Compiled with the help of artificial intelligence, based on Spanish-language information. Source below the article.
Canary Islands property crisis laid bare by new platform
Neither the snap election nor the death of Maricarmen Abascal has halted the enormous housing crisis that has been engulfing the whole country for years. A vulture fund evicted the woman who has become a symbol of the struggle for housing from the home in which she grew up for 71 years, and this has brought into focus the fact that 809,115 properties are in the hands of owners with more than ten homes in the same municipality, according to the platform Quien Tiene la Vivienda (Who Owns the Housing), created by the Canarian biologist and teacher Romén Herrera, who is also the founder of Vertidos Canarias and Canarias Bajo Presión.
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria tops the islands’ ranking
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria heads the ranking of Canarian municipalities with the greatest presence of large property owners. A total of 145 owners hold more than ten properties each. In a residential stock of 167,074 homes, this concentration of ownership shines a spotlight on a handful of players who have been gaining weight in the property market. Among them, Blackstone stands out. The US fund, through its various companies and linked brands, is the largest private owner of residential housing in the municipality, with 506 homes. Its position in the Gran Canarian capital forms part of a wider strategy, as it has accumulated 8,176 linked homes across Spain, making it the country’s leading large private residential owner, according to QTV based on data extracted from the 2025 Land Registry.
Nestar, Gramina Homes and other major players
One of the brands orbiting the property giant is Nestar. In Las Palmas de Gran Canaria there are 32 homes linked to this company, a small fraction of the roughly 9,500 it holds across the whole of Spain. Another name present in the Canarian market is Gramina Homes, a property company tied to investment funds with a presence on several islands. Its portfolio is spread across different municipalities: five properties in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, three in Tías (Lanzarote), two in El Rosario (Tenerife) and one each in Arrecife (Lanzarote), Santa Lucía de Tirajana and Valsequillo (Gran Canaria).
The list is completed by other operators with a smaller presence but which are equally significant. ASAM (Alquiler Seguro Asset Market) has two homes, while Techo Hogar has one.
Tourist use adds to the pressure
But the pressure on Las Palmas de Gran Canaria’s residential stock cannot be explained solely by the concentration of housing in the hands of large owners. Added to this reality is the advance of tourist use. Some 3,109 properties in the Gran Canarian capital are given over to this activity, in a municipality where access to housing is highly difficult. The paradox lies in the refusal by the PP and Coalición Canaria to declare it a stressed area on the grounds that they consider it “counterproductive”.
Arona and Tías lead among companies with over 100 homes
On the other hand, if we look for companies with more than 100 residential properties, Romén Herrera, in conversation with Canarias Ahora, places Arona in first place, with 16 properties, followed by Tías, with nine.
The Canary Islands’ public housing stock
In the public sector, the Canary Islands also stands out on the map of residential ownership. The archipelago is the region with the largest number of public bodies holding more than ten homes in their portfolio and accounts for 4.4% of the national public stock. A good part of those properties is in the hands of ICAVI (the Canarian Housing Institute), VISOCAN and Casa 47. These entities fall into the category of large owners because of the volume of properties they manage, although their role responds to a different logic from that of the private market, since their homes are earmarked for social purposes and protected by law, with no profit motive.
Canary Islands leads among individual owners
The weight of large property owners is not limited, however, to companies and public administrations. Among individuals too, the Canary Islands tops the national ranking. Some 1.4% own more than ten residential properties. At the other end of the scale, the bulk of owners in the archipelago operate on a somewhat smaller scale: 83.8% have between two and five homes. And more than half, 54.6%, own just one property.
Land Registry data and its blind spots
The Land Registry offers, with data updated to the end of 2025, one of the most complete X-rays of this distribution, by recording the properties linked to those liable for property tax (IBI). But it has some blind spots, as it does not allow the identity of the owning companies to be established. Romén Herrera’s platform, however, seeks to complete that information, which makes it possible to put names to some of the corporate owners. Cross-referencing both sources helps to identify where ownership is concentrated and who is behind it.
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