02 April 2024 , 14:00
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Tenerife is facing a "perfect storm" which could be hugely detrimental to the holiday island and cause serious harm to tourism, authorities have warned.
The warning has been issued by government leaders and the hotel employers' association as mass protests over "overcrowding" spread to five of the seven islands which will be holding demonstrations on April 20th. In recent months locals have increasingly called for a crackdown on tourism numbers, including demanding a tourism tax and stricter restrictions.
Campaigners say there are too many holidaymakers visiting Tenerife where the infrastructure cannot cope and although all nationalities visit the island, the protests appear to be predominantly aimed at Brits. Many people say it is unfair that Tenerife is being "picked on" as other destinations across Spain have seen tourist demonstrations, including Majorca and venues on the mainland.
Local infrastructure is struggling to cope with the numbers of tourists (Getty Images/Collection Mix: Subjects RF)Vice president of Ashotel, the hotel employers' association, Gabriel Wolgeschaffen has described the situation in the Spanish press as a “perfect storm” and warns that "the cow that gives milk must be left alone". Meanwhile the islands' president has made an appeal for "common sense" from those who protest against tourism, the "main source of employment".
However, organisers say they're not demonstrating against tourism or tourists, but against the saturation of the islands and the lack of measures to protect them from the growth of this industry that has a major impact on natural spaces and local resources.
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Ashotel views with "concern" the call for demonstrations against the tourism model and has demanded a calm debate on the matter, since tourists "must be left alone" due to issues that have not been resolved for years, such as housing and mobility problems.
The vice president of the hotel association has also pointed out that the Canary Islands are a “young” tourist destination and recalled that decades ago it was the inhabitants of the islands who emigrated due to lack of resources, to add that tourism generates 35% of the GDP. in the archipelago, so we must be “cautious”.
The mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Manuel Bermúdez, present at the same press conference, has expressed his "total respect" for freedom of expression and demonstration but has also called for a "serious and free of prejudice" debate on this question.
It comes after months of locals fearing that the islands are on the brink of collapse as they struggle to cope with tourism numbers. Tensions with locals have been rising; in Palm-Mar, a small town on the southern side of the island, residents and visitors woke up to messages graffitied on walls including 'Tourists go home,' 'My misery your paradise,' and 'Average salary in Canary Islands is 1,200', in a move that The Canarian Weekly dubbed 'tourismphobia'.
However, not all locals are looking at tourists as the issue. Carmelo J. León, a professor of tourism at Las Palmas University, told the Mirror: "Most of the population is very happy with tourists, of all nationalities. The Canary Islands have always been very friendly. The great majority understand it adds value to them, in terms of the flow of culture, the cultural value of tourists from Germany, Sweden, Britain. People are very happy with the British coming to the Canary Islands."
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