Lorraine Williamson
The Canary Islands’ housing squeeze has now landed on the European Commission’s desk. Spain is asking Brussels to open the legal door to the Canary Islands’ second-home restrictions—rules that would make it harder to buy homes that won’t be used as a main residence. The stated goal is straightforward: cool demand, steady prices, and improve access for residents, especially younger people and vulnerable households.
Across Spain, housing affordability has become a political pressure point. But on islands, the problem can become structural: limited land, heavy tourism demand, and a market that attracts outside buyers looking for lifestyle homes or rental returns. The Canaries have become a flashpoint in that debate, with local leaders warning that the balance between visitors, investors, and residents is tipping too far away from the people who live and work there year-round.
Spain’s request is framed as part of a wider EU discussion about housing stress and affordability—including new Commission initiatives aimed at boosting supply and addressing pressure points such as short-term rentals in high-stress areas.
The legal route Spain is trying to use
The move hinges on the Canary Islands’ status as an EU “outermost region” (RUP—región ultraperiférica). These territories are fully inside EU law, but the treaties recognise their specific constraints and allow tailored measures in certain areas.
Madrid, via the Foreign Affairs Ministry, has asked that upcoming EU-level simplifications for outermost regions explicitly allow member states to introduce limits on buying homes for non-residential use—meaning purchases for second homes, investment, or certain holiday-let models, rather than as a primary residence.
Importantly, this is not a new Spanish law yet. It is a request for permission—an enabling framework—so Spain (and potentially other EU outermost regions) could legislate later if Brussels agrees.
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What the restriction would likely target
Based on how the proposal has been described publicly, the emphasis is on use rather than nationality. In other words, the key test would be whether the property is intended as a primary residence.
That distinction matters. EU rules strongly protect the free movement of capital, which includes property purchases. A use-based restriction is being pitched as a narrower, more defensible intervention than an outright ban on foreign buyers.
The Canary Islands’ own push from the ground up
The regional government has been urging Brussels to consider exceptional measures for some time. Canarian President Fernando Clavijo has repeatedly argued that standard EU rules do not fit island reality, where external demand can overwhelm local wages and supply.
Some proposals aired locally have focused more directly on limiting purchases by non-resident foreigners. Madrid’s current approach appears broader, with the stated policy aim of easing housing pressure by discouraging purchases that remove homes from the long-term residential stock.
What happens next (and what doesn’t)
The European Commission must now assess whether an exemption is legally and economically justified. That means analysis, consultation and—if it progresses—rules that must still survive political scrutiny and legal challenge.
Until any EU change is approved and Spain drafts legislation under that new umbrella, nothing changes on the ground. Purchases by EU citizens remain broadly permitted under current rules.
Key questions answered
Would this stop people from buying in the Canaries?
Not automatically. The proposal is about enabling a legal framework. Any actual restrictions would come later, via Spanish (or regional) legislation.
Is it aimed at foreigners?
The messaging so far focuses on whether the home is a primary residence, not the buyer’s passport. Separate Canarian proposals have discussed non-resident foreign buyers, but Madrid’s request is described as use-based.
How long could this take?
There is no fixed timetable. The Commission’s review would come first, then any Spanish legislative process.
Why this matters beyond the Canaries
If Brussels agrees, the precedent could be watched closely by other territories facing similar pressures—particularly places where tourism and second-home demand collide with tight supply. That includes other EU outermost regions, and it may also intensify debate in non-RUP areas such as the Balearics, where housing affordability is equally combustible but the legal route is different.
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Housing, politics, and the island model
The deeper argument is not only about who can buy, but what kind of economy an island chooses to be: a visitor-first marketplace where housing becomes an asset class, or a resident-first system where long-term living is protected as essential infrastructure. Spain has now put that question to Brussels—formally, and publicly.
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