Travelling by campervan or motorhome in Lanzarote: rules and tips

Parking rules for campervans and motorhomes in Lanzarote

Wild camping is banned across the entire Canary Islands, and Lanzarote is no exception: sleeping in a van or motorhome outside an authorised site can lead to a fine. The rules primarily protect natural areas, particularly sensitive on an arid volcanic island.

Daytime parking is generally tolerated in public car parks, including for a converted van, as long as there's no outward sign of camping (awning, chairs, washing hung out).

What counts as an outward sign is no longer left to interpretation. Spain's traffic authority, the Dirección General de Tráfico, has published an instruction referenced PROT 2026/04, applicable from 1 October 2026, setting three objective tests that an officer can check at a glance. A vehicle is parked, and nothing more, if nothing has been deployed outside it (no awning, no steps, no chocks or blocks), if it is standing on its tyres rather than on levelling jacks, and if no fluid is being discharged onto the ground. Cross one of those lines and the situation is treated as camping.

The same instruction also states that a council cannot prohibit motorhome parking purely because the vehicle is a motorhome, since vehicles are to be treated equally. Restrictions based on height, length or weight remain perfectly lawful, and on Lanzarote they are what you will actually run into — height barriers on the car parks at Papagayo and around the CACT sites, and narrow access roads in the villages. The text also introduces a new road sign, the S-128, marking authorised wastewater dump points, worth knowing on an island where such facilities are scarce.

Two things to keep straight, though. This national rule governs parking; it does not lift the Canarian ban on camping or on sleeping overnight outside an authorised site, which still applies in Lanzarote. And the island's protected areas — Timanfaya, La Graciosa, the Chinijo archipelago — keep their own, stricter restrictions.

Where to sleep: campsites and alternatives

The choice of official campsites remains limited in Lanzarote compared with other campervan destinations: it's best to book ahead, particularly in high season. Beyond campsites, head to our page on accommodation in Lanzarote for other options (rentals, hotels), or use an app that lists legal spots to find up-to-date authorised locations.

How to get to Lanzarote by van or motorhome

From mainland Europe, the ferry link (see our guide to the ferry between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura) lets you reach the island with your own vehicle from neighbouring islands; for a van hired locally, head to our page on car hire, as some agencies also offer converted vans.

And to compare destinations, head back to our Canary Islands guide.