The vital tourism sector in southern Gran Canaria, the island's economic engine, is on alert due to the imminent imposition of a new airport tax. Aena, the public operator of Spain's airport network, plans to charge an hourly fee to charter buses operating at Canary Island airports, a measure the regional government vehemently rejects as an obstacle to sustainable mobility. The proposed fee is €6.000 per month per vehicle.
Although the implementation of this "tax" is initially planned for Tenerife South and Lanzarote in January 2026, the Federation of Transport Businessmen of the Canary Islands (FET) has already warned that the system will be progressively extended to Gran Canaria Airport (Gando) in 2027.
The Director General of Transport and Mobility for the Canary Islands Government, María Fernández, has stated that this measure is contradictory to the island's reality. It directly clashes with the national Sustainable Mobility Law and, in the context of Gran Canaria, poses a direct threat to the flow of traffic on the GC-1, the highway that connects the airport with the major tourist centers in the south (Maspalomas, Mogán).
The argument is compelling: by increasing the cost of public transport—with the FET estimating costs at up to €6.000 per month per operator—the tax will be passed on to tour operators and encourage a "flight of travelers" towards car rentals. This shift would worsen congestion on the GC-1 highway and access roads to beach areas, contradicting the objective of moving "the greatest number of people in the smallest possible space."
The transport employers' association has requested "institutional protection," noting that contracts for the 2025-26 peak winter season are already finalized and that "there is no possibility of passing on any additional costs" without incurring losses. The regional government has explicitly supported the transport companies. Fernández criticized Aena, a company with 51% public ownership that reported profits of €2.000 billion last year, stating that neither the lack of space nor economic necessity justifies the measure. "The Canary Islands Government is fully on the side of the employers' association and against any harm to mass transit or high-capacity transport," he asserted.
The director general has confirmed that the Canary Islands Government will do "everything necessary to stop this implementation," including taking the protest to Aena's higher authorities, now that the coordinator of the Canary Islands airports has confirmed that the regulation is an imposition "from above." The key lies in preventing the airport operator's commercial interests from compromising the efficiency and sustainability of the island's main transport artery.
