More than 1,000 registered holiday rental properties in La Laguna, Tenerife, have been found to be missing a key municipal requirement, potentially preventing them from continuing to advertise on holiday rental platforms.

La Laguna Council says that of the 1,179 holiday homes registered with the Canary Islands tourism authorities, 92.7% have not completed the required prior notification procedure with the local council for what are legally classified activities.

This means 1,093 properties are currently without the necessary municipal authorisation identified by the council.

The findings form part of La Laguna's new Municipal Inspection and Control Plan for holiday homes, designed to establish the legal status of tourist accommodation operating throughout the municipality.

Of the 1,179 registered properties, only 86 have completed or started the required procedure with the council. Of these, 41 have already passed the relevant checks, 14 are awaiting an initial inspection, and another 31 are currently correcting documentation or other issues identified by officials.

Registrations could be withdrawn

Under the first stage of the council's plan, details of the 1,093 properties without the required municipal documentation will be sent to the Tenerife Cabildo.

The Cabildo will then be responsible for processing the potential withdrawal of their tourism declarations due to the omission of an essential requirement.

According to the council, this could result in properties losing their holiday rental registration number and being unable to advertise legally on digital booking platforms.

Further stages will deal with existing cases already being processed by the council, including inspections and requests for owners to correct outstanding issues.

Working alongside the Tenerife Cabildo, officials will subsequently carry out individual inspections of properties that continue operating as holiday accommodation without a valid registration or the required municipal approval.

Priority will be given to properties that have received complaints from neighbours, those operated by large-scale landlords, and properties where there are indications of potential safety risks.

The council says it will also be able to take immediate action where a holiday rental presents a safety concern or is involved in repeated disputes affecting neighbours.

Other Tenerife councils expected to carry out similar checks

Importantly, this process is not limited to La Laguna. The requirements introduced by the new Canary Islands legislation apply across the islands, meaning other local councils in Tenerife will also have to check and control holiday rental properties operating within their municipalities.

La Laguna says it is one of the first municipalities in the Canary Islands to complete this stage of the process, but similar checks are expected elsewhere, particularly in the south of the island, as councils implement their own inspection and control procedures.

This means owners operating holiday lets in other parts of Tenerife should not assume they are unaffected simply because their local council has not yet contacted them or carried out an inspection.

Properties operating without the correct registration, municipal documentation or other required permissions could be identified as the checks progress, potentially putting their ability to continue operating as holiday accommodation at risk.

Holiday lets currently account for just 1.57% of homes in La Laguna

The measures come as municipalities across the Canary Islands adapt to Law 6/2025, which introduced major changes to the regulation of holiday rental properties.

One of the central elements of the legislation is whether holiday accommodation is compatible with local planning regulations.

La Laguna is currently reviewing its General Urban Development Plan, which will ultimately have to identify areas where holiday rentals can operate, establish compatibility requirements and potentially introduce limits on their numbers.

However, the council stressed that current holiday rental numbers in La Laguna remain considerably below the maximum permitted under the legislation.

The law allows tourist accommodation to account for up to 10% of the total housing stock, according to the council.

La Laguna has approximately 75,000 properties, meaning its 1,179 registered holiday homes currently represent only around 1.57% of the municipality's housing stock.

The council says its new planning regulations will need to strike a balance between protecting residents' access to housing, maintaining social cohesion and preserving local heritage while also recognising the economic importance of tourism.

Years of uncertainty over holiday rental rules

La Laguna Mayor Luis Yeray Gutiérrez said the new inspection plan would allow the municipality to properly implement the legislation and bring greater order to an area that has caused “social concern and a lack of administrative clarity for years.”

He said greater cooperation between the different authorities should ensure that holiday rental activity develops with greater safety, transparency and respect for residential areas.

However, the council has also warned that implementing the new legislation will place considerable pressure on local authorities.

Housing Councillor Adolfo Cordobés said councils would need clear guidance over their responsibilities, sufficient resources and legal certainty to implement the rules effectively.

He also stressed that the discrepancy between information supplied by holiday rental owners when registering their properties and the records held by the municipality cannot be blamed on one administration alone.

According to the council, before Law 6/2025 came into force, local authorities did not have direct access to the Canary Islands General Tourism Register or to the declarations submitted to the Cabildo.

Holiday rentals also lacked a uniform legal classification.

The new legislation changes this by formally defining holiday accommodation as a classified activity and requiring councils to establish municipal inspection and control plans.

For holiday rental owners across Tenerife, the message is increasingly clear: being listed on the Canary Islands tourism register does not necessarily mean that a property meets every municipal requirement needed to operate legally.

As other councils carry out their own checks, owners operating without the correct permits and documentation could find their properties under scrutiny and potentially face the loss of their right to operate legally as holiday accommodation.