Tenerife holidays are a firm favourite with UK tourists but locals have had enough of boozy visitors and are calling for stricter rules for holidaymakers ahead of summer
Brits heading on Tenerife holidays this summer are being warned of anti-tourism feelings across the islands, with locals demanding tougher restrictions for visitors.
Residents on the largest of the Canary Islands are demanding a tourism tax and clampdown on families flying over to “drink cheap beer, lay in the sun and eat burgers and chips”, reports BirminghamLive.
It comes after months of locals fearing that the islands are on the brink of collapse as local infrastructure struggles to cope with the millions of tourists flooding the hotspots every year. In fact, other Spanish hotspots such as Barcelona and the Balearic Islands have already introduced a series of tough rules for holidaymakers including dress codes and drinks limits.
In Tenerife, tensions are rising and in Palm-Mar, a small town on the southern side of the island, residents and visitors woke up to messages graffitied on walls including ‘Tourists go home,’ ‘My misery your paradise,’ and ‘Average salary in Canary Islands is 1,200’, in a move that The Canarian Weekly dubbed ‘tourismphobia’.
The MailOnline reported that further posters appeared on the island over Easter, with one anti-tourist poster reading: “Locals are forced to move out and YOU are responsible for that… digital nomads you are NOT welcome here.”
However, local expats and visitors are hitting back, telling locals that tourists ‘pay your wages’ and that ‘if they stop or reduce the number of tourists coming, they’ll be sorry’.
Many residents have also argued that it’s the housing issues that are the main issue, with ‘greedy landlords’ buying out multiple homes to rent out as holiday rentals, leaving residents struggling to buy homes. Last month Doctor MatÃas González Hernández, an academic at Las Palmas University on the islands, warned a “red light” was flashing when it came to the threat of homelessness, as more and more Canarians “can’t afford to rent or buy a house”.
Meanwhile, one expert has said that generally tourists are not likely to face hostility if they are heading to the islands. Carmelo J. León, a professor of tourism at Las Palmas University, told the Mirror: “Most of the population is very happy with tourists, of all nationalities. The Canary Islands have always been very friendly. The great majority understand it adds value to them, in terms of the flow of culture, the cultural value of tourists from Germany, Sweden, Britain. People are very happy with the British coming to the Canary Islands.”
While the Canaries’ authorities haven’t yet proposed any changes to tourism taxes or tourist rules, there is one big change that Brits may want to take note of. The Spanish islands’ government is considering going further than an already fairly radical new plan against smoking made by Spain’s Ministry of Health.
The proposed changes would mean no smoking on outdoor bar and restaurant terraces on the holiday islands. The smoking ban would also come into force at bus stop shelters, outdoor sports areas and near entrances to buildings such as schools and hospitals, according to Canarian Weekly.
The regional authority is said to be requesting firm financial planning, along with a national rule for applying anti-smoking rules uniformly throughout Spain. However there is currently no clear time scale for when the proposals could come into force as they haven’t yet been approved by the government.
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