Maspalomas
Maspalomas is not a municipality of its own but a resort village at the southern tip of Gran Canaria, inside San Bartolomé de Tirajana. It is known for its dunes: the field of sand by the sea is a nature reserve, and it separates the village from neighbouring Playa del Inglés. This is the island's main tourist area.
The south of Gran Canaria lives in winter: from November to February Germans, Britons and Scandinavians come here to winter and the village is full. In spring and early summer it empties noticeably. Over forty per cent of residents are foreign. One thing to remember. The padrón and the statistics are published for the whole municipality, which is much larger than the village. So the population and foreign-share figures on the card are our estimate for Maspalomas itself, not official ones. The hospital is 40 minutes away and the airport 25.
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · 55 km — a real city with a beach in the middle of it
- Mogán · 30 km — the fishing harbour and the driest corner of the island
- Teide · 80 km — the volcano on neighbouring Tenerife, visible from the south on a clear day
Maspalomas sits in Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, right on the water. One of the longest swimming seasons in the database: 9 months with the sea above 20 °C. The airport is 25 minutes away, closer than for most places in the database. Summers are packed: tourist load hits 5 out of 5 at the peak against 2 in winter.
Hospital, terrain, getting around
Where from: the Ministry of Health hospital catalogue, road time · elevations from the Copernicus terrain model · OpenStreetMap · ratings for car-free and hospital minutes are ours.
Maspalomas sea temperature by month
9 months above 20 °CsourceAverage sea surface temperature, °C, for 2015–2024 — NOAA OISST satellite series, grid cell 13.3 km from the centre.
Tourist load
Maspalomas beaches and water quality
sourceMaspalomas has 10 beaches tested under EU bathing water rules, at 14 sampling points. In the 2025 season, all 10 were graded excellent. No beach here has been graded “poor” since testing began in 1990.
The grade is bacteria in water samples over the last four seasons — not sand, views or crowds. “Poor” means bathing there is advised against.
| Beach | From the centre | Grade 2025 | “Excellent” in a row | Last “poor” |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playa El Ingles | 2.1 km | excellent | 36 seasons | none since 1990 |
| Playa Los Cochinos (El Cochino) | 2.7 km | excellent | 16 seasons | none since 1990 |
| Playa Maspalomas | 2.8 km | excellent | 36 seasons | none since 1990 |
| Playa Las Meloneras | 3.1 km | excellent | 36 seasons | none since 1990 |
| Playa Las Burras | 3.6 km | excellent | 36 seasons | none since 1990 |
| Playa San Agustin | 4.8 km | excellent | 15 seasons | none since 1990 |
| Playa El Aguila | 5.9 km | excellent | 16 seasons | none since 1990 |
| Playa Bahia Feliz Parte Tarajalillo | 7.2 km | excellent | 36 seasons | none since 1990 |
| Playa Santa Agueda (El Pajar) | 8.4 km | excellent | 26 seasons | none since 1990 |
| Playa y Piscinas Naturales Castillo del Romeral | 13 km | excellent | 8 seasons | none since 2018 |
Where from: European Environment Agency, bathing water register, seasons 1990–2025, licence CC BY 4.0. Distance is from the centre in a straight line. Every place in one table
On the map
Rent by number of bedrooms
asking price, estimate| 1 bedroom | 900 €/mo | |
| 2 bedrooms | 1 250 €/mo | |
| 3 bedrooms | ≈ 1 630 €/mo | model: two-bed × 1.3, no measurement yet |
Asking prices are what long lets are advertised at today; the registry is what tenants pay on signed leases, including old ones. The gap between them is your negotiating argument.
Schools nearby
estimateInternational schools counted in the base: 2. Names and curricula for this place are not verified yet — the school registry covers the thirty most-requested places so far.
Renting without a Spanish contract
How realistic a long lease is without a nómina — on foreign income, savings or prepayment.
- —42% foreign residents — income from abroad is routine for landlords here
- —A community with its own services: agencies have dealt with foreigners before
- —Prices rising 9.5% a year — the landlord picks, and the first filter is a nómina
This is our model, not a measurement: demanding a nómina is an individual landlord's practice and nobody publishes it. The rating is derived from the share of foreign residents, the presence of a community with services, price growth, seasonality of the stock and the size of the town.
Who lives here
INE 2025That covers the whole municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana. The card above shows our estimate for the town itself, 42 %: the town and the municipality are settled differently, and the padrón is not published for the town alone.
- Italy3 312
- Germany2 435
- Morocco1 064
- United Kingdom848
- China833
- Colombia566
- Netherlands535
- Sweden389
- deGerman~12 000school, doctors or lawyers in the languageMaspalomas/Playa del Inglés is nicknamed the "German Riviera"
- enEnglish~6 000school, doctors or lawyers in the language
Where from: INE, Censo Anual de Población · the register-based census counts padrón registrations by citizenship on 1 January, not everyone living here: seasonal owners and the unregistered are outside it, and naturalised residents count as Spanish.
Winter direct flights from LPA
January 2026/2725 min to the airport- United Kingdom18
- other countries16
- Germany10
- Italy9
- Sweden7
- Norway7
- France5
- Netherlands4
- Poland4
- Portugal4
- Ireland3
- Belgium3
- Switzerland3
- Denmark2
- Austria1
- Czechia1
Destinations served at least weekly in January; checked 2026-09-17.
Paperwork and practicalities
From OpenStreetMap — an open map filled in by volunteers. Something missing there may still exist: read this as «we found this many», not «there are no more».
Month by month
Air, sea, how busy it gets and what stays open — for each month on its own.
Articles that include this place
- Gran Canaria's beaches by water quality: excellent everywhere but Puerto de MogánGrades from the European register for every sampling point on Gran Canaria since 1990: Puerto de Mogán's beach with four seasons of good, El Confital with five seasons of poor, Telde's shore before and after 2016, twelve municipalities and the sea at our four places month by month.
- Best time to visit Gran Canaria: weather, sea, the price of a hotel night and who fills the hotels, month by monthTwelve months on Gran Canaria from the weather service's normals, sea temperature and hotel statistics: why December costs more than February or August though its hotels are emptier, how many nights foreign and Spanish guests stay, and why the south's quiet month is June.
- Tenerife or Gran Canaria: Tenerife grew dearer, Gran Canaria stayed fullerThe two big islands on government series: hotel prices and occupancy month by month, weather normals at the southern airports, the sea, bathing water, the census by nationality, appraised value per square metre on one basis, rent, winter flights and the drive to hospital.
- Gran Canaria or Fuerteventura: about a third apart in winter, level in summerTwo islands on government series: two years of hotel prices side by side, weather normals, the sea, the census by nationality, appraised value per square metre, rent, winter flights and the drive to hospital. A year ago Gran Canaria cost more in every month; in July 2026 Fuerteventura was the dearer one.
- Gran Canaria or Lanzarote: alike over the year, different month by monthTwo islands on government series: two years of hotel prices, weather normals, the sea, the census by nationality, rent, winter flights and the drive to hospital. Over a year the islands are almost level; month by month their prices run in opposite directions.
- Spain's cleanest beaches: 36 years of EU water testsThe water grade for every bathing point in Spain, every season since 1990: where excellent has held every single year, where the water was poor in the latest season, and how the grade differs from the Blue Flag.
Where to look next
- Mogán2 900 €/m²
- Telde1 796 €/m²
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria2 321 €/m²
- Yaiza2 600 €/m²
- El Puerto de Santa María2 555 €/m²
- Nerja2 450 €/m²
- Puerto de la Cruz3 090 €/m²
- Almuñécar3 021 €/m²
- Cádiz3 011 €/m²