Activists and environmentalists in the Canary Islands have warned that residents are being forced to live in their cars – and even caves – due to the impact of large tourist operators “consuming the island”.
The shocking statement is the latest in a series of increasingly alarming statements from the groups before the mass. Anti-tourism protests are planned for April 20 on the islands of Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and La Palma.
Meanwhile, Canarians are resorting to desperate measures to limit the number of tourists frequenting local beauty spots, spraying anti-tourism graffiti and erecting fake “closed due to overcrowding” signs to keep holidaymakers away.
Ivan Cerdena Molina, an activist with the Association of Friends of Nature of Tenerife (ATAN), said: Olive press: “We have nothing against individual tourists, but the industry continues to grow and consumes so many resources that the island cannot cope.
“This is a crisis, we need to change things urgently. People live in their cars and even in caves, and the inhabitants cannot eat, drink or live well. Airbnb and Booking.com are like a cancer that is consuming the island little by little.
“The profits of the industry are not trickling down to ordinary people, whose wages have not increased in years, the quality of life here is plummeting.”
This gave rise to groups like “Canarias se exhausta” (The Canary Islands are Exhausted), one of the main drivers of the April 20 island-wide protests.
“It is time to boycott, with the tools we have, the tourist activity that expels us from our own lands,” members wrote on social media.
The shocking statement is the latest in a series of increasingly alarming statements from the groups in the run-up to a planned mass anti-tourism protest on the islands of Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and La Palma on April 20.
Nearly twenty associations have called for a demonstration on April 20 in Gran Canaria against the overpopulation of the island, the same day as that of Tenerife. It is organized under the same motto “The Canary Islands have a limit” (on a sign: the Canaries are not for sale)
Canarians are resorting to desperate measures to limit the number of tourists frequenting local beauty spots, spreading anti-tourism graffiti
Graffiti has appeared in the Canary Islands urging tourists to “go home” and accusing holidaymakers of bringing “misery” to locals.
A wave of new anti-tourism graffiti has appeared near Tenerife resorts in recent weeks, with messages saying “tourists are going home” and “too many guiris”.
Fake signs reading ‘closed due to overcrowding’ have been put up at the island’s popular beauty spas, as environmentalists say Lanzarote is being ruined by its own success.
A cave is pictured on a mountain trail in Tenerife
Activists in the Canary Islands say it is becoming impossible for many residents to access affordable housing due to soaring property prices driven by tourism.
At the same time, the massive influx of vacationers would have led to congestion of health services, the collapse of the waste management system, the lack of water for consumption and the agricultural sector, the overcrowding of protected areas, an increase in the crime and loss of biodiversity. among other complaints.
“The current model has completely destroyed the quality of life in the Canary Islands and the reasons that made the islands unique: the conditions for a dignified and valuable life, our biodiversity, our landscapes, our people and the identity of who we were “, Canarias se exhausta say the activists.
“It is necessary to act immediately to change the model of mass tourism to a regulated model based on the degrowth and sustainable coexistence of the tourism industry with the general well-being of the population.”
In addition, they demand “the improvement and increase of health services, the increase of educational resources, the multiplication of public transport and the guarantee of the right to housing”.
Finally, they demand “a reduction in tourist pressure in protected natural areas with better management and greater surveillance to avoid the ecological attacks and environmental deterioration that are currently taking place”.
But government officials have warned citizens against “tourism phobia”, arguing that the economy relies heavily on the industry.
Tenerife Council President Rosa Dávila said last week the council was willing to work with campaigners to “reform what we all see could be improved” in the tourism industry, but said its responsible were “far from those who defend radical positions and that we would not do so”. understand them.
“When we develop an economic model, we must be vigilant and observe the improvement in the quality of life of the society it serves… (this does not imply) the dismantling of an entire economic model which contributes significantly to the GDP and jobs generated in the Canary Islands, directly or indirectly linked to the tourism subsector”, she said, quoted by Canarian weekly.
His comments were echoed by Canary Islands President Fernando Clavijo, who urged anti-tourism protesters to use “common sense”.
“What we cannot do is attack our main source of employment and wealth, because that would be irresponsible,” he said.
Anti-tourism activists also put up posters on the doors of luxury apartments, which also read “area closed due to tourist overcrowding”.
Rosa Davila, president of the Cabildo of Tenerife
Canary Islands activists will join massive protests planned for April 20
News of the unrest has disrupted British holidaymakers, with hoteliers revealing they were receiving calls asking if the islands would be safe to visit.
Jorge Marichal, president of the regional hotel association ASHOTEL, said: “I was in one of my hotels yesterday morning and one of the problems I had to solve was that customers were starting to call and ask what’s going on here and if it’s safe.”
While expressing his sympathy towards the demonstrators in an interview with Spanish radio COPE, he qualified: “It pains me because people confuse the message. We don’t need to be anti-tourist.
“It’s normal that there is a certain unease among the population of the island because I feel it too.
“What we must do is demand infrastructure consistent with the chosen tourism model.
“And we have to understand that the tourism model has changed because of technology and Airbnb and the fact that the owners have converted these properties into businesses with very lax regulation and that the growth in the number of tourist accommodations has not not been compensated by the investment in Infrastructure.’
Activists themselves say that they are not against tourists, but against the effects produced by too many vacationers on the islands, largely due to large tourist operators who buy or build huge properties without concern. worry about the impact of these projects on residents.
Activists said the protest planned for April 20 was motivated by “desperation.”
“Why do we want leaders who don’t want to see what kind of consumed, worn out, raped and torn islands we are going to leave to our daughters and sons? they said.
“We would be putting our lives in danger, but you are risking our future and that of new generations.”