canary islands record foreign investment 2025 tourism

Canary Islands Shatter Foreign Investment Record in 2025

Record-Breaking Year for Foreign Investment

The Canary Islands sealed an impeccable 2025 in terms of tourism figures. The number of visitors once again reached record levels and the sector’s turnover increased by 7% compared to the previous year, which had already set a historic high. These strong results and the excellent prospects for the archipelago’s main industry this year – before US President Donald Trump’s decisions shattered any global forecast following his attack on Iran – meant the Islands caught the eye of international investors. Consequently, the foreign capital that arrived in the Canary Islands in 2025 became the largest ever recorded in the region.

Investment Doubles in Just Twelve Months

Throughout the entire year, foreign companies directed a total of €327 million in investments to the Islands. A number that, stated plainly, might be misleading. Is it a lot or a little? But when compared with the figures harvested in this same area in previous years, it banishes any doubt. The €327 million that arrived in the Canaries from abroad in the form of investment is not only the largest amount recorded in history, but it has also doubled the amount garnered just one year earlier. In other words, foreign investment in the Islands has multiplied by two in just twelve months.

According to data published by the State Secretariat for Trade, in 2024 the autonomous community’s productive sector received an injection of €138 million in foreign capital. This means that last year investment increased by €189 million. One must look back to 2004 to find a figure as substantial as that of 2025. Furthermore, the vast majority of that capital, up to €318.3 million, is equity or capital investment, meaning effective investment. Only the remainder is intra-group financing, which is an investment with little or no socio-economic impact. Therefore, it can be said that the bulk of this amount will have a real impact on the archipelago’s economy.

Regional Surge Defies National Decline

This substantial increase in the region occurs in a context where it is receding at a national level. The drop in foreign investment reaches 21.8% across Spain as a whole, which is registering its worst year since the pandemic despite the lure of European funds. Although, as also happens in the case of the archipelago, in foreign investment there are ‘boosted’ years and others that are less so, due to large deals potentially closing in one year and distorting the data. That said, perspective must not be lost: the Canary Islands are not even close to being among the Spanish regions that accumulate the heftiest foreign investment. Only six autonomous communities recorded less incoming capital than the Islands in 2025.

However, last year the archipelago did manage to overtake the other autonomy where tourism holds at least a similar weight in its overall economy: the Balearic Islands. The foreign investment that reached the other Spanish archipelago amounted to €306.3 million, meaning the Canary Islands’ productive sector received €21.1 million more. This overtaking by the Canaries had only happened on a few occasions since 1993.

Tourism and Property: The Main Magnets for Capital

If one takes a more detailed look at where those millions arriving in the Canaries from foreign investment end up, it leaves no doubt that tourism activity generates the greatest interest. Up to €203 million of the total goes to hotel accommodation. In other words, six out of every ten euros that the Canary Islands’ productive sector receives from abroad is invested in these tourism industry establishments.

But there is another sector that foreign investors have also set their sights on, and it has become the second to attract the largest amount of capital: housing. The dizzying increase in prices, coupled with high demand from both foreigners and residents, has caused the money arriving from abroad to fuel this activity to skyrocket. Last year alone, rental activity received €65.6 million in foreign capital in the Canaries. Following this, with €15 million, real estate services are the third sector where foreign investment was most substantial in the past financial year.

Leading Investor Nations

But which country invested the most in the Canary Islands last year? Norway and Greece occupy the top positions. From the former, €123.6 million arrived in 2025, while Greek investors put in €64 million. The United States, Germany, Italy, and Denmark also each invested over €10 million in the Archipelago in 2025.

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