Region · Spain
Living in the Canary Islands
the Canary Islands sits between Spain's extremes on climate: winters near 15.7°C, summer highs around 26.2°C, and roughly 35 rainy days a year. Summer water stress reads WEI+ 0 against a national 56. On our six settler profiles, the Canary Islands is worth a look if you're investor (ranks #1 of 17 regions), and probably not the one if you're budget_inland (#17 of 17).
Overview
On the wallet: homes run about €2,016/m² (about the national average (€2,024/m²)); median net income is about €13,285 per person (7% below the national average (€14,279)).
Public healthcare here means a mean surgical wait around 106 days (3% above the national average (103 days)), with 17.4% of the surgical list waiting over six months — a real, published number, not a brochure claim.
We publish 9 of the Canary Islands's 88 municipalities in depth so far — the ones with a full guide portrait to sit alongside the numbers, weighted toward the milder-summer north. Every figure below is shown against the national reference, gaps included.
Who the Canary Islands is for — and who should look elsewhere
Not our opinion: we ran the same scoring engine behind the quiz for six settler profiles across all 8,132 municipalities, then took the median score of the Canary Islands's towns and ranked it among Spain's 17 comunidades. It answers "how does the typical town here score, versus the typical town elsewhere?"
Good to explore if you're
- investor #1 of 17 regions
- year_round_mild #3 of 17 regions
- Retiring couples #4 of 17 regions
- winter_sun #4 of 17 regions
- british_retiree #5 of 8 regions
- british_settler #5 of 8 regions
- english_speaker #6 of 8 regions
- Families with school-age kids #6 of 17 regions
Probably skip if you want
- budget_inland #17 of 17 regions
Ranked 1–17 by the median national percentile of the region's municipalities for each profile (higher median = better place to explore). Hover a town's own page for the town-level version.
The numbers for the Canary Islands
Region-level data, each figure against the national reference. Where a figure is a comunidad-autónoma reading rather than a town measurement, we say so under the card.
Climate
- Winter average
- 15.7°C #1 of 17 regions · +7.9°C vs national 7.9 °C above the national average (7.8°C)
- Summer high
- 26.2°C #5 of 17 regions · −4°C vs national 4 °C below the national average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 35 days #2 of 17 regions · −33 days vs national 49% below the national average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- 7.8 h/day #5 of 17 regions · +0.5 h/day vs national 7% above the national average (7.2 h/day)
- Summer water stress (WEI+)
- no data
Aggregated from the region's municipalities (AEMET/derived); summer water stress is a river-basin (WEI+) reading.
Schools
- PISA maths
- 447 #17 of 17 regions · −32 vs national 32 points below the national average (479)
- PISA reading
- 463 #15 of 17 regions · −15 vs national 15 points below the national average (478)
- PISA science
- 473 #16 of 17 regions · −16 vs national 16 points below the national average (489)
PISA 2022, reported per comunidad autónoma (INEE). National reference = the mean across the 17 comunidades.
Healthcare
- Surgical wait
- 106 days #12 of 17 regions · +3 days vs national 3% above the national average (103 days)
- Waiting over 6 months
- 17.4% #10 of 17 regions · +0.7 pts vs national 0.7 pts above the national average (16.6%)
- Specialist consult wait
- 162 days #17 of 17 regions · +67 days vs national 70% above the national average (95 days)
Public waiting lists, SISLE-SNS Dic 2025 (2025-12-31), per comunidad autónoma.
Cost & economy
- Median net income / person
- €13,285 #12 of 17 regions · −€994 vs national 7% below the national average (€14,279)
- Median home price
- €2,016/m² #11 of 17 regions · −€8/m² vs national about the national average (€2,024/m²)
Median across the region's municipalities (INE net income; Catastro-derived sale price).
Who lives here
- Born in Spain
- 77.3% 11.5 pts below the national average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 8.4% 4.6 pts above the national average (3.8%)
Share of residents by place of birth, averaged across the region's municipalities (INE).
Tax posture (2025)
- Wealth tax standard
- Applies the state wealth-tax scale with no general bonificación — a real annual wealth tax above the €700k exemption.
- Inheritance & gifts none
- 99.9% bonificación for spouse, children and parents (Grupo I & II) — inheritance is effectively negligible.
- Buying resale (ITP)
- General transfer tax around 6.5% — General ITP ~6.5% on resale. New builds: IGIC (not IVA) typically 7% + AJD.
- Buying new-build
- IVA/IGIC around 7%; AJD around 0.75%.
- Annual property tax (IBI)
- Municipal rates typically 0.4–1.1% of cadastral value — set by each town, not the region.
State ITSGF above ~€3M net worth; wealth tax paid is credited against it. Source: primary source. General posture, not personal tax advice — thresholds, reduced rates and reliefs change and depend on your circumstances. ITP/AJD figures are regional general rates for budgeting, not a quote.
Best towns in the Canary Islands, by what you're after
The same engine as the quiz, run over the Canary Islands's towns and filtered to the ones we profile in depth. Top of each list, in the engine's order — not hand-picked.
Best towns in the Canary Islands for families
schools, coast and cost, scored for remote-working parents
- Icod de los Vinos 12 km from the sea · a hospital in town
- Arrecife 2 km from the sea · a hospital in town
- Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las 3 km from the sea · a hospital in town
- Puerto de la Cruz 13 km from the sea · a hospital in town
- Candelaria 4 km from the sea · 28 min to a hospital
Best towns in the Canary Islands for mild summers
ranked on the July–August average high
- Icod de los Vinos 12 km from the sea · mild 26.2°C summer highs
- Puerto de la Cruz 13 km from the sea · mild 26.2°C summer highs
- Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las 3 km from the sea · mild 24.6°C summer highs
- Candelaria 4 km from the sea · mild 25.2°C summer highs
- Orotava, La 7 km from the sea · mild 22.8°C summer highs
Best-value towns in the Canary Islands
cheap to buy in, but still a real town with services
- Puerto de la Cruz 31,589 people · 13 km from the sea
- Icod de los Vinos 24,675 people · 12 km from the sea
- Arrecife 2 km from the sea · 70,265 people
- Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las 3 km from the sea · a hospital in town
- Adeje 8 km from the sea · 50,612 people
Town profiles in the Canary Islands
We profile 9 of the Canary Islands's 88 municipalities in depth — numbers plus an honest portrait. More as we cover them.
- Adeje Santa Cruz de Tenerife
- Arrecife Palmas, Las
- Candelaria Santa Cruz de Tenerife
- Garachico Santa Cruz de Tenerife
- Icod de los Vinos Santa Cruz de Tenerife
- Orotava, La Santa Cruz de Tenerife
- Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Las
- Puerto de la Cruz Santa Cruz de Tenerife
- Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Compare the Canary Islands with…
Torn between two regions? Head-to-head, data-only — climate, cost, schools, health waits and tax, side by side.
See how the Canary Islands's towns rank for you
These are the Canary Islands's regional numbers. Whether it fits you depends on your priorities — winter sun or mild summers, short medical waits, a city or a village, an easy flight home. The 3-minute quiz scores every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on what you care about — and we'll flag the Canary Islands as one to watch, so your results surface its best towns for you.
Take the quiz — rank the Canary Islands for you →