A FAVOURITE Brit holiday island is on the verge of “collapse” from overcrowding as signs pop up warning holidaymakers to stay away.
Lanzarote is gearing up for a huge protest as unofficial banners saying the hotspot is “closed” have been plastered all over the island.
AlamyA busy Lanzarote beach – where angry residents are warning off Brit tourists[/caption]
COVER LANZAROTEAn unofficial sign in Lanzarote reads ‘Do Not Enter: This area is closed for tourist overcrowding’[/caption]
Brit tourists are being urged by locals to stay away from the Canary Islands for fear of overcrowding
Fed-up residents claim Lanzarote, popular with sun-seeking Brits, is “collapsing socially and environmentally”.
Pictures from the island show black and red signs reading “Do Not Enter, this area is closed for overcrowding” on a sandy beach.
Nearby an angry sticker reads: “It’s not tourism it’s invasion”.
Residents are banding together under the chant “Lanzarote has a limit”, encouraging others to join in their march on April 20.
They say the more than three million tourists that visit each year have “completely destroyed the quality of life in the Canary Islands”.
Other British holiday favourites including Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and La Palma are joining the protest for similar reasons.
Tenerife, the largest Canary Island, has growing numbers of anti-tourist graffiti splashed across its beaches telling Brits to “go home”.
The fake “closed due to overtourism” signs have been put up at various locations across Lanzarote to ward off visitors.
While organisers are trying to quell tourist overcrowding and its consequences, they claim to support “the arrival of tourists in a controlled and sustainable way”.
The Canary Island’s president Fernando Clavijo recently begged tourists to keep coming to the sunny hotspot – saying they “shouldn’t face insults” while visiting.
Protest organisers argue the huge influx of visitors to the sunny Gran Canaria isles are making it “impossible” for residents to access housing and clogging up local health services.
Residents rage that it’s affecting waste management, clean water, quality of life, public transport and the environment.
Posts on social media under “Lanzarote has a limit” say “it is necessary to act immediately to change the mass tourism model”.
“Lanzarote is no longer sustainable,” they argue.
It’s not the first or only Canary Island to go up in arms about its level of tourism.
Tenerife blasted Brits as “cancer” and told the UK holidaymakers to “go home” over the East holidays.
Local residents fumed that the island suffers from an influx of “low quality” tourists and claimed drunk partygoers are ruining their paradise.
Anti-tourist graffiti popped up all over the island to ward off visitors telling Brits they are not welcome.
News of the fresh protest comes just days after reports of British tourists calling up hotels in Tenerife ahead of their summer holidays to ask if they’ll be safe on the island.
After the anti-tourist graffiti and widespread campaigns, anxious holidaymakers are now ringing up hotel chains with concerns for their safety.
Jorge Marichal, a hotel chain boss on the island, said: “One of the problems I am facing is that clients are beginning to call and ask what’s happening here and whether it’s safe.
“It’s happening in some hotels.”
But the Fernando Clavijo voiced concerns over the growing anti-tourism movement.
He said: “We are worried because tourism is our main source of income and I think that whoever comes here to enjoy, to spend a few days and to leave their money in the Canary Islands, shouldn’t be rebuked or face insults.”
More anti-tourist graffiti in Tenerife
AlamyA sunny beach in Gran Canaria, one of the Canary Islands where the anti-tourist movement is picking up speed[/caption]
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