I've sold my dream Canary Islands home. I had a lucky escape

Telegraph

19-05-2025

I first went to the Canary Islands in the 1990s. Having visited Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, it was the latter I fell in love with.
Bowled over by the endless sunshine, gorgeous beaches and outdoor lifestyle, I figured it was the perfect place to buy a holiday home. So, in 2003, we did.
I was still in my mid-20s – naïve as anything, but happy because it meant by the time the 20-year repayment mortgage had been paid off, we would have a place in the sun and somewhere warm to retire to. It was a dream come true.
While it lasted.
Little did my 20-something-year-old self ever envisage a time when Brexit would come about and change every plan that I'd put in place.
I still remember crying when I saw the results of the Brexit referendum. As a teenager of the 90s, I'd grown up with European free movement, taken it for granted – but now I knew things were set to change.
The problem was, I didn't know how far or how fast things would change, and I still remained optimistic that some sort of deal would be struck.
It was in 2021 when I realised my time on the island was over.
With only €4,000 left to pay on the mortgage, my heart was heavy with the realisation that the place I had bought 18 years before would never be the retirement home I'd longed for it to be.
As a British passport holder, I could only stay for 90 days within any 180-day period without needing a visa. Of course, I could have looked into residence permits, but the decision felt too big, and not one I was ready to make.
As a way to buy time, I looked into putting the property on Airbnb and Booking.com, but the fees involved, cumbersome regulations and the tax that would be due – along with the time I'd have to spend managing a holiday let operation – made me realise I'd be working harder to stand still.
Letting go of a dream, especially one you have worked hard for and paid into for almost two decades, is hard. Really hard.
The property sold within two days of listing to a cash buyer from Germany.
I won't deny when I heard the new owner was going to use it as their retirement home, I felt a twinge of envy.
It's been three years since I sold, and when I went back in 2023 (staying in an Airbnb!), I confess I stood outside my old home in the glorious sunshine wondering what on earth I'd done.
Fast forward to 2025 and I know selling was the right decision.
The anti-tourism movement has been rumbling for some time now, but this year in the Canaries it feels like it's gained more ground and publicity. In March, a sign was spotted in Tenerife reading 'Kill a Tourist', along with rental cars being set on fire and regular protests. Reports suggest holiday bookings are down as tourists heed the warnings to 'go home'.
With more anti-tourism protests taking place just last week across the islands, it's hard to feel welcome or wanted when you're so clearly not.
But what I don't understand about these protests is what the end game is? Opposition has been raised to a number of infrastructure projects, including a South Train initiative in Tenerife which sought to enhance connectivity, the Chira-Soria hydropower pumping station in Gran Canaria, and the Dreamland film city development in Fuerteventura – which, following strong local opposition, was then cancelled.
If the Canary Islands want to find a new economy outside of tourism, they will have to take some difficult decisions – and quickly.
I thoroughly enjoyed my 18 years of owning a property in Fuerteventura, but now I'm pleased I'm left with just my memories, and not a potential headache.