Holiday Rental Sign for the Canary Islands (VV Plaque CN27)

If you let a holiday home in the Canary Islands as a Vivienda Vacacional (“VV”), you are required to display an official VV plaque (distintivo) outside the property, next to the main entrance, visible from the street. For owners who live abroad and manage a property remotely, this page sets out exactly what the plaque is, when you need one, and how to order it without ever having to visit Gran Canaria in person.

What the VV plaque is

The plaque is the official distintivo that identifies a property as a registered Vivienda Vacacional. The design used across the Canary Islands is model CN27: a fixed size of 30 × 30 cm, made in aluminium composite panel so it can stay outdoors year-round without fading, corroding or warping in salt air. It is not a decorative sign or a marketing item: it is a compliance marker, and its look, size and wording are set by regulation rather than by choice.

The legal basis

Holiday lets in the Canary Islands are governed by Decreto 113/2015, de 22 de mayo (the Reglamento de las viviendas vacacionales de Canarias). Under this decree, a property can only be let as a Vivienda Vacacional once it has been through the registration process described below, and a registered property is required to display the official distintivo at the entrance.

The plaque’s own design, its size, symbol and format, comes from a separate rule, Decreto 50/2011, de 8 de abril (BOC nº 81), which sets the official distintivos used across all classes of tourism establishment in the Canary Islands, not only holiday lets. Together, the two decrees are why the plaque looks the way it does and why it is required at all: Decreto 113/2015 creates the obligation, Decreto 50/2011 defines the object. Some administrative details are applied slightly differently between municipalities, so for a specific enforcement question, confirm it directly with your island’s Cabildo or the Canarian tourism authority.

Who needs one

Anyone letting out a home in the Canary Islands on a short-term, tourist basis (what the regulation calls a Vivienda Vacacional) needs to go through registration and display the plaque, regardless of whether the owner lives on the island, elsewhere in Spain, or abroad. This applies whether you manage the property yourself, through a local manager, or through a letting agency. The paperwork and the plaque are often handled by whoever manages the property day to day, but legal responsibility sits with the owner, so it is worth checking directly that both have actually been done.

Registration comes first: the plaque comes after

The order of events matters, and it is a common source of confusion for owners new to the process. The plaque is not what makes a property legal to let: it is what you display once the property already is legal to let. In practice:

1. The owner (or their representative) files a declaración responsable with the relevant authority, confirming the property meets the requirements to operate as a Vivienda Vacacional.
2. The property is entered in the Registro General Turístico de Canarias and given a registration reference.
3. Only once the property is registered does the obligation to display the distintivo apply: at that point, the plaque should go up at the entrance, visible from the street.

We make and supply the plaque itself; we are not part of the registration process and cannot file the declaración responsable on your behalf. If you have not yet registered the property, your local ayuntamiento (town hall), your island’s Cabildo, or a gestoría (administrative agency) familiar with tourism licensing is the right place to start.

Where it has to go

The plaque is displayed outside the property, beside the main entrance, in a position clearly visible from the street. The point of the requirement is that a tourism inspector (or indeed a guest) can confirm at a glance that the property is registered, without needing to go inside or ask. If a property has more than one entrance used by guests, it is common practice to display it at the entrance guests actually use to arrive.

What happens at a tourism inspection

Tourism authorities in the Canary Islands do carry out inspections of registered holiday lets, and the distintivo is one of the most visible things checked: it is external, obvious, and either present and correct or not. Beyond the plaque, inspections generally look at whether the property matches its registration (occupancy, facilities, safety) and whether its paperwork is in order. Specific inspection practice and any penalties can vary and change, so we do not quote figures here: your local ayuntamiento or the Canarian tourism authority can confirm current practice.

What you get from us

• The official CN27 design, in the required 30 × 30 cm size.
• Aluminium composite panel, exterior grade, made to withstand sun, salt air and rain.
• Made to order in our own workshop in Mogán, Gran Canaria.
• Fixed with screws or mounting adhesive: both work, whichever suits your wall.
• Shipped to any of the Canary Islands, or ready for pickup at our Mogán workshop.

The plaque costs €21.40, tax included (IGIC is included in all prices on our site), plus shipping.

How a non-resident owner orders one

Most owners who order this plaque from us are not on the island at the time: they are in the UK or Ireland, arranging a legal requirement for a property they own or manage from a distance. The plaque is ordered directly on our Spanish-language shop: the checkout page and confirmation emails are in Spanish, but card payment (Stripe) works exactly the same for international customers, and there is nothing to translate at the payment step itself. To order:

1. Open the CN27 VV plaque product page.
2. Choose shipping to your island (Correos delivers to all seven Canary Islands, from €6.96 for standard post or €8.56 for registered post) or pickup in Mogán if you or someone on your behalf is on Gran Canaria.
3. Pay securely by card. The plaque is then made to order in our workshop; we will confirm the lead time with your order, since it depends on our current workload.
4. If you would rather order by phone or email, or write to us in English, use the contact details below: we are happy to help, and to answer questions about sizing or fitting before you commit.

Because each plaque is personalised and made to order, it is excluded from the standard 14-day withdrawal right under Spanish consumer law (art. 103.c LGDCU). Any manufacturing defect is replaced free of charge.

Common questions from owners abroad

• “My property manager handles everything. Do I still need to check this myself?” The legal obligation sits with you. Confirm directly, in writing, that registration is done and the plaque is up.
• “Can someone else collect or fit it for me?” Yes, we can ship to a property manager, builder or neighbour, and fitting is straightforward with screws or mounting adhesive.
• “Does the plaque expire or need renewing?” No expiry date on the plaque itself; it is the underlying registration that matters, so a change of ownership is a Cabildo question, not a plaque one.

Frequently asked questions