The settlement addresses a long-running series of legal cases concerning tourism development rights and the application of regional planning legislation. The dispute has affected land designated for tourism development in Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote and has remained before the courts and public administration for more than a decade.
Lopesan Hotel Group accounts for the largest part of the settlement, with companies within the group reported to be receiving approximately 300m. euros. Lopesan-related companies had filed 31 of 45 legal appeals associated with the dispute, with their original claims reaching approximately 843m. euros.
The proceedings involved companies including Hijos de Francisco López Sánchez, Dehesa de Jandía, Maspalomas Golf, Maspalomas Resort and Lopesan Touristik. The affected projects are concentrated particularly in southern Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura, including tourism development areas around Meloneras and Morro Jable.
Other companies involved in the wider litigation include Satocan, Técnicos y Servicios Insulares, Alidana Fuerteventura, Puerto Rico SA and other owners of tourism development land. Previous court proceedings also involved Centro Helioterápico de Canarias, Anfi Tauro, Katanga Inversiones, Unimadoc and Urena Mountain, among others.
The legal background extends to the tourism growth restrictions introduced in the Canary Islands from 2001 and the subsequent Tourism Planning Guidelines adopted in 2003. However, the compensation proceedings at the centre of the current settlement relate specifically to Article 17.1 of Law 6/2009 on urgent measures for territorial planning, sector development and tourism planning.
That provision allowed owners of affected tourism development land to seek compensation in conjunction with the temporary reclassification of their plots as rural land. A series of applications were submitted by developers, but the regional administration did not issue formal decisions within the applicable period.
The High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands subsequently ruled that the absence of a response resulted in positive administrative silence, requiring the administration to continue the procedures for land reclassification and determination of compensation. The Spanish Supreme Court upheld the relevant legal principle in 2015, leaving the financial amounts to be established during the execution of the judgments.
The Canary Islands Government was still taking formal steps to implement those judgments in 2022. At that stage, it approved measures requiring municipalities to amend their planning instruments so that affected plots could be temporarily reclassified as rural land.
The latest agreement changes that approach. Rather than requiring the affected tourism plots to be classified as rural land for five years, the regional administration will allow their status and possible development to be determined under the applicable municipal planning framework.
This element of the settlement has implications for the Canary Islands hotel development pipeline. More than 20 hotel, resort and villa projects could potentially recover development rights, although individual schemes remain subject to the relevant municipal planning requirements, permits and other applicable procedures.
In San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Gran Canaria, affected land includes areas in Meloneras, Maspalomas and the surroundings of Pasito Blanco. Lopesan has development interests in several plots in the Meloneras 2-A partial plan, while other affected developers hold land in El Salobre and other tourism zones in southern Gran Canaria.
In Mogán, the cases include development land around Taurito, Puerto Rico and Tauro. Fuerteventura contains another significant concentration of affected land, particularly in Pájara, where several proceedings involve Dehesa de Jandía and other developers. Development rights associated with land in Lanzarote have also formed part of the wider legal process.
The settlement follows negotiations publicly confirmed in May 2025 by Canary Islands President Fernando Clavijo, who said the regional administration was seeking to reduce compensation liabilities from around 1bn euros to below 500m. eurps. The negotiations were led by regional Minister for Territorial Policy Manuel Miranda.
The agreement therefore resolves the principal financial claims arising from the long-running tourism planning proceedings while changing the treatment of the affected development land. Individual hotel and resort projects will still depend on the planning provisions and authorisation processes applicable in each municipality.
Tags: Canary Islands