Canarias is no longer just an important international film set, it has also become a stage for the best artists in the world. The Archipelago is experiencing a boom in the music industry and has made a strong entrance into the international circuit with some of the most important performers. Ed Sheeran, Robbie Williams, Marc Anthony, and María Becerra are just a few of the voices that will perform this year on the Islands, which will be sold out in terms of the number, variety, and quality of their concerts.
As in the case of the audiovisual industry, the tax benefits enjoyed by the sector in the Archipelago since 2021 are behind this boom. The spokespersons of the Canarian Music Industry Association, Aimca, acknowledge this. The definitive change occurred when the exemptions that had been benefiting the development of the audiovisual industry for years, derived from the specific regime enjoyed by the Archipelago at the European level, were also equalized for concert production.
Similarly, since 2023, anyone who participates–including mainland investors–in the financing of live shows held in the Canary Islands can apply a 40% deduction (on the mainland it is only 20%). This is in addition to other tax exemptions such as the IGIC or the call for grants from other regional departments such as Promotur, who collaborate in these initiatives aware of the external promotion they entail.
The Canary Islands are much more than a sun and beach destination. If tourists used to be attracted by the good weather, now many others also want to attend concerts of their favourite artists. Thus, major musical events in recent times on the Islands, such as performances by Sting, Pet Shop Boys, Maná, or Aerosmith, brought together audiences from different nationalities in locations like Las Palmas de Gran Canaria or Puerto de la Cruz.
Other institutions such as the Cabildo de Tenerife are also joining in this support. In fact, last Friday it announced its commitment to increase aid grants for these events by 300,000 Euros over the next three years, at a rate of 100,000 Euros per year. If this year the insular amount allocated to this objective is 700,000 Euros, in the next three years it will be around one million.
In addition to this beneficial economic situation, two other factors related to the pandemic must be considered, which completely halted the programming of such events between 2020 and 2021. This left many tours on hold that are now slowly being resumed. Promoters, furthermore, have returned to their activities with more enthusiasm than ever after that break.
After the pandemic, the global population has shown a desire to enjoy live music, and concert organizers have responded to this demand with a diverse offering that could even be considered unsustainable in the long run. “Macrocompetition” is the term used by some of the organizers of these major events who are beginning to fear that the audience may not be able to cope with such varied propositions and ticket sales may start to decline irreversibly. However, others believe that the market itself will balance the situation and advocate for a specialization of the offering with festivals dedicated to diversity, feminism, or environmental sustainability.
In the Canary Islands, there is also the possibility of holding large outdoor concerts throughout the year, without having to consider bad weather. In addition, promoters have access to large and diverse venues ranging from sports facilities to water parks, open-air car parks, and golf courses. Leo Mansito from NewEvent emphasizes the importance of the climate: “Last November we held the Marea concert in the Palmétum car park, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and that, in any other part of Spain, would have been unthinkable.”
However, there is an insurmountable obstacle: the distance from the mainland. Bringing a large production to the Islands requires more time, specifically between one week and ten additional days for material transport. And time is money. There are occasions when it is more profitable for artists to schedule several shows in cities like Madrid or Barcelona than to take the break that it implies to travel to the Canary Islands. An example is the recent attempt to schedule Karol G, which collided head-on with logistics. The distance prevented the ‘bichota’ from including her visit to the Archipelago between the scheduled dates in Lisbon and Madrid. The ‘Mañana Será Bonito Tour’ will fill three Santiago Bernabeu stadiums on three consecutive days, and that, of course, is more profitable than visiting the Archipelago.
Another hurdle is the huge competition. Canarian festivals must compete with the other 800 held throughout all of Spain every summer. Local entrepreneurs must play the card of ingenuity there. In the case of Sonidos Líquidos, the event held every June in La Geria, Lanzarote, its director, Neftalí Acosta, points out that “playing in the middle of volcanoes attracts many bands.” Acosta acknowledges thatInvesting more money to bring in top artists is necessary because “we offer what could be considered a paid vacation and, over the years, members of different bands have decided to stay a few extra days to scuba dive, hike, have photo sessions, or shoot their music videos on the Islands.” “In the Canary Islands, we have incentives that can make artists lower their economic demands to visit us.”
José María de la Cova, the head of Cook Music Fest, also laments the “incredible competition” in the industry. In his case, this forces him to pay artists above their usual fees. The most important events are moving at least one and a half million Euros. An amount that is in no way offset by ticket sales, hence the importance of incentives to ensure their viability.
Mansito and De la Cova agree that performances of this magnitude involve months, and even years, of negotiations. In fact, the latter has already confirmed some of the names that will make up the lineup of the 2026 Cook Music Fest. Mansito, on the other hand, rebels against the stereotype that the Canary Islands cannot participate in the circuits of concerts of big international artists. After all, his father was the promoter of Michael Jackson’s historic performance at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López Stadium in 1993. “What we want is for the Canarian public not to have to take a plane to see their favorite singers, and we are achieving this by bringing Rosalía, Maluma, or Sebastián Yatra.”
Music lovers will have a tough time choosing from the upcoming concerts and festivals. Here is a preview of the main events:
Farra World is the promoter in charge of some of the major electronic music festivals held mainly in southern Tenerife, although it also has a presence in Gran Canaria. They are responsible for I Love Music, La Misa, Ritmos del Mundo, Sunblast, ElRow, or The Mass. In the coming months, they will bring Mike Towers, Solardo, or Franky Rizardo, among others, to the Islands.
Meanwhile, the Tenerife Music Festival, starting this year, will take place on June 8th and 9th. This event involves the alliance of two major music producers in the Islands, Farra World and NewEvent, who aim to create a new must-stop on the summer concert calendar. With a predominantly national lineup, featuring names like La Oreja de Van Gogh or Rozalén, its main attraction is the Puerto Rican Marc Anthony.
The next musical event on the calendar travels to Lanzarote with Sonidos Líquidos. For this new edition, to be held on June 8th, they have announced several names including the Icelandic GusGus, the British Deadletter, and the Galician Xoel López. However, Sonidos Líquidos has also launched The Belingueo, small-format events with limited capacity that also bring together big international names like the Swiss The Next Movement, who will visit Lanzarote on April 21st.
Another international stop will take place on June 15th at the Costa Adeje Golf Course. Colombian artist Camilo will perform live for the first time in Tenerife (he already participated in last year’s Granca Fest) as the start of his tour in Spain. Over 11,000 tickets have already been sold for this day.
Boombastic Festival returns to choose Gran Canaria to host one of its 2024 events. Its second edition will take place on June 21st and 22nd at the Estadio de Gran Canaria annex. Artists such as Lola Índigo, Nicki Nicole, Rels B, and Yandel have already been confirmed.
British artist Ed Sheeran, on the other hand, is one of the big surprises of this year. He will be on June 29th at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López Stadium, which is reclaiming its role as a venue for major concerts. Its 16,000 tickets sold out in just 15 minutes. Despite initially being the only stop in Spain on his Mathematics Tour, the singer added another show in Santiago de Compostela on July 6th.
Reggaeton, the quintessential Latin rhythm that has crossed borders, has a fixed date in Tenerife, now in its third edition, landing in the esplanade of the Santa Cruz pier this 2024, featuring Puerto Rican record producer Tainy, Dominican singer El Alfa, and the evergreen Bryan Myers. Dates: June 29th and 30th.
One of the biggest summer festivals is the GranCa Live Fest, which in its third edition establishes itself as a must-attend event. In its early years, it featured names like C. Tangana, Marc Anthony, Maluma, or Rosalía. On July 4th, 5th, and 6th – expanding by one day compared to previous editions – stars like Robbie Williams, Black Eyes Peas, Maná, Juanes, and Pedro Capó will join the lineup.
With several editions under its belt, Cook Music Fest has become a benchmark for Latin music and in previous installments brought together artists like Luis Fonsi or Rubén Blades. This year, although the lineup is yet to be finalized, they have already confirmed names like Gilberto Santa Rosa, Jerry Rivera, and Aitana.
The Isla Bonita Love Festival takes place at the Tazacorte Port in La Palma. It will be held between July 22nd and 28th. In previous editions, it has attracted stars like Juan Luis Guerra.Quevedo, the Argentine Nickie Nicole or Alejandro Sanz.
Interestingly, a new festival was announced this week in Tenerife, TLP Music, where not only music will be offered but there will also be video games and new technologies. On 26th July, the Recinto Ferial de Santa Cruz de Tenerife will host the concert of the Colombian Manuel Turizo and Tito el Bambino, who will share the stage with local artists.
The production company Mar Abierto has several concerts planned outside of their usual festivals. Cruz Cafuné will conclude his tour in Tenerife on 6th April after having sold out the 12,000 available tickets in a flash. They also expect to sell out the Saiko event scheduled for 3rd August. It is one of the companies that invests the most money in concerts throughout the Islands and has four active brands: the Mar Abierto Festival, with 18 years behind it; the Mujeres World Fest, a feminist gathering for which the lineup is not yet known but usually takes place in August; the Clásicos en Colores, in collaboration with the Alfredo Kraus Foundation; and the Peñón Rock, which this year moves to the capital of Tenerife with Hombres G as the headliner.
Within the Mar Abierto season, the scheduled concerts are: Antoñito Molina (3rd May in Tenerife, 4th May Fuerteventura, and 5th May in Gran Canaria), Silvia Pérez Cruz (4th June in Gran Canaria), Luz Casal (17th May in Fuerteventura and 19th May in Tenerife); Loquillo (13th September in Gran Canaria) and María José Llergo (4th October in Gran Canaria).
The ResisTIME has also made its way onto the list of major summer festivals and will offer the first concert in Spain of the 2024 tour of the Nena de Argentina, singer María Becerra. It will take place at the venue of the Bajada del Pino festivities, in El Paso, on the 3rd and 4th of August and will also feature Yandel and the Venezuelans Mau and Ricky.
Scheduled for the 23rd and 24th of August, Phe Festival will return to Puerto de la Cruz with one of the most attractive proposals in the indie music sphere. If last year the British Orbital took the stage at the fisherman’s dock, this year the lineup will include the New Yorkers of !!! (Chk Chk Chk), icons of the disco-pop scene in the nineties.
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Lastly, Sum Festival will bring national artists to Gran Canaria on the 4th and 5th of October. For this year, Beret, Dorian, Shinova, or Arde Bogotá have already been confirmed. Another event focused on Spanish music is the Fiestoron, which has already held six editions and is preparing for its celebration on the 9th and 10th of August in Arucas.
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