Thousands of people took to the streets on Sunday in resorts in Spain’s Canary Islands to protest against excessive tourism that they say is driving locals out of the housing market, Spanish media reported.
Under the slogan “There is a limit to the Canary Islands,” residents demonstrated simultaneously in Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Palma, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and El Hierro and called for a change in the islands’ tourism model.
In Playa de las Americas on Tenerife, protesters turned up on the beach while tourists were sunbathing and chanted “This beach is ours.”
The protesters claim that since the April actions, the authorities have not taken any real action to change the situation. Instead, they say, a symbolic “council of experts” has been set up, which has failed to bring about significant change.
The protesters believe that the tourist zones symbolise the misuse of natural resources and lead to environmental destruction. They want not only to draw the authorities’ attention to the problem, but also to attract tourists to realise that the current tourist model is destructive to the future of the islands.
According to the Spanish National Institute of Statistics, 9.9 million tourists visited the Canary Islands between January and September, an increase of 10.3 per cent over the same period in 2023. Last year, the population of the islands was 2.2 million.
Earlier this year, tourism-dependent Spain saw a series of protests against excessive tourism. Residents of Barcelona, Mallorca and Malaga took to the demonstrations. And last Saturday, hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Valencia demanding more affordable housing, claiming that tourist flats were driving up prices.
Meanwhile, following complaints from locals, the Canary Islands regional government has drafted a law that will tighten rules on short-term rentals. The law is expected to be passed this year.
