Canary Islands: Thousands demonstrate against tourism in holiday resorts

Thousands of people have taken part in protests against tourism in holiday resorts across the Canary Islands.

There were simultaneous demonstrations in Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Palma, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and El Hierro on Sunday calling for a change in the tourism model for the Spanish islands.

In the Playa de las Americas in Tenerife, a resort popular with British holidaymakers, protesters appeared on the beach while tourists were sunbathing and chanted: “This beach is ours.”

At least 8,000 people took part in the protests under the slogan Canary Islands has a limit, the Spanish government said.

Activists say local people are being priced out of the housing market and the arrival of millions of visitors every year depletes limited natural resources like water and damages the environment.

The islands’ population was 2.2 million last year, but 9.9 million tourists visited between January and September, according to the Spanish National Statistics Institute – 10.3% more than in the same period in 2023.

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“We need a change in the tourist model so it leaves richness here, a change so it values what this land has because it is beautiful,” said Sara Lopez, 32, in Gran Canaria.

Spain’s economy relies on tourism but the country has seen a string of protests again this year in Barcelona, and other popular holiday destinations like Mallorca and Malaga.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Valencia on Saturday to call for more affordable housing, saying tourist flats push up prices.

The Canary Islands regional government drafted a law which is expected to pass this year to toughen the rules on short lets following complaints from locals priced out of the housing market.

Newly built properties will be barred from the short-let market and property owners with a permit will have five years to comply with requirements that include granting neighbours the right to object to these permits.

The Canary Islands decided to crack down on tourist rents after the number of private renters exploded in recent years.