canary islands hotel prices surge march 2026

Canary Islands hotel prices surge 92% in 18 years

Tourism boom continues as prices soar

The Canary Islands keep churning out statistical records that underscore the prolonged tourism boom the archipelago has enjoyed since emerging from the pandemic in the second half of 2022. The service sector, centred on visitor arrivals and accounting for around 37% of regional GDP, remains firmly in the driving seat of the islands’ economy.

Yet all eyes are now on the potential impact of the Middle East conflict on the islands (which attracted over 18 million tourists in 2025 – 18.4 million, with nearly 16 million – 15.7 million – arriving from abroad). The big question is whether the effect will prove positive – like the Arab Spring, which diverted new flows of tourists towards the islands – or negative, due to a potential drop in demand driven by rising service costs, higher prices (particularly for flights), a general sense of insecurity, and other factors that could influence travel decisions and, ultimately, destination choices.

Despite the uncertain international climate and the difficulty of predicting how it might affect the islands’ dominant economic sector, the truth is that the business continues to deliver remarkable – even spectacular – financial results.

Hotel prices nearly double in 18 years

According to figures published this Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) in its Hotel Tourism Outlook report for March this year, what stands out – once again – is the extraordinarily strong rise in average hotel prices across Spain, and even more dramatically so in the Canary Islands. In less than two decades – 18 years, from March 2008 to March 2026 – the average cost of booking a hotel room per night has almost doubled, with a relative increase of 92.3% over the period studied (base 100 in March 2008).

This relative figure for the Canary Islands tourist destination – tracked through what is known as the Hotel Price Index (IPH) – is well above the national average of 47.4%. It also sits significantly higher than the levels recorded in the country’s other leading tourist regions: the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands. In these equally tourism-driven territories, the relative increases over the same period came in at 45% and 43% respectively.

In the Canary Islands, the year-on-year IPH for March 2026, comparing the current figure with March 2025, grew by 4.21%.

Room rates and revenue hit new highs

Nationally, average hotel revenue per occupied room (known as ADR) stood at 117.80 euros in March, according to the Hotel Tourism Outlook statistics for that month – a 3.7% increase on the same period in 2025. But in the Canary Islands, even without the boost from the peak days of Holy Week (which will be reflected in April’s figures: the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th), ADR reached 157 euros per room per night, a year-on-year rise of 5.6%.

Meanwhile, RevPAR (revenue per available room) hit an absolute average of 136.80 euros per day, up 5.2% year-on-year – undoubtedly driven by the strong hotel occupancy rate of 75% recorded across the islands in March, just as the archipelago’s high tourist season was drawing to a close and ahead of Holy Week’s busiest days.

For Spain as a whole, average daily revenue per available room (RevPAR) reached 75 euros per day or night, representing a year-on-year increase of 3.8%.

Top destinations: Tenerife leads with 2.2 million overnight stays

The top domestic tourism destinations in March were Andalusia, Catalonia and the Valencian Community, accounting for 19.8%, 13.9% and 12.7% of all overnight stays respectively. However, the most popular choices for non-residents – essentially foreign tourists – were the Canary Islands (37.7% of the total), followed by Andalusia (15.6%) and Catalonia (15.4%).

By tourist area, the island of Tenerife recorded the highest number of overnight stays, with over 2.2 million visitors. The top tourist hotspots were Barcelona, Madrid and San Bartolomé de Tirajana on the island of Gran Canaria. The United Kingdom and Germany continue to dominate the source markets.

Occupancy rates: Canary Islands lead the country

In March 2026, 53.7% of available bed spaces were occupied across Spain as a whole, a 1.5% increase on the previous March. Weekend occupancy rates for the country rose by just 0.1%, reaching 59.3%.

The Canary Islands recorded the highest overall bed occupancy rate in March, at 75%. By tourist zone, southern Gran Canaria achieved the highest bed occupancy rate both overall and at weekends, at 79% and 78.4% respectively. Meanwhile, the tourist hotspot with the highest occupancy – both overall and at weekends – was Mogán in southern Gran Canaria, hitting 80.4%.

Source

Scroll to Top