The Canary Islands Government has not awarded a single contract for the construction of new publicly promoted social housing so far in 2026, according to an official written response sent by the regional government to PSOE leader Patricia Hernández.
The admission comes despite repeated commitments to tackle the islands' ongoing housing crisis, where more than 34,000 people remain on the waiting list for public housing, with some applicants having waited since 2010.
Planned projects still stalled
The Canary Islands Housing Institute (ICAVI) launched a tender earlier this year for a development of 134 public homes in Tenerife (51 in Adeje, 24 in Guía de Isora and 59 in Arona), however, the process failed in February after no construction companies submitted bids for the €23.8 million project.
Meanwhile, the publicly owned housing company Visocan has two developments currently out to tender, totalling 192 protected homes (168 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and 24 in La Frontera, El Hierro).
All other housing projects announced by the regional government remain either in the preparation stage or under construction.
Conflicting official figures
The Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Mobility, led by Pablo Rodríguez, told Parliament that 898 affordable homes are currently being built across the Canary Islands, including 519 publicly promoted properties and 379 private developments.
However, those figures differ significantly from data published by the Canary Islands Housing Observatory (OBVIA), which reports 1,996 homes under construction. According to the observatory, this includes 1,339 ICAVI homes, 545 Visocan properties, and 82 homes being built for families affected by the 2021 La Palma volcanic eruption.
Criticism from the opposition
Hernández accused the regional government of relying on publicity rather than delivering results. She claimed the government's housing policies amount to little more than "headline announcements" while benefiting private developers, adding that ministers have failed to deliver the current Housing Plan while the region waits for the next one.
Government sources responded by saying that new public housing tenders will be launched "shortly", although no timetable has been provided.
Construction industry challenges
At the beginning of the year, ICAVI had planned to tender four separate public housing developments during 2026, including projects in Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Lanzarote, La Palma and other municipalities across the islands.
So far, none have been successfully awarded.
Several housing projects launched in previous years have also failed to attract bidders, including developments in Granadilla de Abona, Güímar, Puntallana and Puerto del Rosario.
The Association of Construction Companies of Las Palmas (AECP) recently reported that 322 public works contracts across the Canary Islands received no bids between 2025 and June 2026.
The organisation says rising construction costs have made many public projects financially unviable because budgets no longer reflect market prices. It argues that increasing material costs, labour shortages and wider economic uncertainty are discouraging firms from bidding for government contracts.
Regional government officials, however, dispute that pricing is the main issue. They maintain that construction budgets are appropriately set and argue that the biggest obstacles are a shortage of skilled workers, the reduced size of the construction sector following the 2008 financial crisis, and the industry's limited capacity to take on a large number of projects simultaneously.
