Desperate Canary Islands president begs Brits to visit hols hotspot after furious locals branded them ‘low-quality’
THE desperate Canary Islands president has begged Brits to visit the holiday hotspot after furious locals branded them “low-quality”.
Residents have labelled UK tourists as a “cancer” as prices skyrocket and they allege intoxicated partygoers are destroying their paradise.
As locals prepare to hold anti-tourism protests on Saturday across the entire archipelago, Canary Islands president Fernando Clavijo said that some of the ideas stated by activists “smack of tourist-phobia”.
“People who come here to visit and spend their money must not be criticised or insulted. We are playing with our main source of income,” he said.
Regional tourism chief Jessica de León urged Brits to not cancel their holidays ahead of this weekend’s protests as the Canary Islands are still very much open for business.
She told The Telegraph: “It is still safe to visit the Canary Islands, and we are delighted to welcome you.”
Tenerife residents have been fuming that they are “fed-up” with “low-quality” British visitors who just come for the cheap beer, burgers, and sunbathing.
They are now seeking a tourist fee, fewer flights to the island, and restrictions on foreigners owning homes.
Locals also allege that AirBnbs and other vacation rentals are raising the cost of living, and they are tired of the noise, traffic, and trash that accompany the influx of holidaymakers that arrive each year.
Admitting that housing was an issue, de León said: “The problem is that the last five years have seen an average of 3,000 homes built on the islands, when demand is for 20,000.
“Last year just 200 public housing units were built.”
She added that president Clavijo’s administration had enacted a housing emergency law to free up land for development while tightening limits on short-term vacation rentals to keep more rental units available.
It comes as a surge of fresh anti-tourist “go home” graffiti has been painted over the island, indicating that British visitors are not welcome.
Bitter messages outside tourism hotspots read “your paradise, our misery” and “tourists go home”.
“Locals are forced to move out and YOU are responsible for that,” said a furious printed sign.
But expats and tourists have fought back saying the anti-tourism war is misguided and wrong.
Fighting back
Melissa Taylor, 47, who manages an English bar in Las Playas de las Americas, told The Mail that the anti-tourist rhetoric was “unfair” since there would be “nothing here” if tourism did not exist.
She added: “Brits come here and spend a lot of money, the overwhelming majority of our customers are from the UK.”
Irish expat Bronagh Maheor, 23, also slammed the locals protests as “totally unfair”, stating that without tourists “there would not be hotels or businesses.
“I’d be out of a job, we need them,” he argued.
The Canary Islands Tourism Board has also denied that there has been an increase in tourism, claiming that data are the same as before the outbreak.
A spokesperson for the Board told the Mirror that the influx of tourists is stable throughout the year.
They added: “The pressure on the territory and its resources and the local population is much less than in other destinations that concentrate the arrival of tourists in specific periods of the year.”
TOURIST TRAP
A RISING number of visitors in idyllic holiday hotspots is forcing out locals.
- Important amenities such as post offices and village shops are being disposed of to make way for more houses and cafes for tourists.
- Locals are also struggling to climb on the property ladder as many houses sit empty, being used as second homes and holiday lets.
- In some hotspots this has created a major housing crisis as demand for accommodation and second homes drives house prices sky high.
- Road infrastructure and parking systems often can’t cope with more tourists – leading to traffic chaos and safety concerns.
- The issues see younger families leaving the area, in turn making it harder for community members left behind.
