Yesterday’s mobilisation against mass tourism in the Canaries drew a smaller turnout than last year but the message of the protesters had few problems reaching the Spanish and international media.
Initial calculations by the authorities put the combined figure for the demonstrations held on all the Canary Islands at around half of the number recorded in April 2024, with Tenerife once again achieving the largest turnout. An estimated 15,000 packed the centre of Santa Cruz, with other protests staged in towns and resorts across the islands.
Locals who turned out for the much-publicised day of action repeated their demands for curbs on tourism and waved banners stating “Enough is Enough”, “The Canaries are not For Sale”, and “The Canaries have reached breaking point”.
In essence, the protesters want the government to adopt three key measures to ease the impact of mass tourism on the islands: a freeze on new hotel and holiday rental licences, especially in overcrowded areas, to ease pressure on resources and protect rural and coastal land; a tourist tax to fund public services and offset the environmental impact of mass tourism and, lastly, stricter controls on real estate speculation – to prevent properties being used for short-term lets and keep housing affordable for residents.
Despite the lower numbers, the noisy and very colourful protests succeeded in capturing the attention of the media in the countries of origin of the bulk of the Canaries’ tourists, although some headlines have drawn criticism for scare-mongering and exaggerating the size and nature of the events.
UK tabloids ran headlines such as “Spanish Rage”, and “Protesters flood streets in Canary Islands”. For its part, the Daily Mail, which gives regular prominent coverage to the wave of anti-tourism sentiment in the Canaries and Spain generally, reported that “Holidaymakers too scared to leave their rooms as thousands of anti-tourism protesters take to the streets of the Canary Islands”, adding the information that “Dozens of armed officers from the National Police were seen on patrol, while ‘terrified’ tourists stayed inside their hotels”.
The organisers of yesterday’s day of action slammed the Canarian government for failing to respond to the groundswell of opposition to mass tourism and insisted that the movement is not aimed at tourists but the region’s “unsustainable” economic model.
