Tourism in the “Canaries” annoys the locals. Housing is expensive, healthcare overburdened and garbage everywhere, they complain

The inhabitants of the Canary Islands are starting to rebel against the form of tourism that is currently set up. Although the number of tourists here is breaking records, local people complain about the lack of affordable housing, chaos on the roads and waste water in the sea. That’s why tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest on Saturday, April 20, and it was most likely not the last time.

Although, according to tourism professor Carmelo J. León, the number of tourists in the Canary Islands has increased by almost fifty percent in the last 14 years, and last year, for example, 15 million visitors visited the beaches there, the local residents do not benefit from this, quite the contrary.

Although tourism is a dominant aspect of the island’s economy, at the same time, according to the Deutsche Welle (DW) radio website, it causes housing to become more and more expensive. At the same time, average salaries in the “Canaries” are low, and therefore more and more local people have existential concerns. “Tourism creates a lot of jobs, but what kind of jobs are they if they’re not even enough to rent an apartment?” journalist Toni Ferrera, who has been dealing with regional issues for many years, assesses the situation for DW.

The recent protests were co-organized by the Fundación Canaria Tamaimos, whose head José Miguel Martín said tourists spent more than 20 billion euros in the Canary Islands last year and that tourism accounts for about 40 percent of the region’s overall economic output. However, Martín complains that no money is left at the site, and on top of that, the garbage is increasing.

The issue is now also being addressed by local ecologists, who remind us that tourists are breaking the set rules. Specifically, they say they go to places where they don’t have to. They ride their bikes outside official roads and, last but not least, use drones without proper permits. Available data confirms that the number of visitors to the Canary Islands has already returned to pre-Covid pandemic levels. According to information from the trade union Comisiones Obreras, the onslaught of tourists is due to the overburdened healthcare system and the crowded and chaotic streets. Most locals are said to find only unskilled work in hotels and apartments, and monthly salaries are said to be some of the lowest in all of Spain. The trade union adds that unemployment is high here and every third inhabitant of the island is at risk of poverty.

Another organizer of the protests, Victor Martín, emphasizes that approximately one third of all flats or apartments on the islands are owned by foreigners who use them as recreational facilities. “We are aware that tourism in the Canary Islands will not lose its importance from day to day. But its current model must change,” he wishes.

However, the negative changes in life caused by the increase in tourism do not only affect the Canary Islands, people in Madrid, Barcelona or Mallorca and Ibiza also experience similar problems. The Spanish business association CEOE even speaks of a new hostility towards tourism in the country.

According to the Canary Islands Hoteliers’ Association Ashotel, the industry should focus on improving the quality of the offer, which they say should attract fewer people but more wealthy ones. And what about the local politicians? The regional government of the Canary Islands, through the mouth of its president Fernando Clavija, understands the angry protesters, but has not yet offered any concrete solution. The local parliament eventually rejected a number of protesters’ proposals, such as a tourist tax.