Canary Islands - Immigration
Canaries Immigration Procedures for Yacht Crew
Do I need a Visa?
The same rules apply in the Canaries as in mainland Spain.
The Canary Islands are part of the Schengen Agreement Area. Visas are not required for nationals of the EU, Norway, Iceland or Switzerland regardless of the length of stay.
Visas are not required for nationals of other West European countries, Canada and the United States, as well as Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Singapore, Uruguay and Venezuela for stays of up to 90 days in any 180 day period.
EU Nationals (and a few other countries) can travel to the Canaries with just an identity card, but all others must have a passport valid for three months beyond the intended stay.
Visa exemptions and requirements are as for Spain; however, this does not appear to be applied strictly to yachts, provided the person also leaves the islands by yacht.
Passports
Your passport must be:
- issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country (check the ‘date of issue’)
- valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave (check the ‘expiry date’)
Passports of the crew are not normally stamped on arrival, but if crew members wish to leave the Canaries by air (or another means of transport), an entry stamp (entrada) will be needed, as otherwise they might be turned back from the airport.
It is very important to ensure your passport is stamped every time you enter or exit the Schengen area as a visitor.
Go to the closest Policia de Frontera to get passports stamped.
Border guards will use passport stamps to check you’re complying with the 90-day visa-free limit for short stays in the Schengen area. If relevant entry or exit stamps are not in your passport, border guards will presume that you have overstayed your visa-free limit. Be sure to exit the Canaries at a port of entry where there is Immigration present so you can get an exit passport stamp from Schengen (El Hierro for example has no port of entry).
Other Visa Information
Visas are required for all other nationals or for stays longer than 90 days, to be obtained in advance from a Spanish embassy or consulate abroad. If obtained locally, proof of medical insurance and adequate funds will be required.
A link to the list of nationals requiring a visa prior to arrival can be found at Conditions for entry into Spain (government website).
Children under 14 of any nationality do not require visas if they have their own passports.
Extending your stay
To stay longer than 90 days, you will need to meet the Spanish government’s entry requirements. You should check with the Spanish consulate in your home country prior to travel regarding what type of visa and/or work permit you may need.
If you need to extend your visa-free stay for exceptional reasons, such as a medical emergency, you must apply to the immigration authorities via this link to do so.
Last updated: September 2024
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Reported by Josh Kegan (US Sailor)
An update to the availability of propane at the DISA plant in Arrecife (Lanzarote, Canary Islands): they appeared willing and able to fill a US-style left handed fitting propane bottle until they found the bottle’s certification date. In Spain bottles are stamped with their expiration date, but in the US they are stamped with the date of manufacture/certification. Ours was just over a year old and stamped 09/23. They refused to fill it because this date was in the past. They understood that it was only a year old and that the stamped date was not the expiration date. But without a future date somewhere on the bottle they said it would be illegal to fill it and turned us away. Might depend on who’s working that day, but something US sailors should be aware of. Thanks very much, noonsite has been very helpful in our travels!
Regular Noonsite contributor Alison Gieschen and partner Dan, share information they wish they had known before setting sail for the Canary Islands to prepare for their Atlantic crossing. See https://www.noonsite.com/report/canary-islands-what-to-know-before-you-go/
Feedback from a yacht that recently arrived in La Graciosa.
“We came to the island around noon, directly from Lisbon (4 days) and tried to get a place in the harbour. Well inside, we aimed for one of the many vacant spots, but soon became aware of a couple of guys in coveralls shouting at us. They immediately told us that there were no vacancy, but we asked them for permission to do some shopping. That was not possible, but when we told them it was for food, we felt that they understood and gave us the option of rafting up on one of the two boats. We were waved away when we approached the first one and when approaching the second, they started using whistles, shouted at us and basically chased us out of the harbor (they had likely been in contact with a superior in the meantime). It was unpleasant and may be even a bit rude. There were numerous vacant berth’s and at least 50 meters of unoccupied quays that could have been used for putting a person onshore and do the corresponding pick up.”
Editor’s Note: La Graciosa is one of the 15 government-run ports throughout the islands (Puerto Canarios). Berths in these harbors must be pre-booked using the website or App – go to https://solicitudes.puertoscanarios.es/ and click on “Particulares. Formulario de datos.” This takes you to the online booking form. Alternatively, you can download the App to book via your phone. Whichever way you pre-book, it is always recommended to call the port prior to arrival to double-check your booking has been succesful. More on booking berths in the Canaries at https://www.noonsite.com/place/canary-islands/general-info/#yachting-essentials-section
I docked in Santa Cruise Marina Tenerife coming from Madeira.
Helpful dock staff took our lines and spoke good English
Likewise office staff very helpful with good English
Very easy to get passport stamped at the Police office by the Fred Olson terminal.
A very short walk into town with many bars restaurants etc.
The chandlery shops only open 0900 to 1430 or 1500.
Good laundry, showers etc
Beware the black rubber on the finger pontoons badly marks fenders and
transfers on to the hull.
Cost for 2 nights for 14m yacht 66 euros
Email received from fossilfreearoundtheworld.org
We are in the Canary Islands at the moment.
It is really, really busy! This season, besides the triple ARC and the Viking Explorers there are Catamaran-races on Tenerife so Tenerife is full and Lanzarote is moaning under all visiting boats, but Fuertaventura, La Gomera and El Hierro seem to be ok for finding berths. The app of Navily gives nice updates on anchoring possibilities, too.
We were happy to find the information by Heinrich Solanas on noonsite https://www.noonsite.com/news/canary-islands-how-to-book-a-berth-in-government-harbors/
An update:
Puertoscanarios: troublesome indeed.
We sent a request on Saturday and they replied Monday before 13:00, with detailed questions on the information provided. So we replied and the answer came on Tuesday, 10:00. Our request had been ‘archived’ because I had filled in the form, not Peter. So please make sure that no one other than the owner fills in the request because otherwise they reject the entire form, which was a lot of work.
We decided to skip Tenerife so we don’t know if it would have been worth going through all the paperwork otherwise.
The e-mail address mentioned for Fuertaventura is not correct. It should be: operacionesfue@palmasport.es
But with this address, they replied promptly: they do not take reservations. But they did say that for a boat of our dimensions there is usually not a problem and they sent us the prices for a 10 x 4 boat: 17 Euros per night excluding taxes.
Kindest regards,
Inge
This is the latest news for sailors in the canary islands during the state of emergency related to the corona crisis.
The Spanish government doing the best they can during this crisis, but the police, guardia civil and officials are totally picking on sailors that are now confined on there boats. Example: one boater was going to the restrooms and the guardia was way on the other side of the port. They saw him walking back to his boat and they races over to to the other side of the port, stoped him and said that he was walking on a construction side. They were about to give him a fine but could not because they knew that it was not true. Next, they stopped me and my wife going to the showers saying that we have to keep 1.5 m distance of each other. I told the guardia we were living in the same boat and in the same bed. They said” okay bit next time we will fine you. They approached us from.a short distance. Really did not like that! Allowed is for us sailors is to go for just the basic food stuff in the nearest shop in our case Tazacorte and on the way back we boaties will get stopped by the police or guardia with hate in there eyes and asking questions like “where are you going and where have you been?”, like it is not obvious with some food in the rucksack. As for us, we speak fluently spanish and are always polite to them and not argue back. Same as the boat people here in the port, the are polite and mannered.
We feel now discriminated because the locals and work people are keep on working together totally not paying attention to the recomended distance, no masks gloves and get not any attention from police or guardia civil. Non of the boaties are having symptones and everybody is okay we all clean the toilets after us. The authorities are looking for additional cash and where can they get it? Right from us. The local people here are looking to us as we are the worst people on earth. Now we feel how all changes when it comes to it. But we bring in tax, buy things, pay the port, buy diesel. This all is totally ignored. They really bite the hand that feeds them. Speaking for my wife and I, we feel suddenly hated and we come to the canaries for like 10 years!
To bad, but we will go and will never return. Never ever. Least to say that if the virus could go but come back in september, there are a lot, a lot of people without income here. We will be walking ATM,s . This is our guess.
On March 27, we had lockdown, nobody was walking around as you described. The Guardia Civil may stopped you but, well they are not so clever. It was a new situation that 3 months just a week after lockdown. Nobody handled the covid right, no country.
Hi, i have just arrived in Teneriffe and need to be here for a couple of weeks, are there any amchorages round the south end of the island that cruising pepes tend to like ? I am hoping to meet some like minded people and share a beer and a chat. Thanks for any info regards Shaunskie
Sailors for Sustainability
May 11, 2018 10:53 AM
Raymarine on Tenerife: There is one person for Raymarine repair/maintenance on Tenerife. His name is Pepe (José Juan García López), phone number +34 607 680 422. He worked his magic on our windmeter and autopilot and sailed out with us to test it all. Great service!
Reported by SV Snowflake:
Anchorage – Papagayo Lanzarote:
Apparently, this is a very popular nudist beach, which we were totally unaware of until after we anchored.
We anchored for two nights here in September 2017 before fueling up at Rubicon and sailing to Tenerife. We had no problems anchoring here – there were only a couple of other boats anchored here and it was a calm, peaceful anchorage. The water was beautiful and we were told that there was an underwater sculpture park somewhere in the area but we didn’t search for it.
We did not attempt to take the dinghy ashore – looked like it may have been tricky with the rocks.
Holding was great and we could see straight down from the deck of the boat and view the buried anchor.
A warning to all of those still planning a transit from the Canaries (this is Jan 2017): there is an unlit, uncharted, poorly visible series of semi-submerged, 25-meter diameter, hard plastic rings (fish farms) just to the southeast of Gran Canaria at 27 46.796 N, 15 25.734 W.
Please steer clear! These are about 2 nm away from the marine farms charted on Navionics and Garmin charts at this time. We just ran our catamaran right into them at night and it tore up our rudders and engines.
The above comment re 6kg colour is absolutely correct (or was at 30/8/16). We paid Euro 20.33 for 2 x 6kg refills. (They did look at the test disc around the top of the cylinder.) NB, they only accept cash!
This comment was posted elsewhere on the site – 26 October 2015:
I can confirm that the DISA plant in Gran Canaria does refill propane bottles/tanks. We have a 6 kg Calor bottle/tank from the UK. They filled it with no adaptor needed. Take the highway from the Muelle Deportivo towards the airport, about 17 km.
Take the Salinetas exit. There is an IKEA Almacen, which is the second IKEA on the way to the airport. Go past that and take a right on the second roundabout, in front of the Mercadora supermarket. The entrance to the DISA plant is on your left. They also filled smaller propane bottles from Croatia with no adaptor required.