The request from the mayor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Carolina Darias, for the Canary Islands Government to declare the capital a tensioned zone is met with an opposing stance from the regional Executive. The Housing department bases its disagreement on its own studies suggesting the measure might not effectively lower rental prices and could even be counterproductive.
Darias recently stated that 'the Government does not want to see the possibility of lowering rent for families in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.' However, the Ministry of Housing avoids direct confrontation and recalls that additional information requested from the City Council has yet to be delivered.
The Canary Government's opposition is supported by reports such as the one from the Rental Observatory of the Alquiler Seguro Foundation. According to this data, since the Housing Law came into effect, the rental supply in the city has significantly decreased, from 26,019 to 18,809 homes, while interest in each property has doubled.
The regional Government interprets this market contraction as an adverse reaction to the regulations that would be imposed by declaring a tensioned zone. They estimate it would also have no direct impact on prices, which have risen from around 800 euros to approximately 1,200 euros per month.
Nevertheless, reports used by the Canary Islands Government do raise alarms about housing costs in the capital, indicating that citizens dedicate 38.5% of their income to housing, exceeding the 35% threshold considered at risk.
This scenario of opposing viewpoints highlights the lack of agreement between the two administrations on policies requiring collaboration, as is already evident in other urban development and infrastructure projects.
