Beyond Tenerife and Gran Canaria: The Canary Islands' Hidden Gems

The Canary Islands attracted a record 18.4 million visitors in 2025, landing on Fodor's 2026 'no travel' list due to overtourism and environmental concerns. Yet lesser-known islands in the archipelago remain largely untouched by mass tourism and are waiting to be discovered.

The Canary Islands have become a victim of their own popularity. After welcoming a record-breaking 18.4 million tourists in 2025, the Spanish archipelago was placed on Fodor's Travel's 2026 'No List' — not because the destination is unpleasant, but because overtourism has begun to take a serious environmental toll.

## The Price of Popularity

Tenerife and Gran Canaria have long been the poster children of Canary Islands tourism, drawing millions of visitors with their volcanic landscapes, year-round sunshine, and beach resorts. But that very fame has created overcrowded streets, strained infrastructure, and mounting pressure on local ecosystems. Residents in parts of Tenerife have taken to the streets in protest, demanding that authorities curb the relentless flow of visitors.

## Hidden Corners Still Waiting

Yet the archipelago is far more than its two most famous islands. La Palma, known as 'La Isla Bonita', offers dramatic hiking trails through ancient laurel forests and some of the world's clearest night skies — it is home to one of Europe's leading astronomical observatories. La Gomera, reachable by ferry from Tenerife, remains a lush green retreat where locals still communicate across valleys using a whistled language recognised by UNESCO. El Hierro, the archipelago's smallest island, has earned international acclaim for its commitment to renewable energy and sustainable tourism.

## A More Sustainable Future

Travel experts increasingly argue that spreading visitor numbers more evenly across the archipelago could relieve pressure on the overloaded hotspots while giving smaller islands an economic boost. The Fodor's listing has sparked a wider conversation about what responsible travel to the Canaries should look like in the years ahead — and whether tourism itself needs to be reimagined rather than simply redirected.