Gran Canaria before you book: the practical facts we checked

Gran Canaria Airport (LPA) is at Gando on the east coast, between Las Palmas and the southern resorts, with one terminal and the taxi rank outside on the ground floor. There are no fixed airport fares: the meter runs on the Canary Islands' interurban tariff, set by the Gobierno de Canarias order of 14 March 2023 (BOC 59). From 06:00 to 22:00 on weekdays the minimum is €3.85, covering the first 1.5 km, then €1.35 a kilometre; at night and on Sundays and holidays, €4.25 and €1.55; and a trip to or from the airport adds €2.10. On that meter, by day, Las Palmas comes to about €35 to €40, the hotels around the Maspalomas lighthouse to about €50 to €55 and Puerto de Mogán to about €75: estimates from the tariff and the routed distance.

Global's direct buses stop outside the terminal and take cash or a contactless bank card on board. Line 60 leaves for Las Palmas every half hour from 06:15 to 21:15, then at 22:15 and 23:15, reaching San Telmo in 20 minutes for €2.30 and Santa Catalina in 30 for €2.95. Line 66 leaves hourly from 07:30 to 20:30 for the Faro de Maspalomas by way of San Agustín and Playa del Inglés, 40 minutes for €4.05, and the slower line 90 follows ten minutes later. Line 91 reaches Puerto de Mogán in an hour for €6.80. The car hire desks are on the ground floor of the arrivals halls. The drive times below are routed from the taxi rank, with the roads clear.

Outside Las Palmas, a hire car is the simple answer. The GC-1 motorway runs from Las Palmas past the airport and along the south coast to Puerto de Mogán, and the GC-500 is the older coast road through the resorts. The mountain roads are slow and full of bends: the GC-60 climbs from Maspalomas through Fataga and San Bartolomé de Tirajana to Ayacata, and the GC-15 from Santa Brígida, above Las Palmas, through San Mateo to Cruz de Tejeda. Salobre and the Parador need a car, though Salobre runs a daily shuttle to Maspalomas beach.

Global's buses take cash or a contactless card. The TransGC card from the Cabildo's transport authority costs €5 and adds 20% to 40% to each top-up of €10 to €100; it also works on the Las Palmas city buses, €1.40 a ride without it, or €5 for 24 hours on the LIVE tourist card.

On foot, the Faro de Maspalomas to La Charca is 10 minutes and the sand to Playa del Inglés about an hour; Las Canteras is 42 minutes end to end; and from Vegueta's cathedral, Calle Mayor de Triana begins five minutes away and ends at the Parque de San Telmo, 14.

Since 3 February 2025 the Roque Nublo path from La Goleta has needed a daytime booking on the Cabildo's reservasroquenublo.com, in hourly slots of up to 60 people, open to the end of the following month. Its car park is closed: park at Cruz de Los Llanos and ride Global line 18, about 10 minutes, at the usual fare.

The Canary Islands charge IGIC, their own sales tax, instead of VAT, and hotel stays pay the general rate of 7% under the consolidated IGIC law of 2025, Decreto Legislativo 1/2025. Quoted room rates include it.

Mogán, the municipality that takes in Puerto de Mogán, Amadores and Puerto Rico, is the only one on the island with a tourist tax: €0.15 per person per night since 11 March 2025. The Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Canarias declared the ordinance void in July 2026, but the ruling is not final: the council says the tax applies until it is and that it is appealing to the Supreme Court, so a stay in Mogán may still be charged it. Las Palmas, Tejeda and San Bartolomé de Tirajana, which takes in Maspalomas, Meloneras and Salobre, charge none, and the Canary government has not introduced one.

What goes on top is the board and the extras. Three of the ten, Hotel Faro, Santa Catalina and the Parador, sell rooms without breakfast by default, and Hotel Veintiuno's breakfast depends on the rate; the other six include it. Half board is sold at most of the resorts, and Seaside Palm Beach also sells all-inclusive. The spa is free at Seaside Grand Hotel Residencia, Seaside Palm Beach and Bull Reina Isabel and charged at the others that have one, and parking is free at five and about €20 a day at Santa Catalina.

AEMET's 1981 to 2010 normals for Gran Canaria Airport, at Gando, give an average high of 20.8°C (69°F) in January and 27.5°C (82°F) in August, and an average low of 15.0°C (59°F) in January and February. Rain falls on about 22 days a year, 151 mm in all, mostly from November to February; December is the wettest month, with 31 mm on 4.5 days, and May to August are all but dry. Puertos del Estado's buoy off the north-west coast averaged 21.7°C (71°F) in the year to November 2025, with readings from 19.6°C (67°F) in late April to 24.5°C (76°F) in late July.

AEMET describes the north-east trade wind as blowing more than half the time from autumn to spring and almost constantly in summer, strongest at the island's north-west and south-east corners, with the south and south-west coasts in its lee. Calima, Saharan dust that hazes the sky, comes in episodes; dust over the Canaries peaks in February, with a smaller rise in summer, and an AEMET study counts 1.7 episodes a year of three days or more, the most of any region of Spain.

Prices follow the northern winter. In 2027 the peaks are Christmas and New Year; the February half-terms, 15 to 19 February in Surrey; the Las Palmas carnival, from 22 January to 28 February, with its Gran Cabalgata on 20 February; Maspalomas', from 2 to 14 March; and Easter, on 28 March. The cheaper stretches are May and June, and September and October before the English half-term, 25 to 29 October 2027 in Surrey.

Spain uses the euro, and cards, mainly Visa and Mastercard, are very widely accepted. A shop or bar may set a minimum spend for cards if a sign says so, but Spanish law bars any surcharge for paying by card. Cash payments to a business must stay under €1,000, or under €10,000 for a visitor whose tax home is outside Spain. Prices must be shown with tax included, and in the Canary Islands that tax is IGIC, at a general rate of 7%.

Tipping is not obligatory, since service is included in the price, but Turespaña says tips are common in bars, restaurants, hotels and taxis, usually between 5 and 10%.

The Canary Islands are in the EU but outside its VAT and excise area, so travellers leaving them have allowances, as from a country outside the EU. Flying home to Great Britain, the allowance is 42 litres of beer and cider, 18 litres of wine, and 4 litres of spirits or 9 litres of drinks up to 22%, plus 200 cigarettes, 50 cigars or 250 g of tobacco, and other goods worth up to £390. Flying on to mainland Spain or another EU country, the limits are lower: 16 litres of beer, 4 litres of still wine, 1 litre of spirits or 2 litres of drinks up to 22%, 200 cigarettes, and other goods worth up to €430 by air or sea, €150 for under-15s. Neither allows alcohol or tobacco under 17.

The Canary Islands are part of Spain and of the Schengen area, so British citizens need no visa for a short visit: up to 90 days in any 180, counted across the whole Schengen area. The passport must have been issued less than 10 years before the day you arrive and be valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave the Schengen area.

Passport stamps have given way to the EU's Entry/Exit System, which registers non-EU visitors at the border: passport details, a photograph of the face and, for those who need no visa, four fingerprints, though children under 12 are not fingerprinted. It began on 12 October 2025, came in border by border, and has been fully operational at every external crossing since 10 April 2026. It costs nothing and needs nothing done in advance, but the checks take longer, so allow extra time at the airport on the way home. The record lasts three years.

ETIAS, the EU's travel authorisation for visitors who need no visa, is not yet in operation, and the EU says it will announce the start date several months ahead. When it begins it will cost €20, with under-18s and over-70s applying free, last up to three years or until the passport expires, and be applied for only on the official ETIAS website or app.

Mogán, the municipality that takes in Puerto de Mogán, brought in the island's only tourist tax on 11 March 2025, €0.15 per person per night, paid by guests and collected by the accommodation. The Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Canarias suspended it on 12 March and let it apply again from 27 March, then, on a challenge by the hotel employers' federation, declared the ordinance void in a ruling made public on 13 July 2026. The ruling is not final, and on 29 July the council rejected a motion to stop charging it while it appeals to the Supreme Court.

Since 3 February 2025 the Cabildo has required a booking for the Roque Nublo path from La Goleta in daytime hours, and its car park has closed; drivers park at Cruz de Los Llanos or in Tejeda and ride Global line 18.

By the lighthouse, the Consorcio Maspalomas Gran Canaria's works on about 115 metres of the Meloneras promenade and the pier at the Faro, with a ramp, new lighting and railings, were due to start on 19 January 2026 and were in their final phase in June.

Salobre's New Course, Ron Kirby's 2008 layout cut into the ravines, has been played as nine holes and is due back to 18 holes in winter 2026/27. Lopesan announced a full renovation of Villa del Conde in March 2026 without dates, so ask what work is planned before you book. At the border, the Entry/Exit System began on 12 October 2025 and has run in full since 10 April 2026.