Since the end of July It is not possible to access flight forecast data to Gran Canaria.Access to this data is restricted, and it's the only key indicator that allows the hotel sector to plan its activities or for retailers to know the type of tourist they're targeting. For example, companies in the perfume industry plan their stays based on tourist tastes. "What's happening is unspeakable; not even Franco had that kind of data censorship," the manager of a hotel in Playa del Inglés told Maspalomas24H. The German market is up in Fuerteventura by 12.765. The same source pointed out that comparing the decline in the German market with the 11.000 beds lost in Tenerife is absurd, "because the beach offer there, to put it respectfully, is different, but they are compensated for in Fuerteventura; those in Gran Canaria are disappearing."
Why is Gran Canaria losing places to the German market? It may be because of prices, but it's not just Germany. Given that the PSOE rules in Las Palmas, no one wants to explain why, similarly, peninsular tourism is plummeting when the Spanish economy is supposed to be the fastest-growing in Europe, according to the Sánchez government's theory.
For now, some data is available from Promotur, which is part of the Canary Islands government, but it cannot be verified. The forecasts for international airline seats for the winter of 2025-2026 reflect a worrying scenario for Gran Canaria. According to the latest data, the total number of seats has fallen to 3.056.315, representing a decrease of 25.898 seats (-0,8%) compared to the previous winter. The decline has had a direct impact on key markets: Germany has lost 34.615 seats (-5,7%), the mainland market has collapsed with 87.342 fewer seats (-8,4%), and strategic Nordic countries such as Denmark (-15,6%), Finland (-15,2%), and Norway (-1,3%) have also cut capacity.
Although the United Kingdom offers some relief with 54.528 additional seats (+11,2%), and the Netherlands, Sweden, and Ireland are recording double-digit growth, the numbers do not offset the German debacle or the loss of mainland traffic. In fact, high-value-added markets such as Switzerland (+48,5%) and the Czech Republic (+102,4%) are growing on very small bases, insufficient to sustain overall volume.
The People's Party (PP) Parliamentary Group in the Senate has asked the Government to create a strategy to improve the public image of tourism within a period of no more than six months. This follows a report by LLYC, which revealed a 1,2-point drop in the tourism sector's reputation during the second quarter of 2025, reaching a score of 4,7 out of 10. In response, the initiative, sponsored by Senator Agustín Almodóbar, includes a motion to adopt measures that promote better coexistence and respect between locals and tourists, as well as a fairer distribution of the benefits derived from tourism. Additionally, the initiative proposes the launch of a national institutional communication campaign highlighting tourism as an "economic engine, generator of employment, wealth, and territorial development."
The result is clear: Gran Canaria faces winter with fewer seats, more dependence on British tourism, and a worrying decline in Germany and the Iberian Peninsula, two of its historical pillars. This is a serious warning for the island industry, which is seeing competing destinations in the eastern Mediterranean, such as Antalya, boost their connectivity while the island loses momentum in traditional markets.
