Canary Islands are outside the EU VAT area. Show the VAT widget to Canarian B2B customers while hiding it from mainland Spain.
The Canary Islands are part of Spain but outside the EU VAT area. That creates a specific challenge for Shopify stores: you want to show a VAT exemption widget to customers in the Canary Islands, but not to regular Spanish customers on the mainland. Until now, that required workarounds. A new Region Exceptions feature in the Translate Product Images app solves this precisely: you can target the Canary Islands as a separate region and show or hide the VAT widget independently from the rest of Spain. Here’s how it works.
TL;DR: Spanish Shopify stores can now show the VAT exemption widget to Canary Islands visitors while hiding it from mainland Spain. Our new Region Exceptions feature automatically detects Canarian businesses so they can validate their VAT number for tax-free B2B purchases.
If you run a Shopify store in Spain, you’ve likely encountered this frustrating situation: you want to hide the VAT widget from Spanish consumers (who pay normal IVA), but Canarian businesses need to see it for VAT exemption.
The problem? Shopify sees both mainland Spain and the Canary Islands as “ES” — there’s no way to distinguish between them. Until now.
With our new Region Exceptions feature, you can finally show the VAT exemption widget to visitors from the Canary Islands while keeping it hidden for mainland Spanish shoppers.
The Canary Islands (Islas Canarias) have a special tax status within Spain:
| Region | VAT Status | Tax System |
|---|---|---|
| Mainland Spain | EU VAT Area | IVA (21%) |
| Canary Islands | Outside EU VAT | IGIC (7%) |
| Ceuta & Melilla | Outside EU VAT | IPSI |
Because the Canary Islands are outside the EU VAT area, businesses in Las Palmas, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, and other islands qualify for intra-community VAT exemption when purchasing from mainland EU suppliers. This works exactly like the reverse charge mechanism for other non-domestic EU purchases.
Setting up Canary Islands VAT exemption takes three steps:
That’s it. Our app automatically detects visitors from the Canary Islands and shows them the VAT validation widget:
If region detection fails for any reason, the widget is shown as a fallback — ensuring no legitimate B2B customer misses the opportunity to validate their VAT number.
This is perfect for:
Already using our B2B checkout button? Region Exceptions works seamlessly with it — Canarian businesses can validate their VAT and proceed to tax-free checkout.
Spanish businesses in the Canary Islands that trade with mainland Spain or Europe have a Spanish VAT number — this is what they’ll enter in the widget. The app validates the number and removes the VAT from their purchase, just like any other B2B transaction.
If your Canarian customers already provide you with a VAT number for their orders, this feature is for them.
We’ve built in test mode so you can verify the feature works without needing a VPN or traveling to the Canary Islands. In the app settings, click “How it works” under Region Exceptions to see the test parameters.
Add these to your cart URL to simulate different visitors — you’ll see exactly what your Canarian customers experience.
When selling to VAT-exempt Canarian businesses, you need proper documentation. Our app handles this automatically:
For a complete overview of EU VAT requirements, see our Complete VAT Guide for Shopify.
Ceuta and Melilla also have special tax status outside the EU VAT area. We’re starting with Canary Islands as it’s the most requested region. Need Ceuta, Melilla, or other special tax zones? Contact us — we add regions based on merchant demand.
Region Exceptions is available now for all EU Tax Exemption app users at no additional cost.
Questions? Reach out via the Help button in the app — we’re happy to help you set up the perfect VAT experience for your Spanish and Canarian customers.