Customs agent in Lanzarote

Why your shipment to Lanzarote carries a DUA

Because the Canary Islands are part of the EU's customs territory but are outside the common VAT territory. There are no tariffs between the Mainland and Arrecife, but there is a fiscal border: the shipment leaves with an export DUA from the mainland port and needs an import DUA here to leave the terminal, with settlement of IGIC and, if the tariff line is subject, AIEM.

In exchange, the operation is exempt from VAT at origin, and the DUA issued is the proof before AEAT. The complete framework —regimes, exemptions and documents signed by the customer— is in our guide to customs between the Canary Islands and the Mainland.

Transshipment in Las Palmas: where the week is won or lost

This is the particularity that defines customs clearance in Lanzarote. The mainland coastal lines mainly call at Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife; cargo from the eastern islands usually transships in Las Palmas and continues on an inter-island link with less frequency.

That opens two decisions that don't exist on a larger island: where to clear customs and in what regime the inter-island leg travels. If it clears in Las Palmas and the link to Arrecife departs the next day, perfect. If the link doesn't depart until four days later, sometimes it's worthwhile to move the cargo in transit regime and clear it directly here. We decide this with the inter-island schedule in front of us, not out of habit, because that's exactly where the storage costs go.

What we clear customs for in Arrecife

• Removals and personal effects, with exemption for change of residence when documented: sworn statement, valued inventory at customs value and proof of new address.
• Foreign residents. Lanzarote has a large British, Irish and German population, and there the exemption depends on having residency resolved. If it's in the process of being resolved, IGIC is paid on the furniture itself.
• Supply to hospitality and retail: kitchenware, furniture, kitchen equipment, beverages. Almost everything that supplies tourism enters through customs and much of it is subject to AIEM.
• Construction material and renovation goods, closely linked to the rehabilitation of apartments and villas.
• Vehicles, with their DUA and island registration procedures.
• Export to the Mainland, with outgoing DUA here and VAT upon entry to the other side except where exempted.

What holds up a file on a smaller island

In Lanzarote the problem is rarely customs: it's that any error costs twice as much because there are fewer ships to correct it. The three classic mistakes:

• Mis-declared value. For used personal effects the customs value is around one euro per kilo. Using the insured value from the valuation list —another document, for another purpose— is paying excess IGIC.
• Undocumented exemption, the most common case among newly arrived foreign residents.
• Misclassified tariff line in hospitality goods, where AIEM determines the bill.

And one specific to here: missing the inter-island link. A document that arrives Friday afternoon doesn't delay customs clearance a few hours, it delays it until the next ship.

Where the cargo we clear customs for in Lanzarote comes from

To mainland transit time you must add the inter-island link time, which is the leg that sets the actual timeline:

The inter-island link range is not our imprecision: it depends on whether there's a departure the next day or you have to wait for the next week's ship. We confirm this before providing you the date, not after.