Tenerife locals say they are ‘living in caves’ and that life on the island is ‘Collapsing’ due to the ‘cancer that is eating the island piece by piece’
Activists and environmentalists in the Canary Islands have warned that locals are being forced to live in their cars – and even in caves – due to the impact of large tourist organizations ‘consuming the island’.
The shocking statement is the latest in a series of increasingly alarming statements from the groups before the masses anti-tourism protests on the islands of Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and La Palma scheduled for April 20.
Meanwhile, Canarians are resorting to desperate measures to limit the number of tourists visiting local beauty spots. spray-painting anti-tourist graffiti and posting fake ‘closed due to overcrowding’ signs to deter holidaymakers.
Ivan Cerdena Molina, an activist working with the Tenerife Friends of Nature Association (ATAN), said Olive press: ‘We have nothing against individual tourists, but the industry is growing and growing and consuming so many resources that the island cannot cope.
‘It is a crisis, we urgently need to change things. People live in their cars and even in caves, and the locals cannot eat, drink or live well. Airbnb and Booking.com are like a cancer that is consuming the island little by little.
“The benefits of the industry are not trickling down to ordinary people, whose salaries have not increased for years; the quality of life here is collapsing.”
This has given rise to groups like ‘Canarias se exhausta’ (The Canary Islands are exhausted), one of the main drivers of the island-wide protests on April 20.
“It is time to boycott, with the tools at our disposal, the tourist activity that is driving us from our own country,” members wrote on social media.
The shocking statement is the latest in a series of increasingly alarming statements from the groups ahead of a planned mass protest against tourism on the islands of Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and La Palma on April 20.
Nearly twenty associations have called for a protest in Gran Canaria against the island’s overcrowding on April 20, the same day as that in Tenerife. It is organized under the same motto ‘The Canary Islands have a limit’ (the sign says: Canarias not for sale)
Canarians resort to desperate measures to limit the number of tourists visiting local beauty spots, spraying anti-tourism graffiti
Graffiti has appeared in the Canary Islands telling tourists to ‘go home’ and accusing holidaymakers of causing ‘misery’ to locals
In recent weeks, a wave of new anti-tourism graffiti has emerged near resorts in Tenerife, with messages such as ‘tourists go home’ and ‘too many guiris’.
Fake ‘closed due to overcrowding’ signs have been posted at popular beauty sports on the island as environmentalists say Lanzarote is being ruined by its own success
There is a cave depicted on a mountain path in Tenerife
Campaigners in the Canary Islands say that it is becoming impossible for many locals to access affordable housing due to skyrocketing real estate prices driven by tourism.
Meanwhile, the dramatic influx of holidaymakers is said to have led to healthcare overload, the collapse of the waste management system, the lack of water for consumption and the agricultural sector, overcrowding of protected areas, an increase in crime and a loss of biodiversity. among other complaints.
‘The current model has completely destroyed the quality of life in the Canary Islands, as well as the reasons that made the islands unique: the conditions for a dignified and valuable life, our biodiversity, our landscapes, our people and the identity of what we were’ Canarias se exhausta campaigners say.
‘It is necessary to take immediate action to change the model of mass tourism to a regulated model based on degrowth and the sustainable coexistence of the tourism sector with the general well-being of the population.’
Furthermore, they demand ‘improving and expanding health care, increasing educational resources, expanding public transportation and guaranteeing the right to housing.
Finally, they demand the ‘reduction of tourist pressure in protected natural areas with better management and supervision to prevent ecological attacks and environmental degradation that are currently taking place’.
But government officials have warned citizens against “tourism phobia”, arguing that the economy is heavily dependent on the industry.
Tenerife Council President Rosa Dávila said last week that the council is ready to work with activists to “reform what we all see can be improved” within the tourism sector, but stated that its officials were “far from those are who take radical positions and that we would not do that’. they understand’.
‘When developing an economic model, one must be vigilant and observe the improvement in the quality of life of the society it serves… (this does not include) dismantling an entire economic model that contributes significantly to GDP and jobs that are generated in the world. the Canary Islands, which are directly or indirectly linked to the tourism subsector,” she said Canarian weekly.
Her comments were echoed by Canary Islands President Fernando Clavijo, who urged anti-tourism protesters to use “common sense.”
“What we cannot do is attack our main source of jobs and prosperity because that would be irresponsible,” he said.
Anti-tourism activists also put up posters at the door of luxury apartments, which also read: ‘area closed due to overcrowding by tourists’
Rosa Davila, the president of the cabildo of Tenerife
Activists from the Canary Islands will join widespread protests planned for April 20
News of the unrest has left British holidaymakers uneasy, with hotel operators revealing they are receiving calls asking whether the islands are safe to visit.
Jorge Marichal, president of the regional hotel association ASHOTEL, said: “I was in one of my hotels yesterday morning and one of the problems I had to solve was that customers started calling and asking what is happening here and if it is safe.”
While expressing his condolences for the protesters in an interview with Spanish radio station COPE, he qualified: “It hurts me because people are confusing the message. We don’t have to be anti-tourist.
‘It is normal that there is a certain unrest among the island’s population, because I feel that too.
‘What we need to do is demand infrastructure that is in line with the chosen tourism model.
“And we need to understand that the tourism model has changed because of technology and Airbnb and the fact that property owners have turned these properties into businesses with very lax regulations and that the growth in the number of tourist accommodations has not been matched by the investment in infrastructure.’
The campaigners themselves say they are not against tourists, but against the consequences of there being too many holidaymakers on the islands, largely due to big tour operators buying or building huge properties without worrying about the impact of this projects on the local population.
Activists said the planned April 20 demonstration was motivated by “desperation.”
“Why do we want rulers who don’t want to see what kind of consumed and worn, damaged and torn islands we are going to leave to our daughters and sons?” they said.
“We would risk our lives, but you risk our future and that of the new generations.”