Tenerife Locals to Protest Over-Tourism: 'The Canary Islands Have a Limit'

Now up to 10,000 people living in Tener are expected to join a mass

protest

tomorrow claiming that the Canary Islands are suffering from over

tourism

, so activists say the number of tourists coming to the island is unsustainable and ruining the life there of the local population. Yes, let's talk. to Nick Dixon Nick Nick Dixon who's there uh Nick there will be people watching this morning they've booked their holiday they're going to

have

to go there every year they contribute to that economy they may

have

never been before and I don't know If they should be fine, you know, Last year we heard that UK tourists alone contributed six billion pounds to the UK economy.

Some will say it's a bit cheeky to blame them when in reality they're probably helping the area, right? Of course they are and let's be clear: there are not thousands of people here from the Canary Islands waiting at the airport to tell British tourists or anyone else to go home; They are generally very welcome, but there is a feeling here the island is kind of creaking under the pressure of mass

tourism

and has been that way for quite some time. If you drive around here you will sometimes see slogans, graffiti on the walls, anti-tourist messages, now that they are not specifically directed at the tourists who come.

Here, individuals or groups, it is really a kind of propaganda if you want the government to sit up and take notice because the local people here feel that they have a very poor quality of life and for quite some time they still have new hotels and resorts of beach. are being built, so there is a very strong feeling that tourism should be reduced by perhaps even up to 30% here, not the typical friendly welcome messages you might expect from an island blessed with year-round sunshine and millions of tourists every year, but in recent weeks. Tension has flared in the Canary Islands with some residents saying the impact of mass tourism is ruining their lives.

Many insist there are too many hotels, a severe housing shortage for

locals

and roads overwhelmed with traffic, and these people here are part of an activist group on hunger strike right now over the construction of another hotel and beach resort on the island there is no anger against tourists or tourism there is a lot of anger against mass tourism and mass tourism has caused problems in almost every aspect of the life of every person who lives on this island, from the backed up roads to water shortages, sewage problems and polluted beaches and the situation has intensified.

Major

protest

s and demonstrations will take place tomorrow, although some local business owners will not participate. I sell excursions, so I need to have the people who come on vacation around me and make it a great vacation. Campaigners want a tourist tax to help alleviate the problems facing the

islands

, something the government has so far rejected Nick Dixon Good Morning Britain ten Reef, well, come on. He talks to Brian Harrison, who we saw there in that report, a British worker leading the current fight against tourism. You are lucky to live on a beautiful island with a wonderful climate.

Presumably that's what made you become an expert and go live there. First of all, why is the problem with people who go there on vacation and are drawn there the same way you are? It's not the problem with the people who come here, but the large number of people when I arrived on the island. In 1991 there were maybe 2 million tourists a year now this number has risen to more than 6 million a year and on an island with

limit

ed space it is unsustainable, this is the problem, the people, your problem then is with the people who manages the island and In managing the tourist on the island, the problem is that if something like a tourist tax is imposed or, in fact, you know that people just come and see the graffiti or hear about this protest, it will not be a very nice place for them, they already booked. their vacations they saved all year to be able to go on vacation and the impact will be on them when you really want the people who have developed the island, right?

Firstly, the graffiti around the island is not that widespread, as some UK media have stated that it is not everywhere, you have to go looking for it to find it, tourists are always welcome here, no There will be hostility towards any tourist, but obviously measures that the government has taken must be taken. Three decades to solve this problem it has been getting worse every year and every decade and this is the last resort to get the government to realize that they need to take action to

limit

tourism and make it sustainable because right now it is not sustainable.

It is causing a lot of damage to the lives of residents. It is a very negative impact, but what would you say if you know that it is the freedom of people who can go and enjoy the holidays at Tenor Reef? actually that tenor reef is built, I mean last year £6bn went into the local economy. You know the argument, if even if you limit the amount of tourist visits it can affect the country as a whole, people might start looking for other destinations and I feel like Tenor Ree is not a very welcome place. There is no economic model that shows that limiting tourism and increasing the quality of tourism has a negative impact.

On the contrary, in many places, destinations like Myor Barcelona, ​​​​other places around. In Europe, everyone implies that they apply a tourist tax and that there is no negative impact economically or otherwise, okay, so what are you asking? What do you want local authorities to do? They limit the quantity. of people coming or increasing taxes there, okay, several points, the first point is to stop the construction of tourist developments, especially in protected natural areas, which is a big problem here, secondly, limit vacation rentals, They are basically uncontrolled. the island, this has caused a huge housing crisis, people can't get houses and then applying a tourist tax would probably automatically limit tourism, plus it would create a revenue stream to restore the damaged parts of the island, right Brian?

I'll have to leave it there, but thank you very much for joining us and enjoying the sun today, we're not going to have much of that here, but