Residents of the Canary Islands travelled significantly less during the first three months of 2026, with the number of trips falling by 33% compared with the same period last year, according to new figures from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE).
Between January and March, Canary Islands residents made 963,122 trips, down from 1,441,843 in the first quarter of 2025, a reduction of 478,721 journeys.
The decline mirrors a wider national trend. Across Spain, residents made 33.2 million trips during the first quarter, representing a 4.4% decrease compared with the same period a year earlier.
The INE’s Resident Tourism Survey also found that fewer Spanish residents travelled to the Canary Islands. Visitor numbers from mainland Spain and the rest of the country fell from 1.38 million in the first quarter of 2025 to 879,081 this year.
As a result, total tourist spending by Spanish residents in the Canary Islands dropped from €492.2 million to €435.9 million. Despite the decline in visitor numbers, average spending per visitor increased sharply, rising from €357 to €496.
Canary Islands residents also spent less on their own trips away from home. Their total travel expenditure fell from €574.1 million in the first quarter of 2025 to €472.6 million this year.
However, those who did travel spent more on average, with average expenditure per trip increasing from €398 to €491, reflecting a trend towards fewer but more expensive journeys.
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