TENERIFE has gone to war with sun-soaked, beer-drinking Brits partying the Easter holidays away and told them all to “go home”.
Residents of the largest Canary island have blasted UK holidaymakers as a “cancer” as costs soar and they claim drunken partygoers are ruining their paradise.
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Tenerife’s locals have been fuming that they are “fed-up” of “low quality” Brit tourists who only come for the cheap beer, burgers and sunbathing.
Now, they are demanding a tourist tax, less flights to the island and a clampdown on foreigners buying houses.
They claim that AirBnBs and other holiday rentals are driving up the cost of living and that they are sick of the noise, traffic and rubbish that accompany the avalanche of vacationers that visit every year.
It follows a wave of new anti-tourist graffiti that has been sprayed across the island to tell Brits they are not welcome.
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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 they were just a warning of what locals hope is to come as residents petition the island’s authorities to enact new measures to curb tourism.
On Tuesday, a protest is planned in Santa Cruz as campaigners will lay out their demands and hold a march.
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Later this month, a second larger protest is planned by social and environmental groups who want to protect natural hotspots and create tougher regulations for foreigners buying properties.
Tech worker Ivan Cerdeña Molina, 36, is helping to organise the protests.
He told The Mail: “It’s a crisis, we have to change things urgently, people are living in their cars and even in caves, and locals can’t eat, drink or live well.
“Airbnb and Booking.com are like a cancer that is consuming the island bit by bit.”
Painter Vicky Colomer, 63, also told the outlet that cheapskate British and German tourists just want to “drink cheap beer, lay in the sun and eat burgers and chips”.
“This was a paradise but now it’s not and it makes me angry,” she raged, adding that the island needs “higher quality people”.
‘Can’t afford to rent or buy a house’
Last year, Canary Island residents held a protest against the arrival of more holidaymakers.
In what has been dubbed “tourismphobia”, they marched the streets holding banners which read “the Canaries are no longer a paradise” and “the Canaries are not for sale”.
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Dr Matías González Hernández, an academic at Las Palmas University, argued that locals faced homelessness as they were priced out by richer tourists.
He said they “can’t afford to rent or buy a house” due to rising inflation and rent prices.
Recent graffiti in the popular town of Las Palmas reflected this, with a message that read “average salary in Canary Islands is €1,200 [£1000]”.
Hernández called on their government for better infrastructure to accommodate growing demands – such as improving roads.
“Right now you get stuck for two hours on the main road,” he said.
Expats fight back
However, expats and tourists have fought back by arguing the anti-tourism war is wrong and misguided.
Melissa Taylor, 47, who runs an English pub in Las Playas de las Americas told The Mail that the anti-tourism stuff was “unfair” as without tourism there would be “nothing here”.
She added: “Brits come here and spend a lot of money, the overwhelming majority of our customers are from the UK.”
And 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 there has been an influx of tourists and claimed figures are the same with pre-pandemic levels.
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.”
And, another professor at Las Palmas University claimed “most of the population” still welcomes tourism.
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“The great majority understand it adds value to them, in terms of the flow of culture, the cultural value of tourists from Germany, Sweden, Britain.
“People are very happy with the British coming to the Canary Islands.”
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.
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Source: Sun
