Canary Islands

The Canary Islands demonstrate tourism monoculture at its most extreme: over 35% of GDP derives from visitors, employing 400,000 people directly and indirectly. This Atlantic archipelago 100km off the African coast attracted growth of 7.1% in tourist arrivals (April 2025 vs 2024), with UK visitors (25%), Germans (20%), and mainland Spaniards (18%) forming the core markets. Post-pandemic recovery has exceeded 2019 levels, yet GDP per capita (€24,345) remains 21.4% below the Spanish average—Spain's third lowest despite the tourism boom.

The islands illustrate ecological island vulnerability transposed to economics. Manufacturing represents just 2.8% of GDP (vs 11.9% nationally), leaving limited alternatives when tourism falters. The Canary banana—with Protected Geographical Indication and world-leading yields of 80 tonnes/hectare in greenhouses—provides the main agricultural counterweight. Yet 2025 marked a milestone: for the first time since 1993, imported bananas exceeded Canary Island fruit in mainland Spanish market share. Weather disruptions and competition from cheaper Latin American producers squeeze an industry already receiving EU agricultural subsidies to survive.

Strong population growth compounds the economic challenge. More residents competing for tourism-generated income depresses per capita measures even as aggregate GDP rises. The 2025 forecast of 2.8-3.5% GDP growth positions the Canaries among Spain's fastest-growing regions, but this expansion serves to maintain rather than improve living standards. The archipelago's economy resembles an isolated island ecosystem: specialized, vulnerable to external shocks, and dependent on maintaining flows from distant continents.