Buying property in the Canaries: what to check before you sign
This is not a substitute for a lawyer or a tax adviser. It is the opposite: it is the list of things worth understanding before you sit down with one, so that the conversation is useful and you know what to ask.
Almost every serious problem people run into here comes down to three, and all three are checkable before you pay anything.
The central misunderstanding: not every house is where it appears to be
On these islands the classification of the land matters more than almost anywhere else in Spain, and the reason is geographic: a very large share of the territory is protected.
That is where the concept that causes the most grief comes from: rustic land, suelo rústico. A house can physically exist, have power and water and decades of history, and still sit on land where building or extending is effectively impossible, and where regularising what is already standing may be a long process or simply not viable.
The listing rarely says so. The house is there, the view is wonderful, and the price looks reasonable precisely because of this.
What to ask, in exactly this form: what class of land is it on, and is the building registered and legalised? If the answer is vague, that vagueness is the information.
The nota simple: the one document you can request yourself
The nota simple is an extract from the Land Registry, and it is the cheapest and fastest way to see what is officially recorded about a property: who the registered owner is, what surface area is recorded, and above all whether there are charges on it, meaning mortgages, seizures or easements.
The key point is this: you can request it yourself, with no intermediary and without the seller's permission, from the Land Registry covering that municipality.
Two warnings. First, what appears on the nota simple and what physically stands on the ground do not always match: undeclared extensions are common. Second, the nota simple reflects the moment you request it, so if the process drags on, request it again before signing.
The taxes: which one applies depends on whether the home is new
Here there is a Canarian particularity that surprises people arriving from mainland Spain.
In the Canaries there is no VAT. There is IGIC, the Canary Islands general indirect tax. And that changes what is paid in each case:
A new home, bought from the developer: you pay IGIC, plus stamp duty on the deed.
A resale home: no IGIC, but transfer tax, the ITP.
We deliberately do not put the percentages here. The rates change, there are reduced rates depending on the buyer's age, family circumstances or whether it will be the main residence, and an out of date figure on a page like this is worse than none at all. The current rates are on the Canary Islands government's own site, and your adviser will apply them to your case.
What is worth remembering is the structure: new or resale changes the whole tax, not just the percentage. On top of that come notary, registry and administrative fees.
Holiday letting: everything changed in December 2025
If you are buying with the idea of letting to tourists, this is the part that has changed most, and most recently.
Law 6/2025 of 10 December, on the Sustainable Regulation of Tourist Use of Dwellings, was published in the Canary Islands official gazette on 12 December 2025 and came into force on 13 December 2025. It is also published in the Spanish state gazette.
The underlying change, in one sentence: tourist use of a dwelling is no longer automatic.
From that follows the point that affects an individual purchase most: the owners' association has a strengthened role, and can expressly prohibit holiday letting, either through its bylaws or by a validly adopted resolution at a meeting.
In practice: owning the flat does not mean you may let it to tourists. Before buying with that intention you need to check three separate layers, and each of them can say no on its own: the owners' association, the municipality's rules, and the island council's.
The law is recent and its implementation is still unfolding, so we do not reproduce percentages or deadlines here. Ask in writing, with the law in front of you, not verbally during a viewing.
When you need someone, and what kind
Most purchases need two distinct professionals, and it is worth not confusing them: a lawyer to review the legal situation of the property, and a gestor or tax adviser to calculate the taxes for your specific case. The estate agency fills neither of those roles, however good it is.
If you are also settling here, the first administrative step is not the house. It is the foreigner's number and the town hall registration. We cover that in NIE and padrón.
