Barely fifteen kilometers of sea separate the southern coast of Lanzarote from the sandy shores of northern Fuerteventura, where the town council of La Oliva has just introduced the tax that the Government of the Canary Islands refuses to apply to the entire archipelago: a tax on tourist stays.
La Oliva approved a fiscal ordinance that sets a fee of 56 cents per person per night in hotels, apartments, and vacation rentals within its municipal area. The initiative of the northern municipality, home to areas of intense influx such as Corralejo or El Cotillo, once again places the debate on vacation pressure in the eastern islands, precisely where the presence of visitors relative to the local population is most pronounced.
According to data from Turismo de Canarias, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura register the highest relative tourist intensity in the archipelago, with an average of 2.1 inhabitants per registered visitor. This ratio marks a significant distance from the capital islands —with 5.7 residents per tourist in Tenerife and 7.3 in Gran Canaria— and is at the opposite extreme from realities such as La Palma, where the ratio rises to 21.2 registered residents per foreigner.
It is not coincidental that opinion polls in Lanzarote show its society as one of the most inclined to demand direct compensation for overnight stays, especially if it does not affect residents.
The gap between northern Fuerteventura and the Canary Executive's stance
The move by La Oliva, orchestrated by the local government pact between Coalición Canaria and the PSOE with the support of Nueva Canarias, clashes with the criteria defended by the regional presidency.
Although the last regional congress of Coalición Canaria included the possibility of designing a specific tax for the activity —opening the door to both a surcharge on the IGIC and local or island-level formulas—, Fernando Clavijo has reiterated in parliament his refusal to authorize island or municipal taxes.
In response to the spokesperson for ASG, Casimiro Curbelo, the Canary Islands president justified his rejection by arguing that allowing collections by municipality or island would accentuate the economic inequality between territories: areas with higher influx would receive substantial funds, while the green islands would be left behind.
From the regional Executive they maintain that, if greater collection from the economic engine of the islands were required, the technically uniform and balanced way would be to adjust the IGIC, discarding for now any tax figure per hotel night in favor of the regulation of vacation housing and the control of access to saturated areas, as already applied by the island councils of Tenerife and Lanzarote in their centers of interest.
Six million dedicated to lifeguarding, signage, cleaning, roads, and service management
Despite that regional line, La Oliva has opted to accelerate. The municipal Treasury department calculates that the measure will contribute around six million euros annually to the local coffers, aimed at covering the extra efforts in lifeguarding on beaches, signage, cleaning, road maintenance, and service management that the floating population multiplies throughout the year. The ordinance includes exemptions for children under three years of age and for residents registered in the municipality, delegating collection to the accommodation providers.
The Partido Popular voted against after relying on an unfavorable report from the municipal Treasury itself, which warns that the council lacks the authority to establish a tax that levies stays and whose appearance is more akin to a tax than a fee linked to a specific and divisible service.
Added to this is the shadow of the Mogán lawsuit —the pioneering Gran Canarian municipality whose levy was annulled by the Superior Court of Justice of Canarias and whose outcome awaits resolution in the Supreme Court— and the stance of the En Marcha group, which opted to abstain by considering the final destination of the money indefinite.
On the business front, the Association of Tourist Entrepreneurs of Fuerteventura (Asofuer) has shown its categorical rejection of the ordinance and has announced that it will submit objections and resort to the courts if current legality is violated. The employers' association emphasizes that the sector must contribute to the destination but demands technical solvency, stating that "a tax does not become a fee by changing its name."
From the sector, they suggest opting for formulas similar to the Art, Culture, and Tourism Centers of Lanzarote, focused on charging for regulated visits to specific spaces and infrastructures instead of taxing accommodation.
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