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Renting vehicles in the Canary Islands

Spain removed the licensing requirements for rental without a driver in 2009. The Canary Islands did not. If you are renting out vehicles here, or hiring one, the rules that apply are the islands' own.

Last updated: 2026-08-27

The islands kept their own regime

Rental without a driver is governed by Ley 13/2007 and its implementing Decreto 72/2012 (arts. 114–126). It requires a prior notification to the Cabildo Insular, commercial premises that are not the operator's home, a minimum fleet of twenty vehicles, garage capacity for a quarter of that fleet, limits on vehicle age, and a price list stamped by the Cabildo before it is used.

What that means in practice

Every lawful supplier of car or van rental in the Canaries is an established business. There is no compliant way for a private person to rent out their own car here, which is why Canarionet carries rental listings only from organisations.

Motorhomes are outside that law

Ley 4/2025, of 1 August, added article 2.3 to Ley 13/2007, excluding the rental of motorhomes from its scope. The twenty-vehicle minimum, the premises rule, the age limits and the price filing do not reach motorhome rental. What regime replaced it is not settled, so we ask motorhome operators for their tourism registry entry without making it a condition of publishing.

With a driver is a different regime entirely

Renting a vehicle with a driver is VTC activity: prior authorisation from the Cabildo, a minimum of ten vehicles, and its own vehicle rules. Canarionet does not carry it, and nothing on this page applies to it.

This is a description, not legal advice

We wrote this from the published texts because nobody else sets it out plainly. It has not yet been reviewed by a lawyer, and the law changes — Ley 4/2025 is recent. Check your own position with a professional before relying on it.

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