In Maspalomas, tourism isn't just an economic sector: it's the lifeblood of southern Gran Canaria. Hotels, apartments, restaurants, industrial laundries, tour companies, maintenance companies, car rental companies, and supermarkets depend on a machine finely tuned to the smallest detail. But that machine creaks when the cost of operating from this island is multiplied by the imposition of tax barriers like the AIEM (Spanish Tax on Exports), designed to protect the production of Las Palmas' industrialists, although often at the cost of making tourism more expensive. Just so people understand: here you pay an AIEM (Spanish Tax on Exports) to import Serrano ham, when it isn't produced on the islands.
The AIEM (Spanish Economic and Monetary Union), which must begin submitting to a list of products subject to this fiscal ordeal starting January 30, 1, from June 2027th until the end of September. This European tariff, with a Canary Islands accent, that taxes imports was designed to protect vulnerable local industrial sectors. But in practice, according to tourism industry entrepreneurs, it acts as a silent obstacle to their international competitiveness.
Maspalomas competes directly with destinations like Turkey, Egypt, and North Africa, where the maintenance costs of a tourist bed are up to 30% lower. And in that race, any additional costs are a burden. "We pay more to import machinery, appliances, spare parts, and industrial cleaning products that aren't manufactured here, but which the AIEM taxes just the same," says the manager of a hotel complex in Campo Internacional.
Those affected claim that the regulation, which is supposedly designed to benefit the Canary Islands, is applied with blind logic that fails to distinguish between what is produced locally and what doesn't exist or can't be produced on the islands. "No one manufactures an industrial washing machine or an air conditioning system in the Canary Islands, yet the AIEM (Industrial Tax on Industrial Property) hits them like bananas," complains a hotel industry entrepreneur.
Operating in Gran Canaria is already 18% more expensive than in Madeira and up to 40% more than in emerging destinations like Cape Verde, where tariffs similar to the AIEM (Spanish Industrial Export Tax) do not exist for products destined for the tourism industry. While Madeira offers import subsidies and a VAT reduced to 5%, the Canary Islands maintain a regime that, paradoxically, penalizes hotel modernization. "Installing solar panels, renovating a hotel kitchen, or replacing air conditioning systems is more expensive in Maspalomas than in the direct competition," explains a tax advisor associated with several hotel chains.
But the damage isn't just economic. When the AIEM increases the price of imported personal hygiene products or limits the arrival of certain international brands, the tourist experience also suffers. In high-end destinations, where every detail counts, this loss of standards can mean the difference between retaining a customer or losing them to a more competitive destination. Furthermore, the slowness at customs and the bureaucracy associated with the AIEM slow down replacement or repair times, causing inconvenience to tourists and inefficiencies for businesses.
Who protects whom?
While the AIEM justifies itself by the need to protect some 170 local industries, mostly with non-Canarian capital, many of which produce for non-tourist markets, thousands of companies in the accommodation and tourism services sector—the true backbone of the Canary Islands' GDP—bear unjustified additional costs that have no equivalent in rival destinations.
In 2025, the European Commission will review the AIEM. Perhaps it's time to ask whether this tariff still makes sense as it stands. Should it be applied generally or differentiated by sector and end-use? Can the tourism industry be excluded as an intermediate consumer, not competing with the local industry? Tourism modernization cannot be held back by poorly calibrated tariffs. Maspalomas needs to move toward a more sustainable, efficient, and competitive model. To do so, it must import innovation, technology, materials, and machinery. Penalizing these imports is, in practice, condemning the sector to aging. "We are in a global race to attract more demanding tourists. If tax rules leave us at a disadvantage, we will lose," summarizes the operations manager of an international chain. The question is clear: who protects Maspalomas from the hidden cost of protecting operators who comfortably operate from Las Palmas?
