Law 7/2026 in the Canary Islands: Everything That Changes for Holiday Rental Homes with the Latest Reform of the LOSTUV

The Official Gazette publishes Law 7/2026: another turn of the screw for Canary Islands holiday rental rules

The Canary Islands Official Gazette (BOC) published on 14 August 2026 Law 7/2026 of 31 July, on speeding up planning licences and boosting housing construction. It has been in force since 15 August 2026.

Although its title speaks of licences, its eleventh final provision reforms Law 6/2025 on the Sustainable Regulation of the Tourist Use of Homes, which on this blog we also call LOSTUV (its Spanish acronym). It arrives eight months after that law came into force. It contains changes the Government could not introduce as amendments during its passage and that sector associations were demanding.

We explain, point by point, what changes and what it means for you as the owner of a holiday rental home.

The most important change: prior notification of classified activity before 31 July 2027

The reform adds a tenth transitional provision to Law 6/2025. It is the most significant change for owners who are already operating.

Situation: you filed the declaración responsable (DR) before the law came into force (13/12/2025), but not the prior notification of classified activities with the town hall.
Deadline: until 31 July 2027 to file it.
If you do not: you must stop the tourist activity immediately and the declaración responsable will lapse automatically.

The notification must be accompanied, at a minimum, by:

A municipal certificate that the home was built in line with planning rules and has its licences. Instead you can prove it is out of planning order because no action can any longer be taken against it, or that its tourist use is consolidated.
A technical report signed by a competent professional, with plans of the current state (floor plans, elevation and sections) and photographs of the façade and interior, showing compliance with the classified-activities rules.

Filing it on time lets you take advantage of the law's transitional regime. If you already filed the prior notification before the law came into force, this provision does not affect you.

How much time do you have left? Until 31 July 2027. You have leeway, but the municipal certificate and the report take time, and waiting until the last moment will mean queues at town halls.

Inheriting the declaración responsable: now possible in certain cases

Until now, consolidated tourist use ended with any transfer of the home, including on death. Law 7/2026 introduces an exception for inheritance (transfer mortis causa):

Condition: the deceased had to be both owner and holder of the declaración responsable.
Procedure: the heir notifies the Cabildo of the change of holder.
Period: they can continue the activity for a maximum of ten years from the inheritance. Later inheritances do not extend that period.

Selling the home still ends the right.

When the declaration of consolidated tourist use is no longer needed

The reform clarifies a point that caused confusion. You do not need to file the declaration of consolidated use if both of the following conditions are met:

the tourist use of the home was expressly allowed by detailed urban planning (or recognised by Law 14/2019, the "green islands" law);
the change of use from residential to tourist was formalised with the town hall before 13 December 2025.

In that case the DR filed under Decree 113/2015 is kept. The town hall and the Cabildo retain their powers to check and inspect.

The Cabildo can deregister the home

Law 6/2025 already provided that the Cabildo checks holiday rental home declaraciones responsables and that its negative report is binding on the town hall.

Law 7/2026 adds a new paragraph 13 to the first transitional provision. If the check is negative:

the town hall voids the consolidated use;
the Cabildo voids the original Decree 113/2015 DR;
the Cabildo deregisters the home from the General Tourism Register.

Town halls do not lose their role: they remain competent on classified activities and planning. In addition, the reform allows an authority lacking sufficient resources to ask the Cabildo or the Canary Islands Government for help.

Technical requirements: the reform makes them more flexible

Beware of a very widespread mistake: the minimum floor area, bathrooms and energy rating are not new. They were already in the seventh transitional provision of Law 6/2025. Law 7/2026 rewrites that provision and, in general, softens it:

Requirement	Original text (Dec. 2025)	After Law 7/2026
Minimum floor area	35 m² usable	Same
Bathrooms	2 if more than 4 places; 3 if more than 8	Same
Homes under 35 m²	Accepted with a compensating element (parking, pool, garden, etc.)	Same, and the list grows
Class A cooling	Mandatory	Becomes just a compensating element
Compliance with accessibility rules	Mandatory	Becomes just a compensating element
Monitoring	Of noise and occupancy	Of noise only
Energy rating	Minimum F (buildings up to 2007) and D (later ones)	Same
Hot water from renewables	70 % (up to 2007) and 90 % (later ones)	No minimum percentage: solar panels or another equivalent renewable where possible
Road access	Direct to the home	To the plot or the nearest reasonable point. If the last stretch is on foot or unpaved, it must be stated in adverts

The energy requirement remains key: if your home predates 2008 and does not reach class F, or is later and does not reach D, you will not be able to obtain tourist authorisation under the new regime.

How to tell a tourist rental from a seasonal rental

The reform adds two new articles to Law 6/2025, 11 and 12, to set where the line lies between tourist and seasonal rentals.

Presumption of tourist activity (article 11)

Tourist activity is presumed, unless proved otherwise, when one of these circumstances applies:

The home is advertised or marketed on a tourist offer channel: travel agencies, booking centres, digital platforms such as Airbnb or Booking, or media that publish listings of tourist homes.
Someone is housed in a residential home for a continuous period of 31 days or less, once or more in the same year.

The landlord must show the purpose (article 12)

In rentals of 31 days or less, the landlord must first ask the tenant for the reason for the temporary accommodation and its relation to the duration, and state it in the contract.
If they do not ask, that reason is understood not to exist.
If it is not in the contract, the contract is deemed tourist in nature.

This removes the leeway some owners used to operate as "seasonal rentals" and avoid the obligations of holiday renting.

A new figure: the "occasional tourist-use home"

The reform creates in article 4.2 of Law 6/2025 the occasional tourist-use home:

It allows tourist use of a home for a maximum of 15 days a year.
Only for demand peaks caused by:
- festivals declared of tourist interest (of the Canary Islands, national or international);
- events or competitions of special cultural, social or sporting relevance, such as official federation competitions or events declared of general interest.
Essential requirement: a municipal planning instrument (for example, an ordinance) must enable it. Without that ordinance it cannot be used. Once enabled, it is enough for the land to be residential.
It is not a classified activity: it needs neither prior notification nor a technical report.
It requires a prior declaración responsable stating the days of marketing in the year (maximum 15) and the event that justifies it.
The home keeps its residential use: there is no change of use.

It is a figure designed for one-off events, such as a championship or a festival, not for the regular operation of a holiday rental home.

New infringements

The reform strengthens the penalty regime of Canary Islands Tourism Law 7/1995 with three new infringements:

Infringement	Type	Fine
Marketing tourist stays in residential homes without meeting the legal requirements	Minor	Up to €1,500
Signing contracts of 31 days or less without stating the reason that excludes a tourist purpose	Serious	€1,501 – €30,000
Signing such contracts without having first asked the tenant for the reason or checked it	Very serious	€30,001 – €300,000

They are aimed directly at those who try to operate under the guise of a seasonal rental to evade the holiday rental rules.

Other changes

The sixth transitional provision is repealed, which regulated the change of use from tourist to residential for existing buildings.
Green islands (El Hierro, La Gomera, La Palma): the reform reinforces the prevalence of Law 14/2019. It does not affect Fuerteventura or Lanzarote.

Summary: what do you have to do?

Situation	What you must do
You have a DR but not the prior notification of classified activity	File it, with a municipal certificate and technical report, before 31 July 2027
You have inherited a holiday rental home	Notify the Cabildo of the change of holder. You can continue for up to 10 years
Home built before 2008	Check that its energy certificate is at least class F
Home built in 2008 or later	Check that it is at least class D
More than 4 places and a single bathroom	You need a second bathroom (or a third if there are more than 8 places)
You operate as a seasonal rental with stays of 31 days or less	Review your contracts: the law presumes it is tourist activity
You want to rent only during an event	Ask your town hall whether there is an occasional tourist-use home ordinance

Need the technical report or a review of your situation?

At FuerteProyecto we specialise in holiday rental homes in Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. We write the technical report needed for the prior notification of classified activity and the energy certificate, and advise you on your situation under the new rules.

Fixed price, no surprises. Project signed by a competent professional. Delivered within 15 days at most of receiving the documentation.

Phone: +34 620 395 305
Email: info@fuerteproyecto.com

Do not wait until July 2027.