The Canary Islands Tourism Minister has urged British travelers to holiday in the archipelago despite growing protests against overtourism.
Jessica de León insisted that despite news of booking cancellations and fears of holiday disruption, “it is still safe to visit the Canary Islands and we are delighted to welcome you”.
British tourists have reportedly been calling hotels in Tenerife to ask if they will be safe amid a series of mass protests planned across the islands by activists concerned about the mass arrival of foreign tourists.
Ms de León told The Telegraph that, while she understood the protesters’ concern, it was “unfair to blame tourism” for the problems facing the Canary Islands.
Activists are now preparing for a mass demonstration on Saturday to denounce the government for the deepening housing crisis across the archipelago.
Leaflets like this one criticizing tourists are plastered on buildings all over Tenerife
Graffiti has sprung up across the archipelago telling tourists not to visit.
Almost twenty associations have called for a demonstration on April 20 in Gran Canaria against the overcrowding of the island, the same day as that of Tenerife. It is organized under the same motto ‘The Canary Islands have a limit’ (The sign reads: The Canary Islands are not for sale)
Protesters attend a hunger strike demonstration and march in La Laguna
A man hangs signs written by protesters next to tents of activists on hunger strike to protest against mass tourism infrastructure in La Laguna, on April 13, 2024.
Tensions have recently flared between British tourists and fed up residents of the Canary Islands.
As officials move to avoid disruptions ahead of the key tourist season, activists are planning protests in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and La Palma to resist what they see as overtourism.
An important manifestation is planned in Arrecife, Lanzarote, for tomorrow, April 20, with flyers stating that the islands “have a limit” and that protesters would march for “the conservation of natural spaces, a tourism moratorium and stricter regulation for foreigners who “they buy properties.”
The main complaint among locals is the rising costs of renting and buying homes, as homeowners continue to buy up Airbnbs and tourist rentals, reducing supply and raising prices.
Last week, activists also began a hunger strike as part of a protest against the effects of mass tourism on island life.
Nearly a dozen advocates of a more sustainable type of tourism followed through with their threat in front of a church in the historic city of La Laguna.
The hunger strikers want the authorities to stop two tourism projects, one of them related to the construction of a five-star hotel on one of Tenerife’s last pristine beaches called La Tejita.
Mrs de León expressed sympathy for the concerns, telling The Telegraph: ‘The problem is that in the last five years an average of 3,000 homes have been built on the islands, when demand is 20,000.
“Last year only 200 public housing units were built.”
The protesters placed the blame on the governance of the archipelago in their manifesto, writing: “If we have come this far it is because we have no other option and because of the serious faults that our bad Government of the Canary Islands is committing.”
‘They are putting our present and our future and that of the new generations at risk,’ they added.
‘Do not underestimate us, because we are many people. We are all from the Canary Islands, a whole movement.
‘Without our work, our votes, you are nothing and nobody and you are not here for what you are doing with the Canary Islands.
‘We say enough is enough, not in our name,’ warns the manifesto, read by the members of ‘Canarias se exhausta’ Víctor Martín and Isora Mesa.
Tech worker Iván Cerdeña Molina, 36, is helping to organize this month’s protest as part of his role with local conservation group ATAN (Asociación Tenerifeña de Amigos de la Naturaleza).
He previously told MailOnline: “It’s a crisis, we need to change things urgently, people are living in their cars and even in caves, and locals can’t eat, drink or live well.”
‘Airbnb and Booking.com are like a cancer that is consuming the island little by little.
“The benefits of the industry are not reaching ordinary people, whose wages have not increased for years, the quality of life here is collapsing.”
Iván was born and raised in El Médano, a once quiet town about 20 minutes drive east of the most popular tourist center of Los Cristianos.
Tech worker Iván Cerdeña Molina said that “people live in their cars and even in caves, and locals cannot eat, drink or live well” due to the crisis.
An anti-tourist message is scrawled on the side of a bollard on the island
Members of the ‘Canaria se exhausts’ movement participate in a protest against the construction of a hotel near La Tejita beach and other mass tourism infrastructure, on April 13, 2024
The Canary Islands have largely built their economy around tourism, welcoming 12.3 million visitors every year.
In 2023 alone, foreign travelers spent more than 20.3 billion euros in the region, which represents a fifth of spending in all of Spain.
The direct and indirect contribution of tourism to the archipelago is around 35 percent.
Volcanic islands were particularly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and travel restrictions were imposed as a result.
The Canary Islands are the third most visited region of Spain internationally.