The impact of tourism is pressuring the resident population in Lanzarote. Throughout 2022, when the island was still in full economic recovery due to the coronavirus pandemic, the island of volcanoes received 2.7 million tourists. In total, the impact of tourism on the resident population translated to 1,651 tourists for every one hundred inhabitants that year. This is according to the Strategy. Demographic Challenge-Territorial Cohesion from the Government of the Canary Islands.
This figure grew in the following years. In 2024, Lanzarote registered a historic record and received four million tourists, between those arriving by plane (3.4 million) and those arriving by cruise ship (600,000 people) for a population of 163,230 inhabitants.
Foreigners drive growth
Economic and infrastructure development in the archipelago has also shaped population distribution. The aforementioned report indicates that since the 1960s, the tourism model has attracted migrants from other Spanish regions to the archipelago. Furthermore, from the 1980s onwards, the Canary Islands transitioned from being a land of emigration to a territory of reception.
Currently, the archipelago is the second autonomous community with the largest influx of foreign population. Migratory movements drive population growth in the archipelago, which is mostly due to people moving between islands (52%), coming from other autonomous communities (20%), or arriving from abroad (28%).
Foreign residents are driving population growth in "the most tourist islands," Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, and Fuerteventura, attracted by jobs in the tertiary sector. Furthermore, this population growth is occurring in tourist centers, causing "a process of littoralization." In other words, it is leading to the majority of the population concentrating in coastal areas.
In the case of Lanzarote, the most "intensely occupied" municipalities are Arrecife, Teguise, and Yaiza. Meanwhile, while growth in the capital of Lanzarote has been constant, between the years 2000 and 2023 the increase has been more notable in Yaiza, Teguise, and Tías. Meanwhile, in Tinajo and Haría, growth is slower, being considered part of the regions affected by depopulation.
In this way, in Lanzarote there are only two municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants: Haría (5,567) and Tinajo (6,865).