A spate of recent attacks on hire cars in one of Tenerife’s most popular tourist areas is thought to be linked to the ongoing protests against mass tourism.
Up to to twenty vehicles, mostly from the same firm (one of the most visible in the sector in the Canaries), were damaged in targeted attacks last week in a large car park in Costa Adeje where the cars are regularly kept overnight. The damage has been estimated at around 10,000 euros according to the firm.
The cars’ windows were broken and bodywork damaged in the early hours of 5 March and the vandalism comes on the heels of similar incidents reported elsewhere on Tenerife, including at Las Teresitas beach outside the capital, Santa Cruz, where tyres of several hire cars were let down. Stickers calling for tourists to stay away from the island were also stuck on the windows of the damaged vehicles.
It has now emerged that videos of the Costa Adeje attacks have appeared on social media and the footage includes specific criticism of the car hire firm and general complaints at the impact of tourism in Tenerife, with reference to the growing numbers of visitors.
The videos are being scrutinised carefully by police in the south of the island to see if clues can be gleaned as to the identity of the vandals. Local media say that the attacks mark an escalation of the anti-tourism campaign waged by activists in recent times here, including the setting on fire of several diggers used to clear land for the controversial Cuna del Alma development in Puertito de Adeje. Here too, the activists filmed their arson attack and posted the video on social media. 
