Moving to the Canary Islands: the guide for changing your life, not just your address

Why the Canary Islands, and which island?

A mild climate all year round is the first reason, but it isn't enough on its own to choose: every island, and often every side of an island, is a different life. The south of Tenerife and Gran Canaria means sun, multilingual services and a large international community; the north is greener, cooler, more distinctly Canarian. Fuerteventura and Lanzarote mean wind, space and sea; the smaller islands mean quiet. People relocating to work remotely look for connectivity and flight links; people moving into retirement look for hospitals, ground-floor living and a seafront.

The eight island pages describe the areas and character of each one; comparing north and south Tenerife is the conversation we have most often with people arriving.

Which documents do you need, and in what order?

1. The NIE The Número de Identidad de Extranjero is the first step: you need it for the bank account, the tenancy agreement, the property, work, the taxes. You apply at a Spanish consulate in your home country or in Spain at the national police. Our guide to the NIE explains where, and with which documents.
2. The bank account A Spanish bank account for utilities, rent, your salary or your pension. With a passport and a NIE it can be opened the same day; some banks also accept non-residents.
3. Residence as an EU citizen Up to three months, your ID document is enough. Beyond that, Real Decreto 240/2007 (art. 7) requires registration with the Registro Central de Extranjeros, in person at the Oficina de Extranjeros or the Comisaría, within three months of arrival: you show you have enough to live on, through work or sufficient resources so as not to be a burden on social assistance, plus health insurance covering all risks in Spain. The law forbids setting a fixed amount of resources. The certificado de registro, with your NIE, is issued straight away; you use forms EX-18 and EX-19 and pay fee 790 (code 012). If you're not an EU citizen, the route and the paperwork depend on your nationality — check the requirements that apply to you before you travel.
4. The empadronamiento Registering with your municipality's register (the padrón). You'll need a tenancy agreement or the escritura of a property. The padrón opens the door to the health card, schools, and resident discounts on flights and ferries between the islands.
5. The health card The right comes first, then the card: the Spanish state recognises the right to healthcare for anyone with legal, habitual residence (through work, self-employment, or the EU coordination forms for pensioners); the Servicio Canario de la Salud then issues the tarjeta sanitaria, which you request at your local centro de salud. From there come the GP, the public hospitals, the prescriptions.
6. Your driving licence and your car An EU driving licence is valid in Spain, as in every member state; after a certain period of residence it can be registered or exchanged for a Spanish one. A licence from outside the EU depends on the agreement between Spain and your country of origin. A car registered abroad can't stay here forever: sooner or later it has to be imported and re-registered, at a cost worth budgeting for.

When do you become a tax resident, and what changes?

You become a Spanish tax resident by spending more than 183 days in the country within the calendar year, or if the main base of your economic interests is in Spain; from that point you pay IRPF on your worldwide income.

From that point, Spain and your previous country of residence usually divide the right to tax you under a double-taxation treaty, where one exists between the two countries: these treaties typically decide where pensions, rental income and dual residence are taxed, but the exact terms vary treaty by treaty. It's the subject most worth a cross-border adviser, before you move rather than after: tax residence isn't something you choose, it's something that's established by the facts, and getting it wrong costs two tax returns and a dispute.

A word on the sources at the foot of this page: the treaty I have read article by article is the Spain-Italy one, together with the guidance of the Italian pension authority, because that is the pair my own clients most often bring me. I link them so you can see how a treaty of this kind is built. They are not your rules: yours are in the treaty between Spain and the country you are leaving, and that is the text to put in front of an adviser.

Anyone who moves and then buys a property as their habitual residence gets the reductions on the purchase set out in Canarian law; buying before you move means paying the general rates. Our guide to taxes and costs sets out every figure, with sources.

The tax information on this page is general guidance, not advice. For your own situation, in particular for pensions and income from your home country, consult a qualified professional in both countries.

How does healthcare work for someone moving here?

Public healthcare in the Canaries is the Spanish system: a GP, specialists, hospitals on the main islands. The Spanish state recognises the right to healthcare for anyone with legal, habitual residence: people who work or are self-employed get access through their contributions, while pensioners from another EU country get access through the EU coordination forms issued by their home country's social security body. Only then does the Servicio Canario de la Salud issue the tarjeta sanitaria, collected at your local centro de salud. In the first months the European Health Insurance Card covers necessary care, but it doesn't replace registration.

On the smaller islands services are more limited and some treatments mean travelling to Tenerife or Gran Canaria: anyone who needs continuity of care should factor this in when choosing an island. Many people also take out private insurance, which is also one way of showing health cover when registering as a resident.

The property: buy first, or rent first?

Rent first, almost always. Six months in an area teach you things no viewing ever reveals: the afternoon wind, the traffic at eight o'clock, the building's community, the real distance to the hospital. People who buy from abroad with an idea of the island formed on holiday often change area after a year, and changing property means paying the taxes twice.

When it's time to buy, our buying guide covers the steps from the NIE to the deed, and our taxes and costs guide covers the taxes; for a permanent move, the reduction for a habitual residence also matters, and that requires genuinely living in the property.

How I work with people who relocate

I'm Luca. I arrived in Tenerife in 2014, as a lifestyle choice, and since 2017 I've run a business here with Toda Canarias, where I look after the property side. With someone relocating, I start with one thing only: I listen to how you want to live, and from there I tell you which island and which area to look at, and which not to. Then I help you find the property, to rent or to buy, and put you in touch with the gestoría and the tax adviser who work with our clients on the NIE, residence and tax returns.

If the right property isn't there today, I note what you're looking for and let you know when it arrives. Inmobilio, the site's assistant, replies at any hour and passes me your contact when a person is needed.