Demonstrations against mass tourism took place for a second time in the Canary Islands this Sunday, after the largest protests in the archipelago’s history last April brought little change.
This time, the eight Canaries chose to stage their rallies in parts of the islands which are holiday hotspots, whereas last spring the protests took place in the capital cities.
In Tenerife, protesters carried banners and chanted slogans in the south of the island, where the bulk of the millions of annual sun-seeking holidaymakers go.
There were fewer protesters than the previous time but the mood was more hostile.
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Whereas in Santa Cruz last April there was a variety of messages addressing politicians’ complicity in the mass tourism model, environmental damage, property prices and more, this time the focus was more on tourists.
So much so that protesters stormed Playa de Las Americas beach in Arona and in some cases surrounded bemused tourists lying on the sand.
“The invasion isn’t coming on small boats, but on planes,” one sign read, alluding to the idea that undocumented Sub-Saharan migrants arriving on small boats aren’t ‘the problem’, but rather that foreign tourists are.
“Time to squat your holiday home”, “This is the last time that we ask nicely”, “This beach is ours” or “Tourism is colonialism” were some of the other messages carried around on banners or chanted by protesters.
READ ALSO: ‘Out of our neighbourhood’ – Barcelona residents spray water on tourists
That’s not to say that all participants took it out on tourists, as there were also signs addressing the polluted sea, overpopulation, stretched resources and few affordable homes for locals.
However, the minority of those targeting outsiders as the root of the islands’ problems were greater, and their exaggerated messages and general animosity are what’s made the headlines in the UK and elsewhere.
The reaction from many overseas is one of ‘be careful what you wish for’ and ‘don’t bite the hand that feeds you’, which undeniably has some truth to it.
Tourism represents 35.5 percent of the Canaries’ GDP and around 40 percent of jobs are linked to the industry.
But Canarias is the region in Spain where rents have spiked the most in the last year (27 percent) and the second region with the lowest salaries in Spain.
READ MORE: ‘The island can’t take it anymore’: Why Tenerife is rejecting mass tourism
The sun may shine all year round, yet Canary Islanders have the second lowest quality of life of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities according to the National Stats Institute INE.
Locals are by all accounts fed up, hartos, and this frustration is starting to boil over.
Waving the white, blue and yellow flags of the Canary Islands, protesters marched past tourists sitting in outdoor terraces in Playa de las Americas before they rallied on the beach chanting “This beach is ours”, as bemused tourists sitting on sunbeds under parasol shades looked on. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP)
Unfortunately, the islands’ problems are complex and multifaceted, and although it can be a lot easier to have the sunburnt beer-chugging tourist as the primary scapegoat, alienating them won’t help the cause.
The Canary Islands are a microcosm of Spain’s problems, a heightened version of what’s to come for many parts of the country unless a drastic change comes.
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Locals priced out of renting or buying homes, water scarcity, environmental damage, overstretched services, high cost of living, too many cars, overpopulation, loss of social fabric, political corruption and of course overtourism and the undocumented migration influx.
Those are a lot of problems for eight small islands to take on, and those in power have done little to nothing to solve them.
In fact, since the mass protests in April, there are more hotels being given the go-ahead, more holiday lets available and tourist numbers continue to beat records.
For example, Tenerife’s controversial Cuna del Alma megahotel complex was given a building permit by Adeje’s mayor last September, which will result in the last remaining fishing village in the overbuilt south of the island being bulldozed.
As one banner read during the protest back in April, “it’s not the guiri’s (foreigner’s) fault, it’s the fault of the corrupt politician”.
It’s time for protesters in the Canaries and across Spain to jointly direct their anger at those who have allowed the current situation to arise and have often profited from it, rather than letting a minority take it out on tourists who are just enjoying their holidays.
Fortunately there are signs that this is happening. Another mass protest took place over the weekend in Valencia, and although overtourism was one of their grievances, the main focus was access to affordable housing.
Similar protests against the housing crisis have been called for Barcelona, Málaga and Seville in November.
Spain needs a change, but so-called ‘tourismphobia’ is clearly not the solution.
This post was originally published on here
