Brits enjoying their early autumn holidays across the Canary Islands were in for a shock last week as protestors swarmed beaches telling them to ‘go home’. But determined to enjoy the rest of their time abroad the tourists stayed exactly where they were.
Locals across the idyllic holiday islands have continued to see the rates of tourism sky-rocket in recent times, and have been calling on the authorities to help curb the huge influx of holidaymakers.
But, as Brits lay bathing in the sun, they remained totally oblivious to the calls to ‘go home’ as one could be seen simply flicking through his phone whilst another was snapped pointing a peace sign towards the camera, reports Birmingham Live.
The protests last week are among one of the biggest held on the issue with 20 groups joining forces behind the ‘Canary Islands have a limit’ campaign. One of the key issues of concern for the protestors is the idea that locals are currently being priced out in the housing market as a result of increased tourism.
One of those to air their opinions at the protests was 32-year-old Sarah Lopez in Gran Canaria, who said: “We need a change in the tourist model so it leaves richness here, a change so it values what this land has because it is beautiful.”
As protesters marched their way across the picturesque islands, banners could be seen with similar anti-tourist sentiments with one reading: ‘The Canaries Don’t Live off Tourism. Tourism lives off the Canaries’
Another said ‘Enjoying a day at your pool? That water could be going on food’ as well as ‘Macrotourism destroys Canary Islands’ and ‘The Canaries have a limit. More trees, less hotels.’
The protests represent one of the largest about the issue of tourism to date, as the Spanish government reported that 8,000 people were involved in the demonstrations last weekend. It comes as the Spanish National Statistics Institute said that 9.9 million tourists visited the Canary Islands between January and September this year, which is up by 10.3% in the same time period last year.
However, the Canary Islands haven’t been alone in seeing a wave of protests in recent months, as other popular Spanish holiday destinations including Barcelona, Mallorca and Malaga have also seen objections to the tourism rates.
But, after the Canary Islands regional government proposed a law earlier it now looks like they are set to pass the ruling that will see stricter rules on short lets.
In closer detail, new build properties will be banned having short-lets and property owners will have five years to fall in line with the new requirements.