Part of Caleta de Sebo's housing stays closed most of the year as second homes owned by Lanzarote families

Not all the closed houses in Caleta de Sebo belong to tourists or absentee owners from outside the Canary Islands: a significant proportion belongs to Lanzarote families who bought or inherited a home on the island decades ago and now use it only as a second residence, according to property sector sources.

A historic bond between the two islands

The bond between La Graciosa and Lanzarote goes back a long way: many Graciosans have roots in Haría or Órzola, and conversely, numerous Lanzarote families have kept a house in Caleta de Sebo for generations, traditionally used for summer holidays or the fishing season. That property rarely comes onto the market, but nor is it occupied all year round.

Closed houses, emptier streets in winter

According to residents' sources, this partly explains why much of the housing stock stays shuttered outside peak season, even in a village short of housing for permanent residents. Unlike holiday rentals, these homes generate no income and are not offered to anyone else: they simply sit outside the market, tied up by family use.

For anyone trying to gauge the real stock of housing available on La Graciosa, these second homes owned by Lanzarote families are, according to sector sources, one of the hardest variables to quantify — and, at the same time, one of the biggest constraints on effective supply in a market already minimal to begin with.

A pattern repeated on other smaller islands

The phenomenon of houses inherited and used only for holidays is not unique to La Graciosa: it is repeated, with variations, in other small settlements across the Canary Islands where generations of the same family keep the family home in their village of origin without ever selling or permanently living in it. Property sector sources point out that, in La Graciosa's case, the minimal scale of the market means this behaviour has a proportionally far greater impact on available supply.

Initiatives to bring closed housing back into use

Given the shortage of housing for permanent residents, some voices in the sector propose exploring temporary transfer or assisted-rental schemes that would bring part of this family housing into use without forcing owners to sell. Teguise town council has not put forward any concrete measure on this front for now, though municipal sources do not rule out studying one if pressure on housing in Caleta de Sebo continues to worsen.