01
20.4%
One in five has already been ten times
The survey calls them "enamorados" — tourists with at least ten trips to the islands behind them. In Lanzarote they are 24.8%.
TOURIST PROFILE · 2025
The Canary Islands tourist, 2025: 12 findings that surprise
Promotur Turismo de Canarias publishes the most detailed X-ray of the archipelago’s visitors every year: who they are, what they spend, why they picked these islands and what they do while they are here. We read all twelve pages of the 2025 report and pulled out what genuinely surprises.
Source: Promotur Turismo de Canarias, "Perfil del turista. Canarias e islas: 2025", built on the ISTAC Tourism Expenditure Survey (EGT). Universe: tourists aged 16 and over.
Tourists surveyed
16,123,626
Aged 16 or over, 2025
Tourism turnover
€23,185m
€16,837m excluding flights
Average daily spend
€178.16
€129.30 without the flight
Overall satisfaction
8.77/10
9.01 out of 10 for recommending
Twelve findings you would not expect
The most curious numbers in the report, at a glance
02
93.3%
An archipelago visited one island at a time
Only 5.7% sleep on two islands and 1% on three or more. Island hopping is the exception, not the rule.
03
8.0%
Nightlife barely counts
Just 8% call it very important when choosing the Canaries. Climate is named by 74.6% and safety by 56%.
04
19.1%
La Palma does not come to rest
Resting is the main motive for 50.2% of Canary tourists but only 19.1% in La Palma, where 59.6% come to explore.
05
51.9%
The volcano is now a tourist attraction
51.9% of La Palma visitors go to see the 2021 Cumbre Vieja volcano — more than the Roque de los Muchachos observatory (47.6%).
06
49.9%
Half of Fuerteventura is all-inclusive
Almost half of its tourists book all-inclusive, against 29.4% archipelago-wide. Only 50% ever spend in a restaurant, the lowest figure in the islands.
07
€393.68
The flight eats a quarter of the trip
Of the €1,438 an average trip costs, €393.68 is the plane ticket. Without it, daily spend drops from €178.16 to €129.30.
08
55.9%
More than half would pay a tourist tax
55.9% would accept one and only 17.6% refuse. The catch: 70.2% would not go above €2 a night.
09
40.8%
They would not pay a cent more for their footprint
40.8% would spend nothing extra to cut their trip’s carbon footprint, and just 4.3% weighed environmental impact when choosing how to get around.
10
6.58
Crowding is the worst-rated thing
Of eleven sustainability items, crowding in tourist areas is the only one below 7. Residents’ tolerance towards tourism scores 8.55.
11
20.1%
Tenerife owns the theme-park market
20.1% of its tourists spend at theme parks, four times the share in Gran Canaria (4.9%) or Lanzarote (4.9%).
12
16.6%
A grown-ups’ destination
Only 16.6% travel with children and 47.1% come as a couple and nothing else. In La Palma just 9.8% bring children.
Spain’s most loyal destination
Only 28% of tourists are setting foot in the Canaries for the first time
Tourists who had been before
% repeat visitors, by the island where they spent most of the trip
The "enamorados": ten visits or more
% of tourists with at least ten trips to the islands
The one-island archipelago
The Canaries have eight inhabited islands, yet 93.3% of their tourists sleep on just one for the whole trip. Only 5.7% stay overnight on two and 1% on three or more. Even repeat visitors stay put: 65% of returning Gran Canaria tourists come back to Gran Canaria, and 70.8% of Lanzarote’s return to Lanzarote.
One island 93.3%Two islands 5.7%Three or more islands 1.0%
They do not come for the beaches
% calling each aspect "very important" when choosing the Canaries
Beaches come seventh and nightlife closes the list. Highlighted in red.
What this means
What the Canaries actually sell is not the beach: it is winter climate, a feeling of safety and quiet. Three in four tourists name the climate as decisive; beaches convince fewer than four in ten, and the cultural offer or historic heritage barely one in ten.
How they plan the trip
Information sources used (multiple answers)
Memory competes with the internet: almost half plan using what they remember from earlier trips.
How far ahead they book
% of tourists by booking lead time
54% book more than three months out. In Lanzarote, 26% book more than six months ahead.
The flight takes a quarter of it
Average daily spend by island, with and without the plane ticket
Total daily spend
Excluding the flight
The average trip costs €1,438 per tourist; the plane ticket, €393.68. Total inbound tourism turnover was €23,185m in 2025, of which €16,837m sits outside air transport.
What they actually pay for
% spending anything on each item, and the average ticket among those who do
| Item | % who spend anything | Average among those who do |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and cafés | 68.9% | €214 |
| Supermarket shopping | 57.8% | €114 |
| Taxi | 50.8% | €93 |
| Souvenirs | 41.8% | €88 |
| Car hire | 33.6% | €121 |
| Organised excursions | 24.5% | €96 |
| Public transport | 12.6% | €28 |
| Clubs | 11.0% | €100 |
| Theme parks | 10.9% | €77 |
| Medical and pharmacy costs | 6.7% | €47 |
| Sports activities | 6.4% | €106 |
| Museums | 5.8% | €39 |
| Wellness | 5.0% | €89 |
| Inter-island tickets | 4.8% | €84 |
| Cultural activities | 2.7% | €58 |
A curiosity: 41.8% buy souvenirs (€88 on average) and 6.7% have medical or pharmacy costs (€47). Only 2.7% pay for cultural activities.
Five islands, five different destinations
The archipelago-wide average hides profiles that barely resemble each other
La Palma is another country
La Palma against the Canary Islands average
La Palma
Canary Islands average
La Palma’s tourist hires a car (82.7%), walks (57.8% go hiking), looks at the stars (17.4%) and spends 8.3 hours a day out of the hotel, the highest in the islands. They also rate the experience best: 49.4% say it beat their expectations.
Fuerteventura, the all-inclusive island
% of tourists on an all-inclusive board basis
61.5% arrive on a package and only 50% ever spend in a restaurant, twenty-seven points below Tenerife (77.1%). Its daily spend is the second lowest at €166.72.
Lanzarote, the oldest and most museum-minded
Average tourist age, in years
In Lanzarote 33.8% are over 60 and 13.6% spend on museums, more than double the average (5.8%) — the César Manrique effect. It is also the most British (51.1%) and Irish (11.2%) island.
- Tenerife is the theme-park island: 22.7% visit one and 20.1% spend money there, against 4.9% in Gran Canaria.
- Gran Canaria is the Nordic and solo-traveller island: 6.7% Norwegians, 5.0% Swedes and 17.8% travelling alone.
- Gran Canaria also has the longest stay (10.1 nights) and the highest spend per trip (€1,498).
- La Palma is German (42.1%) and mainland-Spanish (26.8%), and the only island where 15.9% sleep on two different islands.
Where they come from, island by island
% of each island’s tourists by country of residence · the row maximum is highlighted
| Market | All islands | Tenerife | Gran Canaria | Lanzarote | Fuerteventura | La Palma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 34.1% | 37.1% | 21.3% | 51.1% | 30.7% | 7.8% |
| Germany | 16.0% | 11.5% | 19.5% | 8.2% | 29.0% | 42.1% |
| Mainland Spain | 11.3% | 12.3% | 12.1% | 9.3% | 8.1% | 26.8% |
| France | 5.2% | 5.6% | 3.4% | 7.1% | 5.3% | 1.8% |
| Italy | 4.7% | 5.9% | 3.5% | 2.6% | 6.5% | 1.0% |
| Ireland | 4.5% | 3.7% | 2.4% | 11.2% | 2.6% | 0.6% |
| Netherlands | 4.2% | 3.5% | 7.2% | 2.6% | 3.0% | 5.4% |
| Belgium | 2.7% | 3.8% | 2.5% | 1.7% | 1.3% | 1.3% |
| Poland | 2.6% | 3.1% | 1.8% | 1.0% | 4.7% | 2.3% |
| Norway | 2.2% | 0.9% | 6.7% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.0% |
| Sweden | 1.8% | 0.9% | 5.0% | 0.3% | 0.9% | 0.1% |
| Denmark | 1.6% | 1.2% | 3.0% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 3.2% |
The UK and Germany together make up half of Canary tourism, but they split the map: Britons dominate Lanzarote and Tenerife, Germans Fuerteventura and La Palma, and the Nordics concentrate in Gran Canaria.
Who competes with the Canaries
Where they spent last year’s holiday
61.9% holidayed outside the Canaries last year and 27.9% came back to the archipelago. Greece and Italy tie as the main foreign rival (7.4% each).
What they do while they are here
% doing each activity during the stay
Only 2.3% never left their accommodation. The average is 7.5 hours a day outside.
The most visited places on each island
% of each island’s tourists who visited each place
Tenerife
- Teide National Park38.4%
- Santa Cruz de Tenerife32.3%
- La Laguna (World Heritage city)19.7%
- Garachico18.0%
- Los Gigantes cliffs17.8%
- La Orotava16.2%
Gran Canaria
- Maspalomas dunes50.4%
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria48.4%
- Puerto de Mogán41.9%
- The north21.4%
- The interior highlands20.2%
- Agaete14.4%
Lanzarote
- Arrecife32.1%
- Montaña del Fuego / Route of the Volcanoes27.2%
- Jameos del Agua22.9%
- Mirador del Río20.7%
- Teguise market19.3%
- Cueva de los Verdes17.7%
Fuerteventura
- Jandía beaches34.7%
- Corralejo dunes and Isla de Lobos32.5%
- El Cotillo26.1%
- Betancuria19.8%
- Betancuria viewpoint15.6%
- Cofete13.8%
La Palma
- Santa Cruz de La Palma74.3%
- Los Llanos de Aridane61.4%
- Puerto de Tazacorte60.1%
- Caldera de Taburiente National Park57.2%
- The new Cumbre Vieja volcano51.9%
- Route of the Volcanoes (Fuencaliente)50.4%
The striking entry is in La Palma: the Cumbre Vieja volcano, which erupted in 2021, draws more visitors (51.9%) than the Roque de los Muchachos observatory (47.6%) or the Los Tilos laurel forest (32.9%).
The tourist tax, according to the people who would pay it
Dedicated module of the report · data from 2024Q4 to 2025Q3
Would you pay a tax for each night of accommodation?
Answer given by Canary Islands tourists
Yes, would pay it 55.9%Not sure 26.5%Would not pay 17.6%
48.2% have already paid a tourist tax somewhere in the last five years, and only 20.9% rule out a destination for having one. In La Palma acceptance rises to 68.5%.
How much they would be willing to pay
% of those who would accept the tax
Seven in ten stop at €2 a night or less.
What it should be spent on
% of all tourists
The environment is the preferred use of the money, ahead of leaving it to the regional government’s discretion.
The green gap: they say it, they do not pay for it
Sustainability module of the report · 2023 data
How they rate the islands on sustainability
Average score from 0 to 10
Crowding in tourist areas is the only item below 7, while tourists give residents’ tolerance towards tourism an 8.55.
Would you pay more to cut your carbon footprint?
% of Canary Islands tourists
Four in ten would pay nothing. And when choosing how to get around, environmental impact matters to 4.3%, against 61.8% who choose for comfort.
What matters when choosing transport on the island
% naming each factor · multiple answers · 2025Q4
Frequently asked questions
What is the average Canary Islands tourist like?
They are 47.6 years old on average, travel as a couple (47.1%) and without children (83.4%), hold a higher-education degree (72.4%) and stay 9.2 nights on a single island. They spend €1,438 on the trip, €178.16 a day, and rate the stay 8.77 out of 10.
How much does a tourist spend per day in the Canary Islands?
€178.16 a day on average in 2025, or €129.30 once the flight is stripped out. Lanzarote has the highest daily spend (€184.01) and La Palma the lowest (€159.13).
Where do Canary Islands tourists come from?
34.1% from the United Kingdom and 16.0% from Germany, followed by mainland Spain (11.3%). The mix varies sharply by island: Lanzarote is British (51.1%) and La Palma German (42.1%).
How many Canary Islands tourists are repeat visitors?
72% had been before and 20.4% have made ten visits or more. La Palma (80.1%) and Lanzarote (78.4%) have the highest share of repeat visitors.
Would tourists accept a tourist tax in the Canary Islands?
55.9% say they would pay it, 26.5% are unsure and 17.6% refuse. Among those who accept, 70.2% would not go beyond €2 a night, and the preferred use of the money is the environment (17.6%).
Why do tourists choose the Canary Islands?
For the climate (74.6% call it very important), safety (56%) and peace and quiet (49.3%). Beaches come seventh (38.4%) and nightlife is last on the list (8%).
Methodology and sources
Every figure on this page comes from the report "Perfil del turista. Canarias e islas: 2025" by Promotur Turismo de Canarias, built on the Tourism Expenditure Survey (EGT) run by ISTAC, 2018 methodology.
The universe is tourists aged 16 and over, which is why the 16,123,626 head count is smaller than the 18,386,274 arrivals FRONTUR recorded in 2025: the gap is 2,262,648 children under 16. Canary airports also handled 22,065,485 direct-flight passengers, according to AENA.
The report’s modules do not all cover the same period: profile, spending and satisfaction are full-year 2025; mobility covers the fourth quarter of 2025; the tourist tax module runs from 2024Q4 to 2025Q3; and the sustainability block carries 2023 data. Percentages exclude "not applicable" and "no answer".
The monthly arrivals figures published elsewhere on this site come from FRONTUR, a different operation that counts main tourists of all ages.