The tax payable by holidaymakers to visit one of Tenerife’s top beauty spots is having a beneficial effect on the preservation of the area’s natural surroundings, say the island authorities.
The controversial fee of 28 euros per adult (14 for children) to enter the stunning Masca Valley – plus 10 euros for the shuttle bus, the only form of tourist transport allowed to enter the iconic conservation area – has considerably reduced visitor numbers, which are down 75% in the first year of operation of the tax.
According to the island’s governing Cabildo, the main objective of alleviating the pressure of mass tourism on the sensitive valley and its giant ravine has been achieved and the money raised has been used for key work such as landscape recovery, including the gradual elimination of the highly invasive African Fountain grass (commonly known as Cat’s Tail) which has spread rapidly throughout many parts of Masca and competes with native species for water and nutrients.
Another positive consequence of the levy is a drastic reduction in the number of callouts of emergency services to rescue tourists who suffer falls or lose their way in the steep-sided ravine.
The first year of the tax has seen 24,000 people (95% of them foreign) visit Masca, generating 600,000 euros in revenue as well as 17 direct jobs associated with the management of the scheme and conservation work. The island authorities are particularly pleased at impacts such as the massively reduced presence of hire cars and the resulting lighter traffic in and around Masca.
Visitors can only visit the picture postcard beauty spot from Friday to Sunday, with numbers capped at 275 per day. Tenerife residents are exempt from the 28-euro charge, while those from the other Canary Islands pay just three euros.
Cabildo bosses say that the success of the tax and the obligatory use of public transport to access Masca “show the way forward” for similar initiatives to reduce visitor numbers and protect fragile ecosystems elsewhere on Tenerife, among them Teide National Park, Teno and Anaga.
Photo of Masca: Tripadvisor
