Buggy safari operators face police checks over permits in Lanzarote

Buggy safari operators in Lanzarote face police checks after Teguise’s mayor admitted the council could not confirm whether companies using local rural tracks hold valid authorisations.

The announcement follows years of complaints from residents, particularly in Guatiza, about organised excursions passing close to homes and through the surrounding countryside.

Speaking at Friday’s council meeting, mayor Olivia Duque said officers would request operators’ documents so their authorisations could be checked with the Cabildo, Lanzarote’s island government, however, no date was announced for the checks.

Why are residents calling for action?

For visitors, a buggy excursion offers a different way to explore Lanzarote. For people living beside the routes, repeated convoys have become a source of frustration.

Residents have complained about engine noise, clouds of dust and damage to paths and surrounding land. Guatiza’s village association, La Unión, has taken its concerns to Seprona, the Guardia Civil’s environmental protection service, after seeking action from the council and Cabildo.

The dispute also involves conflicting interpretations of planning rules. A Cabildo technical report issued in June 2025 concluded that organised motor excursions involving more than three vehicles were prohibited in the natural environment under the existing arrangements.

Earlier authorisations had relied on a different interpretation of the island’s planning rules.

Why have new restrictions taken so long?

Teguise initially approved tighter controls in November 2025, but the proposed rules have still not received final approval.

Objections challenged both the restrictions and the council’s powers to impose them. The authority subsequently sought advice from the DGT, Spain’s traffic authority, and the Cabildo about what it could regulate and how penalties could be enforced.

Those questions remained unresolved in the latest account of the process.

The Cabildo has also announced consultation on an island-wide approach, potentially involving tightly restricted authorised routes or provisional regulations.

That leaves two separate issues: whether existing excursions have the necessary permissions, and what additional restrictions should apply in future. The delay to new rules does not itself establish that every current route is authorised.

What happens next?

Duque said the council needed to establish the status of operators’ permits before taking further action.

Councillor Ginés González, responsible for traffic and local police, said checks would cover other vehicles using rural tracks as well as buggies.

A proposal to suspend or limit excursions pending definitive regulation was rejected at Friday’s meeting.

For holidaymakers considering a trip, it is sensible to ask the operator to confirm that its permissions cover the advertised route. Residents, meanwhile, are still waiting to hear when the promised checks will begin.