As of January 2025, roughly 875,200 inhabitants were living on Gran Canaria. Tenerife had the largest number of inhabitants at 965,000. Overall, the population of Spain in 2025, by gender and autonomous community shows that the Canary Islands were the seventh-largest autonomous community in Spain when ranked by population with 1.11 million male and 1.14 million female inhabitants. The most populous autonomous communities were Andalusia, Catalonia, and Madrid. The largest age group in the Canary Islands was that made of people aged between 50 and 54, accounting for 202,000 inhabitants.

The largest age groups in the Canary Islands as of January 2025 were those between 45 and 54 years old. Specifically, those aged between 50 and 54 years old exceeded 201,000. Tenerife is the community's island with the largest number of inhabitants.

Spain Population: Canarias: Santa Crus de Tenerife data was reported at 1,018,304.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 1,007,641.000 Person for 2016. Spain Population: Canarias: Santa Crus de Tenerife data is updated yearly, averaging 1,001,900.000 Person from Dec 1997 (Median) to 2017, with 21 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,029,789.000 Person in 2010 and a record low of 780,152.000 Person in 1997. Spain Population: Canarias: Santa Crus de Tenerife data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Statistics Institute. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Spain – Table ES.G001: Population: at 1st of January.

The Canary Island of Tenerife welcomed around 5.8 million tourists in 2022 including foreigners and Spanish residents from the mainland. In comparison to 2021, the number of visitors grew by over 110 percent, reaching pre-pandemic levels.

In 2023, approximately 14 million international tourists visited the Canary Islands in Spain, which represents an increase of roughly 13 percent versus the previous year. In 2010s, the record number of visitors in this Spanish archipelago was set in 2017.

Eight islands with lots of options for tourists

The Canary Islands, or the Canaries, are a group of islands off the Northwestern coast of Africa and one of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities. The archipelago is made up of eight inhabited islands: Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro and La Graciosa. Tenerife is most visited island, followed by Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, all popular vacation travel destinations, especially for European holidaymakers.

Main source markets

The Canaries are the third most visited Spanish region after the Balearic Islands and Catalonia. The UK and Germany are two key visitor markets for the islands. Along with France they make up the three leading international tourist markets visiting Spain. Spanish residents also commonly visit the islands for domestic trips (494520).

As with arrivals of international tourists, the visitor expenditure has increased significantly due to a rapid recovery from the coronavirus crisis. In 2022, foreign tourists who visited the Canary Islands spent more than they did in 2019.

Population and Housing Censuses: Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Units by unit type. National.

Origin-destination matrix that shows the relationships between the places of origin and destination of the trips made by the population using public transport on the island of Tenerife. It is a structured collection of data that records all the information of a person's journey by public transport, from the initial stop to the final, including transfers. The data in this matrix comes from the public transport service provided by: Tenerife Interurban Transport - TITSA, Metropolitano de Tenerife - MTSA and La Esperanza Transport - TLE.

Official population figures of the Spanish Municipalities: Revision of the Municipal Register: Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Population by municipality and sex. Annual. Municipalities.

Hospitality business and travel agencies in the Canary Islands employed more than 125 thousand people in 2021, which shows a decline of -7.4 percent versus the previous year. This was the second consecutive decline in the employment on tourism in the Spanish autonomous community, after a steady increase throughout the past decade.

Spain Visitor Arrivals: Tourists: Canary Islands data was reported at 1,360,592.000 Person in Jan 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1,448,495.000 Person for Dec 2024. Spain Visitor Arrivals: Tourists: Canary Islands data is updated monthly, averaging 1,104,314.000 Person from Oct 2015 (Median) to Jan 2025, with 112 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,543,223.000 Person in Mar 2024 and a record low of 0.000 Person in May 2020. Spain Visitor Arrivals: Tourists: Canary Islands data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Statistics Institute. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Spain – Table ES.Q002: Visitor Arrivals: National Statistics Institute: by Region. [COVID-19-IMPACT]

The secretive breeding behaviour of petrels makes monitoring their breeding populations challenging. To assess population trends of Cory’s Shearwater Calonectris diomedea, Bulwer’s Petrel Bulweria bulwerii and Macaronesian Shearwater Puffinus baroli in Tenerife from 1990 to 2010, we used data from rescue campaigns that aim to reduce the mortality of fledgling petrels attracted to artificial lights as proxies for trends in breeding population size. Despite increases in human population size and light pollution, the number of rescued fledglings of Cory’s Shearwater and Bulwer’s Petrel increased and remained stable, respectively, whereas numbers of rescued Macaronesian Shearwaters sharply declined. In the absence of more accurate population estimates, these results suggest a worrying decline in the Macaronesian Shearwater’s breeding population. Palabras clave: Bird

Delimitation of the districts of the municipality with demographic data associated with January 1, 2018.

In 2022, the United Kingdom was the most important tourism source market for the Canary Island of Tenerife. Close to 2.3 million British tourists visited this Spanish island that year, roughly three times the number of Spanish tourists from the mainland.

人口：加那利群岛：圣克鲁斯德特内里费在12-01-2017达1,018,304.000人，相较于12-01-2016的1,007,641.000人有所增长。人口：加那利群岛：圣克鲁斯德特内里费数据按年更新，12-01-1997至12-01-2017期间平均值为1,001,900.000人，共21份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-01-2010，达1,029,789.000人，而历史最低值则出现于12-01-1997，为780,152.000人。CEIC提供的人口：加那利群岛：圣克鲁斯德特内里费数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于Instituto Nacional de Estadística，数据归类于Global Database的西班牙 – 表 ES.G001：人口：1月1日。

Previous studies using partial regression Mantel tests of matrix correspondence on within-island geographic variation in the color pattern of the Tenerife (Canary Islands) lacertid lizard (Gallotia galloti) support natural selection for different north--south climatically determined biotopes but do not support any historical cause. However, tests on the DNA phylogeny based primarily on population data from 57 localities on Tenerife support the hypothesis that there were populations on two putative precursor islands that have come into secondary contact and introgressed after these islands were joined to form Tenerife by the eruption of the Canadas edifice. Subsequent partial Mantel tests continue to support the hypothesis that color pattern is adapted to the climatic biotopes even when this phylogenetic information is taken into account by (1) testing for color pattern adaptation separately within each lineage and (2) testing for color pattern adaptation across the entire island while considering the molecular phylogenetic relationships as representing an alternative explanation. Selection has largely expunged any trace of the geological history from current morphological variation, and the introgression of these island populations after an estimated 0.7 million years of separation gives an insight into the relationships between allopatric divergence and reproductive isolation.

In 2021, the average date of visitors in the Canary Islands dropped versus the previous years. According to a survey, tourists in this Spanish insular region were 43 years old on average. This study includes residents in the Spanish mainland as well as foreigners.

Dataset of seed mesures for Orchis canariensis and Orchis patens used in the publication:

"SEED MICROMORPHOLOGY SUPPORTS SPECIES DELIMITATION OF ORCHIS CANARIENSIS (ORCHIDACEAE), AN ENDEMIC ORCHID FROM CANARY ISLANDS" - Nature Conservation Research

By Jacopo Calevo, Miriam Bazzicalupo, Cristina González-Montelongo, Daniel Rodríguez González, Laura Cornara

Abstract:

Geographic isolation is one of the primary drivers of speciation, but islands remain a reservoir of overlooked and understudied endemic species. In this study, we collected seed micromorphological data from Orchis canariensis (Orchidaceae), a declining species occurring only in Canary Islands (Spain), whose taxonomy was debated in the past decades. The aim of the study was to detect seed micromorphological traits in support of species delimitation by means of light and scanning electron microscopy. Seeds from a population in Tenerife resulted to be clavate with a cell number in the longitudinal axis varying from five to seven. Seeds showed straight to sinuous anticlinal walls and no ornamentations in the periclinal walls. Average seed length was 313.66 ± 44.78 µm and average width 184.31 ± 30.26 µm, with a ratio of 1.72 ± 0.25, while embryo length and width were 157.18 ± 35.21 µm and 125.43 ± 25.92 µm respectively. However, despite the affinities with the sister species, Orchis patens, quantitative and qualitative seed traits supported species delimitation recently proposed by means of molecular biology. Taken together, our results confirmed the importance of seed micromorphology in support of taxonomical studies.

Intercensus Population Estimates: Evolution of the population of Spain between the censuses 1981 and 1991 by reference date, sex, age group and year. Province.

Original provider: ADS Biodiversidad

Dataset credits: Data provider ADS Biodiversidad Originating data center Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool (STAT) Project partner Asociación para el Desarrollo Sostenible y Conservación de la Biodiversidad (ADS Biodiversidad)

Departamento de Biología de la Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Centro de Recuperación de Fauna Silvestre del Cabildo de Gran Canaria

Centro de Recuperación de Fauna Silvestre La Tahonilla del Cabildo de Tenerife Project sponsor or sponsor description Fundación Biodiversidad del Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente

Abstract: Español

En las aguas de las islas Canarias (este del Atlántico) se pueden observar diferentes especies de tortugas marinas. Una de ellas es la tortuga verde (Chelonia mydas), menos frecuente que la tortuga boba (Caretta caretta), y de la que se dispone de muy poca información.

La ONG ADS Biodiversidad desarrolla actualmente un proyecto centrado en la tortuga verde y del que forma parte este programa de marcaje con transmisor. Dicho proyecto pretende determinar el origen de estos ejemplares, conocer su distribución en esta zona, qué tipo de hábitats están usando, y si están ligados o no a áreas con alguna figura de protección como, por ejemplo, la red Natura 2000. Además, se identificarán las principales presiones y amenazas a las que están expuestas estas tortugas.

Los resultados obtenidos se divulgarán entre la población local, siendo para muchos desconocida su presencia en estas aguas, incluso para algunos profesionales como pescadores y buceadores con los que interaccionan directamente.

*Título completo del proyecto: La tortuga verde (Chelonia mydas) y la red Natura 2000 en Canarias.

English

Several species of sea turtles can be observed in waters off the Canary Islands (Eastern Atlantic). One of them is the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), less frequent than the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), and with little information.

The NGO ADS Biodiversidad is currently developing a project based on the green turtle and this satellite tracking programme forms part of it. The aims of this project are to determine the origin of these individuals, know their distribution in this area, determine the habitats that they are using and define if they are linked or not to protected areas (e.g. Natura 2000 network). Furthermore, the main pressures and threats that are affecting to this species will be determined.

Results of this project will be disclosed among the local population, that poorly know the presence of the species in Canarian waters, even for some professionals that interact directly with them (e.g. fishermen and divers).

Project title: The green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the Natura 2000 network in the Canary Islands.

Supplemental information: Visit STAT's project page for additional information.

This dataset is a summarized representation of the telemetry locations aggregated per species per 1-degree cell.

Tenerife was the Canary Island that received the largest number of visitors in 2022, adding up to more than 5.8 million international and Spanish tourists. Gran Canaria ranked second, with a total of approximately 3.8 million holidaymakers that same year.

International tourists in the Canaries

Most visitors to the Canary Islands are from abroad, making this archipelago one of the key hubs for international tourism in Spain. In 2022, foreign travelers in the Canaries spent an average of 8.7 nights enjoying the islands’ great weather. Whereas this figure exhibited a slight decline in that year, the daily expenditure of overseas visitors has been on the rise and, despite the crisis caused by the coronavirus, continued to grow in 2022, reaching an estimated average of 163 euros.

What is the accommodation offer in the Canary Islands?

In 2021, there were over 370 hotels open in this Spanish archipelago. Around 65 percent were located in Tenerife and Gran Canaria. Altogether, the seven islands offered roughly 167 thousand hotel beds. Tenerife alone accounted for 56.8 thousand of them. The hotel industry was extremely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. For hotels in the Canary Islands, this crisis translated into a plunge of approximately 30 percentage points in the room occupancy rate. In 2021, this key performance indicator exhibited a timid recovery, exposing the long way this industry has to go until it reaches pre-pandemic levels.