The Cabildo of Lanzarote has recorded a 22% increase in sanctioning files in 2025, with buggies as the main focus. Fines for serious infractions reach €4,500.
The Environmental Agents Unit of the Cabildo of Lanzarote has processed 130 complaints so far in 2026, a figure that reflects the tightening of control over the natural environment. The increase in files, from 250 in 2024 to 305 in 2025, represents a 22% rise that places buggy excursions as the primary concern.
Buggy excursions under scrutiny
According to official data, 40.8% of the fines in 2026 are related to vehicle conduct, such as illegal parking or driving off-road. The rise of tourist excursions of buggies on rustic land stands out, as they are prohibited from driving in protected natural areas on unpaved roads.
The Environment Councillor, Samuel Martín, has warned that the Cabildo is already studying the legal feasibility of prohibiting these excursions due to the damage they cause to the traditional agricultural sector of sand-covered land. “They suffocate the plants,” he stated.
Recently, agents imposed a serious administrative fine of €4,500 on an active tourism company in the Natural Monument of Los Ajaches. Additionally, in collaboration with Seprona, another file was initiated against a caravan of six buggies in the Barranco de Las Piletas, in Guatiza, for travelling without authorization through a critical area for the reproduction of endemic bird species at risk of extinction, affecting the habitats of the guirre, the majorero kestrel, and the majorero owl.
More agents and stricter regulations
The president of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort, has emphasized that the commitment to the sustainability of the Biosphere Reserve is “unwavering.” To this end, the staff of the Environmental Agents Unit has been permanently doubled, which currently has ten active professionals.
Samuel Martín recalled that upon taking office in the island government, they found a Territorial Planning Insular Plan from 1991, “manifestly obsolete.” The well-known Ezquiaga Plan, which cost over €600,000 and included broad consensus, was “thrown in the trash” in the last legislature, according to the councillor.
Fines in other protected areas
The sanctioning rigor has intensified in points of maximum fragility. In the Natural Park of Los Volcanes, fines of €1,800 have been imposed for illegal ascents to fully protected craters such as Pico Partido, the Volcán del Cuervo, or the Montaña de El Golfo. Fines of up to €360 have also been applied for parking outside authorized areas.
In La Geria, the use of drones without authorization has resulted in fines ranging from €360 to €600, highlighting a proposed fine of €3,001 for an offender who skied down a protected mountain. In the Natural Park of the Chinijo Archipelago, fines range from €90 for making a fire to €900 for cycling off trails. In the La Corona Reserve, special devices against unauthorized access to the Jameo de la Puerta Falsa have accumulated multiple individual fines of €120.
For visitors, the recommendation is clear: respect the signage and do not venture off the permitted paths. The Cabildo warns that surveillance will continue and fines will remain exemplary.
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