Furious tourists hit back at Lanzarote’s president who said she wanted fewer Brits on the island

By William On Feb 4, 2023

British tourists have expressed their fury at Lanzarote’s announcement that it is fed up with British tourists visiting the island.

The Canary Islands sunspot received more than 2.5 million visitors last year, 17 times its population, most from Great Britain.

But Lanzarote’s leader says the Spanish island has become “saturated” with Britons abroad and now wants to attract “higher spending” visitors from France, Italy and the Netherlands.

Tourists Lewis Ryder and Nicole Clarke photographed enjoying a drink in Lanzarote

Who is Dolores Corujo?

President María Dolores Corujo Berriel is a Spanish politician and a member of Spain’s centre-left PSOE party.

She is the General Secretary of the Lanzarote PSOE since 2012.

She became President of the Cabildo de Lanzarote in June 2019.

She has reportedly he took great strides toward reforming the island’s economy and paying off historic debts.

The diversification of the tourist economy, which generates great seasonality in income and is greatly affected by events such as the pandemic, is a permanent concern of the Lanzarote administration.

Corujo has sought to ensure that the reform does not come at the expense of the island’s natural geography.

After overcoming the pandemic due to an excessive dependence on foreign tourism, the president of Lanzarote, Dolores Corujo, previously said: ‘This year, we went to the FITUR travel fair to present the change in tourism model that we want for Lanzarote, in which They have been working throughout this mandate, despite the setbacks and limitations derived from the pandemic’.

He added that the island would seek to manage risk with “a diversification strategy to reduce dependence on the British market.”

His outrageous comments have angered Brits who are currently on vacation and spending their money to support the island.

Andrew Edwards, 54, from Burnley, told MailOnline: ‘I think she is downright rude. This woman is saying that she wants better tourist class, how dare she?

“In fact, we are spending a lot of money here.”

He said: ‘I’m staying in a villa with friends and we go to restaurants every day for lunch and dinner. It’s costing a fortune!

‘If this woman didn’t want the British to come to Lanzarote, why is the beer so cheap?’

Josh Neale and Caitlin Burdis said they only came to Lanzarote because it was cheap.

Lanzarote President Dolores Corujo, pictured, is seeking to reduce the island’s reliance on tourists in general after the pandemic drew attention to the limits of a one-dimensional economy.

Caitlin, 23, a postgraduate, said: ‘We only came here on holiday because it was cheap. We paid £250 for flights and a week’s accommodation. We couldn’t afford to go anywhere else.

Josh, 23, a nurse, added: “Having said that, we’ve been out every day buying drinks and eating out, so we’re contributing to the economy.”

Mark and Jackie Farr say they will stop coming to Lanzarote if they are not welcome.

Mark, 68, a retired salesman from Bristol, said: ‘It’s outrageous. We have come here to rest every year after Christmas for the last seven years.

“We spent ten days staying in a hotel and just relaxing.

But if they don’t want us here, we’ll go somewhere else. They need us. What else is here apart from tourism? Nothing!’

Retired gas engineer Paul Hobart agreed.

Paul, 62, from Chelmsford, Essex, said: ‘It’s total nonsense. There is nothing here apart from tourism. What else could they do to earn money?

His partner Bernie O’Sullivan, 57, added: ‘Everyone comes here for the weather. There really is nothing else.

Mark and Jackie Farr say they will stop coming to Lanzarote if they are no longer welcome

Expat waitress Rebecca Wilkinson told MailOnline the island would die without British tourists.

Rebecca, 28, grew up in Tenerife and has a Spanish residence.

She said: ‘I don’t know what the president is talking about.

‘Lanzarote and all the other Canary Islands could not survive without British tourists.

‘I have two jobs, one here in this restaurant and one in a hotel. All our clients are British.

If the British stopped coming, we’d all be finished.

A group of retirees enjoy a camel ride in 1968 as package holidays were beginning to attract tourists.

A British couple enjoy an al fresco salad lunch with a glass of wine while on holiday in Lanzarote in 1993

Bathed in year-round sunshine, surrounded by sandy beaches and a stunning volcanic landscape, Lanzarote was one of the first parts of Spain to attract British tourists in the package holiday boom of the 1960s.

During the last 50 years tourism has become the main industry in all the Canary Islands, which have little industry or agriculture.

English and Irish themed bars litter the long stretch of coastline at the main Puerto del Carmen resort.

English breakfasts are on sale and Premier League football matches are shown in bars and cafes.

However, Lanzarote’s 151,000 inhabitants have grown weary of the frequent scenes of rowdy Brits abroad and the Cabildo has a “broad consensus” to “reduce dependency on the British.” [tourist] market’.