Drago Canarias warns about the serious problem of access to housing suffered by Lanzarote, which according to its island spokesperson, Rafa Jiménez, “is becoming the island with the greatest difficulty in finding housing in the entire archipelago, not only due to the high rental and purchase prices, but also due to the scarcity of properties and the lack of political action to solve the situation.”
“In some municipalities such as Tías or Yaiza, the price per square meter already exceeds that of large state capitals such as Valencia, Seville, Santiago de Compostela or Zaragoza, and even Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; and the number of vacation homes continues to grow exponentially”, says Jiménez, who also warns that “all this is happening before the impassivity, mainly, of PSOE and Coalición Canaria, which are the two political parties with the most institutional responsibilities on the island.”
As published by the Lanzarote Data Center, dependent on the Island Council, as of December 2024 the price per square meter on the island reached 2,646 euros, which represents an increase of 13.2% in the last year, placing it already in the average of the province of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria —2,649 euros/m2— and still a little below the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife —3,000 euros/m2—.
For its part, there are already several municipalities in Lanzarote that also exceed the price per square meter of the large capitals of the archipelago. In Tías —3,715 euros/m2—, Yaiza —3,568 euros/m2— and Teguise —2,668 euros/m2— it is more expensive to buy a house than in the municipality of Santa Cruz de Tenerife —2,144 euros/m2— or in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria —2,482 euros/m2—. These are data from the Idealista portal.
In fact, as recently published by La Voz de Lanzarote, almost four out of ten homes for sale on the island (38.7%) cost more than half a million euros, a price that, according to Jiménez, “is only within the reach of people from northern Europe with greater purchasing power or investment funds whose main business is vacation homes.”
Precisely in this sense, Lanzarote is also one of the islands in the archipelago that suffers the most from the pressure of vacation rentals. As of November 2024, Lanzarote already had 7,931 vacation homes —which represents an increase of 9.98% compared to the same month of 2023— and 36,464 places in vacation homes —which is equivalent to almost a quarter of the total inhabitants of the island—.
For its part, the municipality of Yaiza is the most affected by this type of business. In November 2020 it had 8,885 places in vacation homes, in November 2024 the figure had already risen to 13,211, and if the trend continues, by 2028 there will be more places in vacation homes —17,537— than inhabitants in the municipality —16,924—.
Faced with this situation, Jiménez regrets that “none of the municipalities on the island is declared as a stressed area in housing matters” and emphasizes that “in fact, three of them, Haría, San Bartolomé and Tías, are governed by the same PSOE that approved the housing law at the national level, but they do not apply it here, probably because the PSOE and Coalición Canaria are partners in many municipalities of the archipelago and their vision of deregulation of the housing market is similar.”
Finally, Jiménez emphasizes that “in Lanzarote there are many people with diverse origins who have lived for many years integrated into its culture and territory defending its sustainability” and adds that “Lanzarote can be taken care of regardless of the place of origin, but for this a sustainable regulation that protects the island is necessary, only political will is needed.”