The Minister of Health, Esther Monzón, and the Dean of the Notarial College of the Canary Islands, Alfonso Manuel Cavallé, have ratified the extension of the collaboration agreement between both institutions. This agreement facilitates the granting of Advance Healthcare Directives (MAV) in the healthcare sector.
In 2025, a total of 4,611 MAVs were registered, representing an increase of 26.6 percent compared to those granted in 2024. The MAV is a written document that records the patient's instructions and choices regarding their health care, treatments, disposition of their body after death, and designation of representatives.
The primary objective of MAVs is to ensure that the grantor's preferences are respected when they are unable to express them personally. The document can be formalized before public officials of the MAV Registry, at a notary's office, or before three witnesses. The Registry of Advance Healthcare Directives, attached to the Ministry of Health, is public, free, and unique for the entire Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands.
Thanks to the agreement, those who choose to formalize their MAV at a notary's office can visit any notary belonging to the Notarial College of the Canary Islands, after obtaining authorization from the Ministry requested via 012. For each authorized MAV granted before a notary, the Ministry will pay a budgeted amount.
Last year, of the 4,611 MAVs registered, 86 percent were made before a public official, 13 percent before a notary (632 cases), and 0.33 percent before witnesses (15 cases). Currently, there are 28,276 active MAVs in the Canary Islands, with 63.87 percent granted by women.
MAVs allow for the expression of personal values, acceptance or rejection of treatments, requests for palliative care, and acceptance or rejection of euthanasia, in accordance with Organic Law 3/2021. They also include provisions for organ donation after death.
Formalization can be done before authorized public officials (appointment via 012), before any notary of the Notarial College of the Canary Islands (with prior authorization), or before three witnesses (adults, with no marital, kinship, or employment ties to the grantor). Since November 2025, it is also possible to do it online through the College of Physicians of Las Palmas.
