The Canary Islands have seen a drop in tourist numbers from a certain country
10:48, 22 Jul 2025Updated 10:49, 22 Jul 2025
Playa Papagayo(Image: Getty)
The number of visitors from a certain country travelling to a Spanish island has dropped by thousands in the space of a year.
German tourist numbers have dropped by nearly 30,000 in one year in Lanzarote. Between January and May 2025, approximately 146,079 German tourists were recorded in Lanzarote, compared to 174,976 during the same period last year.
Nevertheless, the Canary Islands Statistics Institute (ISTAC), which published the data, predicted that tourist numbers would match last summer’s figures despite fewer German visitors. This was primarily due to an increase in British tourists, which rose by just under 40,000, despite the widespread protests that have happened across the archipelago.
British tourists visiting Lanzarote grew from 691,902 to 738,387 for the five-month period year-on-year, as reported in Gazette Life.
Lanzarote performed well overall, with 1.4 million international visitors, which is 46,188 more than the same period in 2024.
Previously, the Canary Islands tourism industry had expressed concern about the German government’s proposal to increase air ticket taxation, reports the Express.
The aviation tax rise took effect in May 2024, pushing the levy for short-haul flights from €12.48 per ticket to €15.53. Nicolás Villalobos, the General Director of the Cordial Group, described it as “very bad news”.
Protests erupted in Tenerife about overtourism in the Canary Islands(Image: Getty)
Christoph Ploss, the government’s tourism policy coordinator, stated that the former government had made holidays more costly for Germans. “A well-deserved holiday in Majorca must not become unaffordable,” he was quoted in the German newspaper Bild.
According to figures released by the Canary Islands National Statistics Institute (INE), there were strong visitor numbers across the Canary Islands, despite widespread protests.
Residents have voiced concerns about the effects of mass tourism, including rising living and housing costs, strained infrastructure, a loss of cultural identity, and overcrowding.
According to Euro News, the islands welcomed 4.36 million international visitors in the first quarter of 2025, marking a 2.1% increase year on year.