Tenerife’s taxi drivers are being slammed in front of shocked British tourists… as the island tries to get away from ‘low-class’ British holidaymakers!
This is the astonishing moment two Tenerife taxi drivers became embroiled in a brawl in Verónicas as shocked British tourists could only watch – as the island tries to move away from attracting ‘low class’ British holidaymakers.
Video showed the clash occurred Monday evening at one of the taxi stands on Avenida Rafael Puig Llivina, where many of the island’s nightclubs are located.
Groups of tourists and several taxi drivers witnessed the fight, some of whom intervened to prevent it from escalating.
The video circulated online, with commentators warning that such altercations could deter holidaymakers from visiting the Spanish archipelago ahead of the key tourist season, per El Dia.
It comes as activists from the islands prepare to stage a major demonstration on Saturday over the perceived impact of overtourism, raising concerns about the lack of housing for residents.
Locals have also shared their frustrations that the islands are focusing too much on British and German tourists who ‘just want to drink cheap beer, lie in the sun and eat burgers and fries’, calling for ‘tourists from higher quality who actually want to experience our culture and food and respect for our nature’.
Video showed two taxi drivers in a scuffle at a taxi rank in Veronicas, Tenerife
Bystanders had to intervene to prevent the fight from getting out of hand, local media report
A message scrawled on a bollard in the south of Tenerife
My misery, your paradise: activists urge action on Tenerife’s housing crisis
Others express concern about the type of tourists being welcomed. Guiris is pejorative slang for tourists
Residents of Las Canarias continue to express concerns about the volume and nature of tourist arrivals each year, highlighting the difficulties in finding accommodation as landlords drive up prices during the holiday period to meet visitor demand.
A major demonstration is now planned in Arrecife, Lanzarote, for tomorrow, April 20, with flyers claiming that demonstrators will march for ‘conservation of natural areas, a tourism moratorium and stricter regulations on foreigners buying property’.
Residents have also demanded ‘higher quality’ tourists, venting frustrations that tourism from Northern Europe has distorted the way the government invests, with the islands increasingly catering to holidaymakers at the expense of locals.
Local painter Vicky Colomer, 63, told MailOnline: ‘I feel like a foreigner here, I don’t feel comfortable anymore.
‘It’s like everything is made for British and German tourists who just want to drink cheap beer, lie in the sun and eat burgers and fries.
‘We need higher quality tourists who want to actually experience our culture and food and respect our nature.
‘This used to be a paradise, but now it isn’t anymore and it makes me angry. We need to reduce the number of flights and visitors and focus on bringing in better quality people.”
Posters and graffiti are popping up all over the islands, with frustrated locals telling tourists to ‘go home’.
One poster read: ‘The local population is being forced to move and you are responsible for that.’
Another showed a photo of a row of flats, with the caption: ‘It could be my house, but it’s your Airbnb. Digital nomads: you are not welcome here.’
Since then, tourists have hit back. Graffiti scrawled on a wall in English reads: “We pay your (wages).”
Officials have distanced themselves from the complaints amid fears that growing resentment toward holidaymakers could deter international visitors.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Tourism Minister Jessica de León stressed that despite reports of booking cancellations and fears of holiday disruptions, “it is still safe to visit the Canary Islands, and we are happy to welcome you.”
While she said she understood the complaints about housing, she stressed it was “unfair” to blame tourists.
“The problem is that an average of 3,000 houses have been built on the islands in the last five years, while the demand is for 20,000,” she said.
‘Last year only 200 social homes were built.’
The Canary Islands president has also appealed for “common sense” from those protesting against tourism, admitting he was concerned about the growing anti-tourism movement and its potential impact on revenues for the region.
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)
Graffiti in southern Tenerife highlights low monthly wages for workers in the Canary Islands’ popular tourist hotspot
An anti-tourism message has been scrawled on the side of a bollard on the island
Fernando Clavijo said: ‘We are concerned because tourism is our main source of income and I think that anyone who comes here to enjoy, spend a few days and leave their money in the Canary Islands should not be reprimanded or may be insulted.
“We can talk and analyze things to try to improve them, but what we cannot do is attack our main source of income and wealth because that would be totally irresponsible. What we need here is common sense and peace.
“There should never be attacks on an economic activity that puts food on the plates of the most people in the Canary Islands.”
The Canary Islands are largely dependent on tourism and welcome around 12.3 million visitors every year.
The direct and indirect contribution of tourism to the archipelago amounts to approximately 35 percent.