BRITS could be hit with new taxes and strict visitor limits in Tenerife after locals demanded a freeze on holidaymakers in mass anti-tourism protests.
The Canary Islands may soon adopt measures to regulate the number of visitors – and charge tourists a daily cost for visiting the archipelago.
GettyThousands of people demonstrate against tourism policies on the island of Tenerife[/caption]
Protests took place in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Madrid and Malaga
ReutersUp to 50,000 people are believed to have attended the march in TenerifeCredit[/caption]
A growing anti-tourist movement has swept the islands in recent months
Politicians are under immense pressure after tens of thousands of angry residents took to the streets to rage against the tourism industry in the country.
And now Rosa Dávila, the first female president of Tenerife, proposed a new tourism model that would charge visitors a fee to access natural spaces.
She is also advocating measures to “modulate” the number of tourists arriving in Tenerife – and “study the impact of demographic growth.
She said after the mass protests: “We must analyze the exceptionalities that can be applied in a territory as fragile and limited as ours. What is clear is that Tenerife cannot be a theme park.
“Those who visit us have to value and respect our natural and cultural wealth, our resources, and they have to be clear about the rules for their preservation.
“In addition, there have to be limits to prevent tourism from overflowing.”
President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, previously warned that a daily cost for visitors could be on the table.
While not included in current plans, Clavijo said the government is willing to look at suggestions of a three euro per night charge.
He said last Friday: “It is true that the ecotax is not included in the government program, but it is also true that we are willing to discuss it; the government will always engage in dialogue.”
An angry anti-tourist movement has been gaining momentum throughout the popular holiday hotspot islands in recent months.
Residents of the largest Canary Island seem to be at war with UK holidaymakers as they blast visitors with anti-tourism graffiti and emerging local campaigns.
On Saturday, thousands of people took to the streets today in Tenerife to demand restrictions on holidaymakers after telling Brits to “go home”.
The anti-tourist hordes filled a square in the capital brandishing banners including some that read “You enjoy we suffer” in English.
More than 15,000 people waved Canary Islands’ flags and blew horns to make a deafening noise in the capital Santa Cruz.
Protests also took place at the same time in other popular Canary Islands including Lanzarote and Gran Canaria.
Banners at the mass protest today read: “Where is the money from tourism?” and “‘Tourist moratorium now.”
The marches were organised under the slogan “The Canary Islands have a limit.”
Anti-tourist protestors want the authorities to paralyse two projects including one which involves the construction of a five-star hotel by one of Tenerife’s last virgin beaches.
They are also looking for more protection from mass tourism – to help with the local environment, traffic and housing issues.
Other demands include the protection of natural spaces, a tourist tax and better working conditions for hotel cleaners, who joined today’s protest in Santa Cruz as they insisted to the local press: “We are not slaves.”
Organisers claim the march hit up to 50,000 participators yesterday.
Why are locals in Tenerife turning up against Brits?
RESIDENTS of the largest Canary Island seem to be at war with UK holidaymakers as they blast visitors with anti-tourism graffiti and emerging local campaigns.
Locals have been fuming that they are “fed-up” with “low quality” Brit tourists who only come for the cheap beer, burgers and sunbathing.
Now, they are demanding a tourist tax, fewer flights to the island and a clampdown on foreigners buying houses.
Some protesters are claiming that their anger is directed at the government rather than tourists as they ask for change.
They claim that AirBnBs and other holiday rentals are driving up the cost of living and that they are sick of the noise, traffic and rubbish that accompany the avalanche of vacationers that visit every year.
Jaime Coello, president of the Telesforo Bravo Foundation, said: “The quality of the tourist product is being destroyed by the investors and the regional government.”
Waves of anti-tourist graffiti that has been sprayed across the island to tell Brits they are not welcome.
Bitter messages outside tourism hotspots read “your paradise, our misery” and “tourists go home”.
“Locals are forced to move out and YOU are responsible for that,” said a furious printed sign.
Another read: “Tourists go home!”
The brewing chaos coupled with hatred for visitors is now scaring Brit tourists to go on a vacation in Tenerife.
And Jorge Marichal, a hotel chain boss in Tenerife, revealed that Brits were ringing up out of fear they would not be safe on their holidays to the island.
He 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.”
While the hotel owner said he understands the pain of local people, he added that being “anti-tourist” is not the way to go in.
Expats fight back
Many expats and tourists have fought back by arguing the anti-tourism war is wrong and misguided.
One the response left in English on a wall next to a “Tourists go home” message said: “F**k off, we pay your wages.”
Melissa Taylor, 47, who runs an English pub in Las Playas de las Americas told The Mail that the anti-tourism stuff was “unfair” as without tourism there would be “nothing here”.
She added: “Brits come here and spend a lot of money, the overwhelming majority of our customers are from the UK.”
And Irish expat Bronagh Maheor, 23, also slammed the locals protests as “totally unfair”, stating that without tourists “there would not be hotels or businesses.
“I’d be out of a job, we need them,” he argued.
Some British holidaymakers have shown their support for the issues raised by the islanders but others have accused them of biting the hand that feeds them.
One Brit, Ellie Taylor, told The Sun: “Half the restaurants would not be open if it wasn’t for us.”
The Canary Islands Tourism Board has also denied there has been an influx of tourists and claimed figures are the same with pre-pandemic levels.
A spokesperson for the Board told the Mirror that the influx of tourists is stable throughout the year.
They added: “The pressure on the territory and its resources and the local population is much less than in other destinations that concentrate the arrival of tourists in specific periods of the year.”
Anti-tourist graffiti has been popping up across Tenerife
Signs to discourage tourists from visiting the island can be found everywhere
Local residents are angry about housing costs, salaries and the environmental impact
GettyHordes of anti-tourists protestors in Tenerife yesterday[/caption]
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