This weekend’s controversial protest on Mt Teide against tourism has been called off at the last minute, with the organisers slamming the authorities for using a legal loophole to stop them from proceeding.
As reported here, the demonstration was due to take place on Saturday in the Teide National Park and represented the latest step in the battle by the vociferous Canarias Tiene un Límite movement to force a rethink of the current tourism model in the islands.
Tenerife’s governing council (Cabildo) was angry that initial authorisation had been given for the gathering of the demonstrators against the backdrop of the island’s iconic summit, Spain’s highest point, and said that the location chosen was incoherent with the movement’s publicly stated goal of reducing the environmental effects of mass tourism.
In a surprising twist to the saga, the Interior Ministry’s office in Tenerife has decided, following consultation with Spain’s legal services, that legislation governing the use of the National Park means that permission for the protest had to be given by its management authority, which is the Cabildo.
The furious organisers have responded that the decision has come very late and it is now impossible for them to set in motion the formalities to request permission, beginning with a formal request to the Board that oversees use of the Park. They have slammed the authorities for resorting to what they termed “legal subtleties” to thwart their plans but promised that the protest would be rescheduled.
Celebrating the news, Cabildo president Rosa Dávila – who was criticised by the Interior Ministry’s top official for her ‘populist approach’ and attempts to politicise the dispute by blaming central government – said that “common sense had prevailed”.
“The law is the same for everyone and must be applied particularly strictly in the case of spaces which have been granted the highest environmental protection status in Spain” said Dávila, who had previously expressed concern that authorisation of the protest would set a dangerous precedent in opening the door to Teide being used for demonstrations of all kinds, not just against tourism.
