Island resident travel discounts rise to 75%

FLIGHT and ferry discounts of 75% subsidised by the State for residents in non-mainland areas of Spain have been agreed today by the Council of Ministers, responding to a long-running demand by those living in the Canary and Balearic Islands and the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the northern Moroccan coast.

Reduced prices have always been available for these residents, who normally tick a box online when booking flights, but governments of these regions have long been pushing for them to increase to 75%.

Discounts are necessary not just for holidays or visiting family on the mainland or other islands, but sometimes even for medical appointments or general administration – those who have to visit their provincial capital in the Canary Islands, for example, would need to get a flight or ferry to either Santa Cruz de Tenerife or Las Palmas de Gran Canaria if they live outside of either.

Minister for public works and transport infrastructure José Luis Ábalos says the discount, which has risen from 50% to 75%, would apply to all tickets sold from 09.00 mainland Spain time – which is also the case for Ceuta, Melilla and the Balearics – or 08.00 Canary Island time on Monday, July 16.

Ábalos' department met with the governments of the Canary and Balearic Islands last week and had promised that the 50% resident discount would go up to 75% before July 28.

His ministry subsidises up to 15 million ferry and airline journeys between Ceuta, Melilla or the islands and mainland Spain every year in addition to journeys within the Canaries and Balearics themselves.

This number will now rise substantially, Ábalos says.

Already, at least 7.8 million tickets per year attract 50% subsidies.