Canary Islands and the seven island councils coordinate free insular transport

The Government of the Canary Islands and the seven island councils (cabildos) have formalized the protocols coordinating the free nature of collective land public transport during 2026. The resolutions of the Technical General Secretariat of the Department of Public Works, Housing, and Mobility, dated September 24, 2026, order their publication in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (Boletín Oficial de Canarias) no. 213, of October 23, 2026, with references boc-a-2026-213-3659 to boc-a-2026-213-3665.

The texts were signed on September 23, 2026, between the counselor Juan Pablo Rodríguez Valido and the presidents of each island corporation. The framework is Chapter IV of Royal Decree-Law 17/2025, of December 23, on measures to promote the use of public transport through the subsidization of passes and multi-trip tickets, whose Article 20 provides for direct aid to the Canary Islands. The Resolution of the General Secretariat for Sustainable Mobility of July 10, 2026, granted the autonomous community 120,000,000 euros in two annual installments: 78,000,000 in 2026, as an advance, and 42,000,000 in 2027.

Free transport was implemented in the archipelago in 2023 with a 100% discount on passes and multi-trip tickets, and was maintained in 2024 and 2025. The protocols invoke the status of regular passenger transport as an essential public service (Article 8 of Law 19/1994, of July 6) and the island jurisdiction of the councils (Article 7.1 of Law 13/2007, of May 17).

Seven protocols and a distribution linked to trips made

The agreements cover El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, Lanzarote and La Graciosa, La Palma, and Tenerife, and are signed by:

• Alpidio Valentín Armas González, president of the Island Council of El Hierro.
• Dolores Alicia García Martínez, president of the Island Council of Fuerteventura.
• Antonio Morales Méndez, president of the Island Council of Gran Canaria.
• Casimiro Curbelo Curbelo, president of the Island Council of La Gomera.
• Oswaldo Betancort García, president of the Island Council of Lanzarote and La Graciosa.
• Sergio Rodríguez Fernández, president of the Island Council of La Palma.
• Rosa Dávila Mamely, president of the Island Council of Tenerife.

The distribution of funds among the islands will be calculated based on the number of trips actually made and registered by pass users in the immediately preceding fiscal year. The General Directorate of Transport and Mobility will issue a justifying report on the proportional distribution, which in no case may exceed the actual cost of the measure nor reduce the ordinary contributions that the island administrations already allocated to public transport. Any remaining funds will be redistributed among the councils that prove needs exceeding their allocation.

The passes that remain at zero price on each island

The titles eligible for the 100% discount vary according to the island transport system:

• El Hierro: the nominative pass “Bono Residente Canario-Bono Normal”.
• Fuerteventura, La Gomera, and Lanzarote and La Graciosa: the Bono Residente Canario.
• Gran Canaria: Bono Residente Canario, Bono Residente Wawa Joven, and Bono Residente Oro.
• Tenerife: Bono Residente Canario, Abono Joven Insular, Abono Senior, and Abono Discapacidad Mensual.
• La Palma: nineteen titles of the Bono Residente Canario and its modalities, including general, youth, retiree 1 and 2, unemployed, disability, and special, with their general and special large family variants.

Each island council (cabildo) sets the issuance price for new cards and may impose limitations and conditions of use, including minimum travel recurrence requirements, which must be proven before the General Directorate of Transport and Mobility. In Lanzarote, the corporation will coordinate with the Arrecife City Council, and in Tenerife with the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council for urban services.

Electronic registry and publicity of state funding

The lending companies must maintain an individualized electronic registry of each pass, including the title identifier, the user’s identification document, the duration, the route or zone covered, the date of issuance, and the reference price. The data will be kept for the duration of the measure and for at least five years after justification, available to the regional and state financial control bodies.

All dissemination actions must include the official logo and the legend “Title funded by the Government of Spain. More and better public transport”. The procedure for granting the monetary contribution is initiated ex officio with the proposal of the General Directorate of Transport and Mobility, and the deadline for resolution and notification is three months.

The protocols govern from their signing, for at least the 2026 fiscal year and the justification and settlement process, and are automatically extended if the State maintains or renews the funding.

The publication turns a measure that reaches all bus users of the archipelago into a verifiable commitment and establishes objective distribution criteria between islands. Expenditure control is tied to the travel registry and the accreditation of the effective cost by each council, with the State as the final supervisor of the funds.

Source: Official Gazette of the Canary Islands, no. 213, of October 23, 2026, section III. Other Resolutions, pages 38242 et seq. (official reference: boc-a-2026-213-3659 to boc-a-2026-213-3665).