The Canary Islands are dealing with a big problem with housing. Young people are having a tough time as rents are going up. There aren’t enough homes, and tourism is growing fast. Experts Alejandro Armas Díaz and Vicente Javier Díaz look at why this is happening and suggest ways to help young Canarians through it.
“Canarias tiene un limite”. The Canary Islands have a limit. This was the slogan chanted by the demonstrators against the price of rent and the right to decent housing. An estimated 50,000 of people took the streets on April, 20. The protests began in the spring of 2024 and continued until last November. And for good reason, demonstrators expressed frustration with the region’s unique challenges: a booming tourism industry, low wages, and the physical constraints of island living. Combined, these factors have intensified an already pressing crisis.
The shadow of the 2008 financial crisis
The housing crisis in the Canary Islands is caused by several things, according to Alejandro Armas Díaz, PhD at the University of La Laguna and author of a thesis, “Urban restructuring and image production: public spaces in Santa Cruz de Tenerife”.
« For many years, not enough money has been spent on public housing, » he said. The problem worsened because many homes became vacation rentals to serve the islands’ tourism industry. In some places, about 25% of homes are empty or used for tourism, making it hard for local people to find homes, » Armas Díaz explained.
« It was, in the first instance, a problem of non-homeowners; now it is a question of renting homes, » states Vicente Javier Díaz, Professor of Domestic Architecture and Habitat and Development at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
This has become a trend since, after the 2008 financial crisis, rented lodging became the escapade for purchasable houses. However, rental prices are now an impossibility as many people struggle to live within those same premises with a very high number of holiday rentals available every month.
The problem of mass tourism hit young people the hardest
Despite earning lower wages, young people are forced to pay some of the highest rents in Spain. « The percentage of a young person’s income that goes toward rent is significantly higher than the national average, » said Vicente Javier Díaz. Rent represents an average of 121% of the wage of an under 30 in Canary, versus 58% in an autonomous community like Castilla-La Mancha.
For many, this means living with their parents into their thirties, emigrating, looking for better opportunities, or sharing accommodations (“co-living”)—trends previously seen only in larger cities like Madrid or Barcelona.
Alejandro Armas Díaz highlighted the broader social implications of this delayed independence. « Spain has one of the lowest youth independence rates in Europe, » he explains. This delay in moving out of the family home affects not only housing but also a ripple effect on birth rates, social mobility, and long-term economic prospects for young people.
Tourism, which is central to the Canary Islands’ economy, has become a major contributor to the housing crisis. While it brings significant economic benefits, it has also fuelled the housing shortage. « Tourism generates substantial revenue, but it also drives locals out of their homes, » Armas Díaz observed. Government policies that allow the conversion of long-term rental properties into vacation homes have worsened the situation, further limiting the availability of affordable housing.
Vicente Javier Díaz agrees, noting that regulations have struggled to keep pace with market realities. « When regulations do catch up, they often push prices even higher, » he says, underscoring the need for quick action to fix this.
A Growing Call for Action
Both experts suggest a range of solutions to tackle the housing crisis. Armas Díaz advocates for a more strategic use of the existing housing stock. « Vacant homes should be put to use. Housing’s primary purpose is to be lived in, not left empty or used sporadically for tourism, » he argues. He also calls for more investment, pointing to countries like Austria and Germany, where a large portion of housing is dedicated to public use. « Spain has failed to prioritize public housing in the same way, and that has contributed to the crisis, » Armas Díaz said.
Another potential solution lies in the creation of housing cooperatives, inspired by successful models in countries like Uruguay and Sweden. « Shared housing can work if it is managed with a social focus, not driven by profit, » said Díaz, who is currently piloting a project that connects elderly homeowners with excess space to young renters, fostering intergenerational housing arrangements.
The frustration among residents of the Canary Islands is palpable, and they showed it with the movement « Canarias Tiene un Límite ». « This slogan reflects the islanders’ frustrations with over-tourism and the strain it places on their homes and communities, » said Vicente Javier Díaz. Public protests are calling for policy changes to curb tourism and prioritize the needs of residents. This slogan is also used to point out that ecological and natural resources are not unlimited.
Alejandro Armas Díaz concluded, « If we don’t change how we handle housing, we could lose an entire generation to moving away and not knowing what will happen next. »
This article was written for Megan Clement’s Web Journalism course for the Bilingual Journalism Masters’ degree of Sorbonne Nouvelle.