Lighter diesel bills until Christmas: what the Canarian government decided for farmers and hauliers
A regime many had assumed was over expired on 1 October, and the Canarian government renewed it just in time. On 28 September the Consejo de Gobierno approved a decree-law extending two energy tax measures for the last quarter of 2026, on a proposal from Finance Minister Matilde Asián. RTVC and Moncloa both report it. […]
1.794 kWh per cubic metre: in the Canaries, water is measured in energy
1.794 kilowatt-hours. That is what, according to a Canary government release carried by Veolia, the experimental DESALRO 2.0 plant needs to produce one cubic metre of water. Guinness World Records certified it in December 2025 as the lowest-energy desalination plant in the world. Why does such a small number matter? Because in the Canaries water […]
Spain’s 10% VAT on tourist flats doesn’t reach the Canaries: what actually changes for landlords, tenants and buyers
If you’ve read that Spain is slapping 10% VAT on tourist flats, and you own a studio in Puerto del Carmen, you may have panicked for half a reason. The housing decree-law, approved at the end of September, sets a reduced 10% VAT from 1 December 2026 on short stays of under 30 days. elDiario.es […]
Canary Islands doctors call an open-ended strike from 16 October: what patients need to know
If you have a hospital appointment in the Canaries in the second half of October, keep an eye on your phone. On Wednesday the two largest doctors’ unions in the islands, the Sindicato Médico (CESM) and the Sindicato de Empleados Médicos de Canarias (SEMCA), called an open-ended strike in the Canary Islands Health Service (SCS) […]
Practising for Mars underground: Italian and Canarian scientists take their sensors into Tenerife’s lava tubes
Picture a dark tunnel of solidified lava somewhere under northern Tenerife, a few researchers with instruments, and a question that has nothing to do with Earth. That was Cueva del Viento in late September. Between 14 and 25 September, the Canary Islands Volcanological Institute (INVOLCAN) helped run a field campaign at three volcanic sites on […]
Free buses in the Canaries: will the ride end on 31 December?
If you have lived in the Canaries for the past couple of years and take the bus regularly, you have probably stopped thinking about fares. You may want to start again. Free public transport for regular users is backed by national law only until 31 December 2026. Nothing has been signed for 2027. On Tuesday […]
Gran Canaria’s Italian visitors fall by almost a sixth as Spain extends border checks to 22 October
Here is a number that should worry anyone running a bar in Maspalomas with an Italian menu: 18,044. That is how many fewer Italians landed in Gran Canaria between January and August this year than in the same months of 2025. The AENA passenger figures were analysed by the local paper Maspalomas24h. They show Italian […]
Switching a Neuron On with a Beam of Light: The Nobel in Medicine Goes to Optogenetics
Picture being able to tell one specific group of neurons, out of billions, to fire right now, and only those. No electrodes, no drug flooding the whole brain. Just a flash of light. That is the principle of optogenetics, and on 5 October the Nobel committee gave it the 2026 prize in Physiology or Medicine. […]
Southeast Gran Canaria Renews Its Treated-Water Deal: 1.6 Million Cubic Metres a Year for Farms
On 1 October, an agreement that has existed in one form or another since 2002 was signed again in Gran Canaria. On one side, the Mancomunidad del Sureste. On the other, the island’s Consejo Insular de Aguas. In between sits a treatment plant, Arinaga, whose tertiary stage produces water fit for irrigation. The figures, as […]
Spain’s Supreme Court Hands Tenerife’s Motor Circuit Its First Final Defeat
On 30 September, Spain’s Supreme Court signed a short procedural order that may outlast the project it concerns. The court refused to admit the Cabildo de Tenerife’s appeal over the island’s planned motor racing circuit, citing “insufficient grounds” and a “lack of objective cassational interest”. It also ordered the council to pay legal costs of […]