Customs clearance at the Port of A Coruña

How cargo really leaves northern Galicia

Regular cabotage lines to the Canary Islands do not have a usable call at A Coruña. The two real routes are Vigo, 160 kilometers away, when the week offers Atlantic shipping, or Cádiz, which is the main hub of Canary Islands cabotage and gives the shortest maritime transit that exists.

The decision is not about kilometers, it's about the calendar: if there is a departure via Vigo within the client's date window, it saves road distance; if there is not, going to Cádiz is better than waiting ten days for a ship. The total timeframe from here is 8 to 12 days to the major islands, counting pickup, road transport and dispatch.

Two DUAs and two duties

The Canary Islands are part of the Union's customs territory but are excluded from the common VAT territory. There are no tariffs between A Coruña and Las Palmas, but there is a fiscal border: export DUA at the port of shipment and import DUA at the Canary Islands port, with settlement of IGIC and, when the tariff item is subject, AIEM.

The operation is VAT exempt at origin and the raised DUA is proof to the AEAT. Without the first DUA there is no shipment; without the second there is no delivery. The regimes, exemptions for change of residence and the documents signed by the client are in our customs guide between the Canary Islands and the mainland.

What we dispatch here

• Residential relocations to the islands. It is the most common case in this location, and comes with exemption: sworn declaration, inventory valued at customs value —around one euro per kilo for used items— and proof of new address.
• Bulk and industrial cargo: stone, wood, building materials and equipment, where weight dominates over volume and the tariff classification determines the AIEM at the destination.
• Commercial goods for Canary Islands commerce and hospitality, with the item identified before shipping.
• Vehicles, in a container with the move or separately, with their DUA and island registration procedures.
• Return cargo Canary Islands-Galicia, with exit DUA there and VAT on entry here except for exemptions.

The area we cover and why groupage matters

We pick up in A Coruña, Ferrol, Santiago de Compostela, Lugo and Betanzos, and by road in the rest of the province and in western Asturias. It is a dispersed area, with many single-family homes and narrow accesses, so pickup is planned with the appropriate truck and not with whichever is available.

In an origin like this, consolidated groupage is what makes the shipment viable: you pay for the actual volume you occupy and share the container, instead of having to absorb the cost of an exclusive container plus the road section to the port yourself. For a complete household, a dedicated container is worthwhile, with a fixed date and less handling.

Timelines from northern Galicia to each island

Depending on shipment via Vigo or Cádiz. Includes pickup and road transport:

The range is honest, not imprecision: it changes depending on the shipping port that week. We confirm the specific departure before giving a delivery date.