Thousands of people demonstrated against mass tourism on the Canarian island of Tenerife on Sunday.
Protesters expressed strong concerns about both the impact of the newcomers on the environment and the economic vulnerability of the archipelago, which has almost no other sources of income other than the tourism industry. Locals say their homes have been turned into “playgrounds for tourists.”
“I don’t see the current model as beneficial in the long term,” one demonstrator says, “and that worries me. I wish there were more opportunities and diversification, that it wasn’t just tourism, that locals were prioritised.”
Spanish security forces estimate that some 7,000 people took to the streets in Santa Cruz, the capital of Tenerife. In Gran Canaria, about 3,000 people took to the streets.
The organisers, a group called “Canary Islands Have a Limit,” say the turnout was “very high.”
The protesters claim that despite previous rallies, the government has made no changes. In parallel, similar demonstrations have been organised in mainland Spain.
Last year a large protest was held on the island of Tenerife with the participation of many people expressing their dissatisfaction with the policy in the tourism sector. At that time, residents demanded tougher measures from the authorities to control the situation.
