The Canaries are the one Spanish destination where the paperwork genuinely catches people out — and almost no removals website explains why. It isn’t the distance. It’s that the Canary Islands sit outside the EU VAT area, even though they are part of Spain and part of the EU.
That makes the crossing a fiscal border. Your belongings need a customs declaration to enter, even though they never leave Spain.
Canary moves are quoted on request — tell us what’s moving and to which island, and we’ll confirm availability, cost and timing before you commit.
Where deliveries go
- Tenerife — Santa Cruz, La Laguna, Puerto de la Cruz, Adeje, Los Cristianos, Costa Adeje
- Gran Canaria — Las Palmas, Telde, Maspalomas, Mogán, Puerto Rico
- Lanzarote — Arrecife, Puerto del Carmen, Playa Blanca, Costa Teguise
- Fuerteventura — Puerto del Rosario, Corralejo, Caleta de Fuste, Morro Jable
- La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro — reached by a second inter-island sailing, so quoted separately
The fiscal border, explained
The Canaries are inside the EU customs territory but outside the EU VAT and excise area. Instead of Spanish IVA they operate their own local tax, IGIC, and some goods also attract AIEM, an island production levy.
In practice that means three things for a household move:
- A customs declaration (DUA) is required. It’s filed by an agent at the island end. This is not optional and not something you can do on arrival.
- A valued inventory in Spanish is required. Not a packing list — an itemised inventory with values against each entry. On a mainland move a simple list suffices; here it doesn’t.
- Local tax can apply unless relief is granted. There is a change-of-residence exemption for personal belongings, but it has conditions — broadly, that the goods are used personal property, that you’re genuinely transferring your residence, and that you claim it with the right evidence inside the permitted window.
Get the exact conditions confirmed by the agent handling your declaration before the goods sail. This is the single most common and most expensive thing to get wrong on this route, and it is far cheaper to fix in advance than after your belongings are sitting on a quay in Santa Cruz.
Documents to have ready: passport, NIE, proof that you’re transferring residence (padrón certificate, or the consular baja from the UK), and the valued inventory.
Moving to Mallorca, Ibiza or Menorca instead? Those are an entirely different job — a road move with a ferry on the end and no customs step at all. See removals to the Balearic Islands →.
How the route works
There’s no driving to the Canaries. Belongings travel by sea freight — usually as groupage in a shared container, or a dedicated container for a full household — sailing from a mainland port such as Cádiz, Huelva, Barcelona or Valencia, or on a direct service from the UK where one is running.
That gives a realistic door-to-door timescale of several weeks rather than several days, and the exact figure depends on sailing schedules, container consolidation and how quickly the declaration clears. We’ll give you a timescale with your quote rather than a promise before we know the route.
What it costs
Priced per move, by volume and by island. Two things to understand before comparing quotes:
- Small loads cost disproportionately more here. Sea freight is priced by the space you occupy in a container, and consolidation charges don’t scale down. A quarter-container isn’t a quarter of the price.
- The mainland guide prices on this site don’t apply. They’re road rates. See the full cost guide → for context on volumes, but treat the Canary figure as its own quote.
Ship it or buy it there?
The freight premium and the island tax between them change the maths more than anywhere else in Spain. Good furniture and anything sentimental is usually worth shipping. Cheap flat-pack, bulky low-value items and old white goods usually aren’t — you can pay more to move a fridge than the fridge is worth.
If you’re only sending a few boxes rather than a household, that’s a different service entirely. Sending boxes to Spain →
Frequently asked questions
Do I need customs paperwork for the Canary Islands? Yes. The Canaries are outside the EU VAT area, so a customs declaration (DUA) is required even though the islands are part of Spain.
What is IGIC? The Canary Islands’ own indirect tax, used instead of Spanish IVA. Some goods also attract AIEM, a local production levy.
Do I have to pay tax on my own furniture? Not if the change-of-residence exemption applies and is claimed correctly with the right evidence. Confirm the conditions with your agent before the goods sail.
How long do removals to Tenerife take? Weeks rather than days — it’s sea freight, and the timescale depends on sailings, container consolidation and clearance. You’ll get a timescale with your quote.
Is a valued inventory really necessary? Yes, in Spanish, itemised with values. A mainland-style packing list is not enough for the declaration.
Can you move just a few boxes to Lanzarote? Yes, though small consignments cost proportionally more than they do on the mainland because of how sea freight is priced.