A new regulation restricts group diving baptisms in Lanzarote and the rest of Spain. Specifically, a decree published on December 30 in the Official State Gazette establishes new restrictions for this practice intended for people who undertake their first sea dives without prior experience, but guided by an instructor.
The Royal Decree 1188/2025, approved by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility at the end of 2025, changes the ratios between students and diving instructors for introductory dives. As such, it currently obliges diving schools to offer a 1:1 ratio, meaning one instructor per client.
Following the approval of this decree, each participant must be supervised by a single instructor, who can only be responsible for supervising one participant at a time.
The reaction of some diving schools in Lanzarote and the rest of the archipelago has been swift. Specifically, some of them have chosen to show their rejection of the measure by sharing a statement from the Canary Professional Federation of Recreational Diving (FEBUCAN), which strongly opposes the new ratios set by the Ministry.
Under the premise "the new imposed ratios do not save lives, they destroy destinies," they have denounced "the serious impact" of this measure and have pointed out that it was approved "without taking into account each autonomous community." "They threaten diving, employment, and the economy of the Canary Islands, whose only industry is tourism," the statement continued
The island's diving schools warn that these new ratios "erase the Canary Islands from diving worldwide".
