Gran Canaria or Fuerteventura: about a third apart in winter, level in summer

Over a year, Gran Canaria costs more than Fuerteventura: the average hotel night over the last twelve months was €151 against €125. But the gap lives in winter. From December to February Gran Canaria is 37% dearer on average, while in summer the islands have drawn level. In July 2026 a night cost €146 on Fuerteventura and €142 on Gran Canaria. A year earlier, in July 2025, Gran Canaria was 12% dearer.

This compares our eight places. On Gran Canaria they are two cities, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Telde, and two southern resorts, Maspalomas and Mogán. On Fuerteventura, the capital Puerto del Rosario and three resorts: Corralejo, Pájara and Antigua. Maspalomas is part of the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana and Corralejo part of La Oliva; their census, housing and winter figures are the municipality's.

Short answers

• A year ago a hotel night on Gran Canaria cost more in every month. Over the last twelve months it cost more in all but July, and in August the islands were almost level.
• The winter gap remains: from December to February Gran Canaria is 37% dearer on average, against 41% a year earlier.
• Both airports share a yearly mean of 21.1 °C. Nights are warmer on Gran Canaria; days from April to September are warmer on Fuerteventura.
• The sea off Gran Canaria's south is warmer in every month, though by less than a degree.
• In winter Gran Canaria airport has 97 direct destinations abroad and Fuerteventura 54. To Germany, Fuerteventura has more.
• The ministry's appraised value in Puerto del Rosario is above Telde: €1,958/m² against €1,796/m².

The price of a night: two years side by side

The first year is September 2024 to August 2025, the second September 2025 to August 2026. "Gap" is how much more a night costs on Gran Canaria; a minus means Fuerteventura is dearer. Winter barely changed: from December to February of both years Gran Canaria is 30–47% dearer. Summer did change. In July and in August the price on Fuerteventura rose by 12% in a year, while on Gran Canaria it barely moved, −1%.

Over the whole year Fuerteventura rose by 6.5% and Gran Canaria by 0.7%. Occupancy follows the same pattern. From December to February Gran Canaria's hotels were fuller in both years; in January of the last one 79% of rooms were taken against 70%. In August Fuerteventura was the fuller one: 85% against 84%. Room price, occupancy.

Who stays, and for how long

Gran Canaria has 870,608 residents and Fuerteventura 129,541, as of 1 January 2025. Guests from abroad account for 87% of hotel nights on Gran Canaria and 90% on Fuerteventura. A guest from abroad stays 7.3 nights on average on Gran Canaria and 7.8 nights on Fuerteventura. A guest resident in Spain stays 3.4 nights against 4.9 nights: noticeably longer on the smaller island. Island population, nights and arrivals.

Weather: one mean, different rain, different air

Both stations are airports by the sea, at 24 and 25 m. The AEMETAEMETSpain's state meteorological agency. It runs the weather stations and publishes the climate norms.Why it matters. Our sunshine hours and winter temperatures come from observations, not from resort marketing. The gap between the two can be several degrees. normal covers 1981–2010. Their yearly means match to a tenth of a degree: 21.1 °C. Nights are warmer on Gran Canaria in 11 months of 12, and level in July. By day Fuerteventura is hotter from April to September, Gran Canaria in the other months. Either way the gap is a fraction of a degree: 27.8 °C against 27.5 °C in August, 20.8 °C against 20.6 °C in January.

Rain and air are what differ. Gran Canaria gets 151 mm a year over 22 rainy days, Fuerteventura 98 mm over 16. Yet the air on Fuerteventura is more humid in every month, by 1–5 points: in October, for instance, 73% against 69%. AEMET.

The sea: a month longer off Gran Canaria's south

The water off Maspalomas is warmer than off Pájara in every month, by 0.3–0.6 °C. The capitals differ by the same: 0.3–0.6 °C in favour of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Off Maspalomas the sea stays at the swimming line of 20 °C for 9 months, from May to January; off Pájara for 8, from May to December. The extra month is January, when the water off Maspalomas is exactly 20 °C. It is coldest in March: 19.2 °C and 18.7 °C. Satellite averages for 2015–2024. NOAA OISST.

Neighbours and flights: Italians on both, Scandinavians on one

By the 2025 census Italians are the largest foreign group in three of the five resorts: San Bartolomé de Tirajana (3,312), Mogán (1,103) and La Oliva (5,310). Germans come first in Pájara (1,918) and second in San Bartolomé de Tirajana (2,435). Britons come first only in Antigua. And Mogán has 625 Norwegians, more than Germans.

In the three cities, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Telde and Puerto del Rosario, Colombians come first. The foreign share runs from 45.9% in La Oliva to 4.7% in Telde. Census by nationality.

The timetable echoes the census. In January of the 2026/27 season, Gran Canaria airport has direct flights to 97 cities abroad and Fuerteventura airport to 54. To Sweden and Norway together it is 14 destinations against 1. To Germany, though, Fuerteventura has more: 12 against 10. We keep this count ourselves: cities with a direct flight at least weekly in January; the table lists countries with three or more such cities from either island. Checked on 17 September 2026.

Housing: Fuerteventura's capital above Telde

Spain's housing ministry publishes an appraised value per square metre for three of our places: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria at €2,321/m², Puerto del Rosario at €1,958/m² and Telde at €1,796/m². The small island's capital sits between the big island's two cities. For the resorts on both islands our base has only asking prices, which do not compare with appraisals. Ministry bulletin.

Rent is the median on current leases in 2024. On Gran Canaria: €600 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, €600 in Mogán and €520 in Telde. On Fuerteventura: €510 in Pájara, €499 in Antigua and €481 in Puerto del Rosario. Every one of our Gran Canaria places is dearer than every one on Fuerteventura. It shows most per square metre: in Mogán a typical rented flat is 47 m² at €13.1 per metre a month. In Fuerteventura's resorts it is 51–61 m² at €8.9–9.2 per metre. Our data has no median for San Bartolomé de Tirajana or La Oliva. SERPAVI.

The drive to hospital

On Fuerteventura all our places share one nearest public hospital, Hospital General de Fuerteventura: 3 minutes from Puerto del Rosario, 21 minutes from Antigua, 35 minutes from Corralejo and 39 minutes from Pájara. On Gran Canaria there are two, both in the island's capital. Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Dr. Negrín is nearest to the city itself, 4 minutes; Complejo Hospitalario Universitario Insular Materno Infantil serves the rest: 16 minutes from Telde, 40 minutes from Maspalomas and 65 minutes from Mogán. The furthest of the eight are Mogán and Maspalomas: both resorts are in the south, and the hospital is in the north-east. The time is by car with no traffic from the centre of each place to a hospital in the health ministry's catalogue; it says nothing about ambulances. Hospital catalogue.

Eight places side by side

Neither island shuts down in winter. By Social Security's monthly figures for 2025, our Gran Canaria places kept at least 99.1% of their best month's cafés, hotels and shops open in January, and our Fuerteventura places at least 94.9%, lowest in Pájara. The residents shown for Maspalomas and Corralejo are the whole municipality. Social Security series.

Further

Gran Canaria month by month is in best time to visit Gran Canaria. Fuerteventura's beaches by water quality: Fuerteventura beaches. Other pairs: Gran Canaria or Lanzarote, Lanzarote or Fuerteventura and Tenerife or Fuerteventura. All seven islands are in which Canary Island to choose. Our places are on the Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura pages.

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