forced to demand one.
• What survives of the decree is the digital plumbing — the one-stop window and the platforms' duty to pass rental data to the State for statistical purposes.
• If you already have an NRUA, it costs you nothing; it simply is no longer the thing that keeps your listing alive.

Tempting conclusion: "regulation is over". Wrong conclusion — because the court's very reasoning was that this field belongs to the regions. And our region had just legislated.

Layer two: the Canary law — very much in force

Ley 6/2025, de Ordenación Sostenible del Uso Turístico de Viviendas, passed on 10 December 2025, overrides, wherever the two conflict, the 2015 decree that had governed vivienda vacacional for a decade. Its philosophy is the opposite of the old free-for-all: holiday letting becomes a planned use, decided municipality by municipality:

• Town planning takes command. Municipalities set where tourist use of homes is allowed and how much of it — capacity ceilings per area — through their planning instruments.
• Existing, properly registered viviendas vacacionales continue under transitional arrangements — this is why keeping your regional (Canary) registration in order matters more than ever. The Canary registration, unlike the state one, was never annulled. As a rule the activity may go on for five years, to December 2030, and since August 2026 one date comes first: an owner who registered before the law without filing the classified-activity notice (comunicación previa) at the town hall must file it before 31 July 2027 or stop (Ley 7/2026).
• New entries face real conditions — urban compatibility and quality requirements that make "I'll just list my spare flat next month" a thing of the past in constrained zones.
• The declaración responsable route, the display of your registration, checkin traveller-registry duties and the rest of the operating obligations remain the daily compliance of running a let.

For Fuerteventura owners the strategic point is simple: the value of a legally consolidated holiday let just went up, because new supply is now rationed. Protecting your registration is protecting an asset. But a registration does not pass to a buyer: the consolidated use (uso turístico consolidado) the law gives today's operators ends when the property changes hands, an inheritance apart.

Layer three: your community of owners

Independently of both governments, the Horizontal Property Act flipped its default on 3 April 2025: a new tourist let now needs the community of owners' express approval by a 3/5 majority — without that vote, the building's answer is no. Lets operating legally before that date continue under transitional rules, and the same majority can also condition or restrict the activity. Before buying a flat "for Airbnb", the community's position is as decisive as the town hall's. If you administer or sit on a community weighing this vote, our community administration team deals with it weekly.

Layer four: the taxes that never went away

None of the 2026 drama touched taxation, and this is where absent owners most often sleepwalk into trouble:

• Non-resident owners declare rental income on Modelo 210: EU/EEA residents at 19% on the net (expenses deductible pro rata for the days let), everyone else — UK owners included — at 24% on the gross, no deductions.
• Weeks when the property sat empty generate imputed income on the same form — our Modelo 210 guide covers the mechanics and the current filing calendar.
• IGIC: holiday accommodation in the Canaries is generally a taxable activity at the 7% rate — though whether you must charge it depends on how you operate and whether the small-operator regime covers you. This one genuinely needs case-by-case advice.
• Resident owners fold the activity into IRPF, with its own rules on deductions and periods.

What we would do this quarter, as an owner

Three checks, one afternoon: confirm your Canary registration is valid and the paperwork retrievable; find out where your municipality is heading with its planning quotas — and, if you were thinking of starting a new let, ask the town hall first for the planning certificate (cédula urbanística) that expressly allows it: without one there is no new registration; and make sure your 210s are filed and IGIC position is clear for every period you have operated.

Our property management team runs holiday lets across Fuerteventura for owners at a distance — compliance, guests and taxes included — and tax advisory can regularise past periods before a letter arrives. Book a consultation — we reply within one business day.

Common questions

I registered for an NRUA. Was that wasted effort?
No harm done — the number simply lost its role as a listing requirement. Your Canary registration is the one that carries your right to operate; keep that one alive.

Can my town hall really cap holiday lets in my area?
Yes. That is precisely what Ley 6/2025 instructs municipalities to do through planning — including ceilings by zone. Existing registered lets are dealt with through transitional rules; new ones will need to fit the plan.

The state registry was annulled — could the Canary rules fall the same way?
Unlikely on the same ground: the Supreme Court's objection was that the State invaded regional powers. The Canary Islands were exercising exactly the competence the court said belongs to them.

Legal position verified in October 2026 (STS of 19 May 2026 on RD 1312/2024; Ley 6/2025 of the Canary Islands, as amended by Ley 7/2026). This area is moving fast — confirm the current state before acting on it.