Canary Islands officials beg residents to get rid of their ‘tourism phobia’ and warn growing resentment against holidaymakers like the British could see a slump in their crucial tourism economy

Canary Islands officials have begged residents to shed their “tourism phobia” as they warn that the continued growth of resentment against holidaymakers could trigger a significant slump in the island’s economy.

A popular spot for British tourists, the islands have been drenched in protests from residents against holidaymakers this summer.

Residents have demanded new laws to protect those who live permanently on the island and introduced restrictions aimed at tourists.

But the Canary Islands government’s new tourism minister, Jessica de León, said residents urgently needed to change their perception of visitors to the Spanish archipelago.

She said she was concerned about the tourism industry, which has a significant impact on the island’s local economy.

The islands, a popular spot for British tourists, have been saturated this summer with protests by residents against holidaymakers (file image Santa Cruz)

“The tourism phobia fueled by some sectors in the Canary Islands is becoming worrying,” de León said in a statement to local media, reported by Canary magazine.

“Tourism clashes with residents, but we have to face these points of conflict and tackle them head-on, as in the case of housing,” she said.

de León said she didn’t want to see the tourism sector “demonized” as it accounted for a significant 35 percent of the island’s GDP before the coronavirus pandemic.

Canary Weekly reported that travel industry sources were concerned about De León’s statement and did not want travel bosses to feel attacked on behalf of their clients.

Protesters have recently taken to the streets to express their concerns about tourists, waving signs with slogans such as: ‘The Canary Islands are no longer a paradise’ and ‘The Canary Islands are not for sale’.

The main concerns of the islanders are sewage discharges, increased traffic and environmental destruction – all of which they blame on the tourists.

They want to reduce hotel occupancy and restrict the construction of new buildings intended for tourists.

A spokesperson for the protest group told Canarian Weekly: “Mass tourism has destroyed countless natural areas on the archipelago and caused the deterioration of many others due to the unsustainable pressure exerted by the 13 million tourists who visit the islands every year.”

They added that the “population is experiencing chronic stress due to the heavy tourist pressure in the area.”

Former Lanzarote council president said earlier this year she was wasting it trying to steer the island’s future tourism strategy away from British holidaymakers

Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2, is said to have sent a letter to Lanzarote President Dolores Corujo in March this year, requesting clarification of her comments.

It comes after Jet2’s CEO demanded an explanation from Lanzarote’s president earlier this year over what he called “incendiary and offensive” comments, after she said the island’s tourism industry wanted to reduce its reliance on Britons in favor of “holidaymakers from higher quality’.

Steve Heapy sent a letter to Dolores Corujo, then president of the Lanzarote Council, in March, asking her to clarify her statements and whether she wanted tourists from Britain to come to the Canary Island.

Mr. Heapy told Travel weekly at the time: ‘As the UK’s largest tour operator to Lanzarote, I have contacted her for clarification on her inflammatory and frankly offensive comments about British tourists.’

He added that he wanted to know “what she means and to what extent she intends to reduce British tourism.”