Residents of the Canary Islands have joined protests calling for a temporary limit in the number of tourists – but experts fear visitors could start boycotting the holiday hotspot
The Canary Islands have pleaded with British tourists to continue visiting amid fears of mass holiday cancellations after tens of thousands of locals joined protests.
Residents are voicing concerns that the islands are being swamped by growing numbers of holidaymakers as their already huge popularity as a vacation destination continues to soar.
The Canaries, a Spanish-run island group off the coast of northwestern Africa, is made up of seven islands including Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro. Sunny weather all year round has made the islands a popular holiday destination for British tourists.
The tourism industry is the main source of income, accounting for some 40 per cent of the archipelago’s jobs. But the high number of visitors has created tensions on the islands, with locals protesting against mass tourism as they say it has driven up living costs and housing prices.
It is estimated that last year, almost 14 million foreign tourists visited the Canary Islands, which have a population of around 2.2 million people. Last week, at least 50,000 people took part in a demonstration in Santa Cruz, the capital of Tenerife, calling for a temporary limit to the number of tourists visiting the Spanish island.
The phrase CanariasTieneUneLimit – translated to the Canary islands have a limit – was widely seen on protestors’ placards and other signs. Clips of thousands of protestors chanting “si vivimos del turismo por qué no somos ricos?” (if we are living from tourism then why are we not rich?) were also shared on the social media platform.
But amid the protests, regional tourism chief Jessica de León insisted that tourists are still welcome on the islands. She told The Telegraph: “It is still safe to visit the Canary Islands, and we are delighted to welcome you.” She added that she understood the frustration, but said it was “unfair to blame tourism”.
Fernando Clavijo, the Canary Islands president, echoed León saying that some activists “smack of tourist-phobia”. He said: “People who come here to visit and spend their money must not be criticised or insulted. We are playing with our main source of income.”
Gabriel González, a councillor for the hard-Left Podemos party in Tenerife’s resort town of Adeje, hit back: “We have the feeling that we are not living off tourism; it is tourism that is living off us.” Néstor Marrero, secretary of Tenerife ecology group ATAN, added: “The number of tourists should be reduced. We should aim for higher-quality visitors, not people in all-included resorts who don’t leave the hotel or interact with locals and our culture in any way.”
Figures from Spain’s National Statistics Institute show that 33.8 per cent of people in the Canaries are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, the highest proportion for any region except Andalucía. “All the actions this government has taken have been based on a revision of this model,” Clavijo told reporters this week. “The Canaries tourist model has been a successful one, but obviously, as with anything, there are things that could be perfected.”
