Spain's Canaries to hold major protest against mass tourism once again

Protest group 'Canarias tiene un límite' (The Canary Islands have a limit) have called yet another march for Sunday May 18th to be held across all islands as well as other cities across Spain and even overseas who are joining in solidarity for the Canary cause.

Organisers are specifically protesting the current economic model "based on overtourism, speculation, inequality and the infinite growth on very limited land” they explained.

In a recent statement they added that despite the "massive demonstrations" held in the Atlantic archipelago in 2024, institutions have responded by "ignoring demands, manipulating information, implementing regressive regulations and deepening the social, economic, and environmental crisis”.

READ ALSO: 'The island can't take it anymore' - Why Tenerife is rejecting mass tourism

The demonstrations will take place on the seven main islands at 11am in El Hierro (Tourism Department, Valverde); La Palma (Plaza de La Alameda & Island Council, Santa Cruz de La Palma); La Gomera (Plaza de Las Américas in front of the Town Hall, in San Sebastián de La Gomera); Tenerife (Plaza Weyler, Santa Cruz de Tenerife); Gran Canaria (Alfredo Kraus Auditorium, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria); Lanzarote (Bandstand in Arrecife); and Fuerteventura (Calle 1° de Mayo & Plaza de la Iglesia, Puerto del Rosario).

The group’s ten main demands include:

• The immediate end of destructive construction projects and the demolition of those already declared illegal.
• The cancellation of more hotels and vacation rentals
• A residency law to protect the rights of residents over non-residents, especially with regard to housing
• The promotion of renewable energy without "exploiting" the territory
• The promotion of natural areas and a tourist tax
• Ecosystem restoration and food and energy sovereignty
• Immediate measures to stop the pollution of the sea
• The rejection of large-scale projects such as railway networks, road expansions, highways, ports, and airports
• The preservation of cultural and social heritage
• The creation of an environmental restoration law

Other cities across Spain will also be holding their own protests in solidarity with the Canary Islands. These include Granada, Valencia, Barcelona, ​​Madrid, Bilbao, Pamplona, ​​Santiago de Compostela. Even the German capital of Berlin will join in.

The current tourism model in the Canary Islands is considered unsustainable and is pushing the islands towards collapse.

Overpopulation, overwhelmed public services, state-permitted overdevelopment, almost as many cars as there people (1.8 million compared to 2 million), seas polluted with faecal matter which lead to beach closures - the list of problems goes on.

While overtourism is an issue, it goes hand in hand with the housing crisis, which is a bigger problem for Canarios than tourism per se. The reason why tourism is often at the centre of the slogans on banners is that it's the economic motor of the archipelago, representing 35 percent of their GDP and roughly 40 percent of jobs together with hospitality. But this economic model is no longer sustainable nor beneficial for the majority of islanders, who have the second lowest wages of all regions in Spain.

Most locals can’t afford to buy homes because holiday lets and more affluent foreigners (many non-residents) keep driving the prices up.

Earlier this month, the Spanish government rejected placing limits on foreign home ownership in Canaries and Balearics, which many of the locals called for.

READ ALSO: Spain rejects limit on foreign home ownership in Canaries and Balearics

This isn’t even the first time locals in the Canaries protested this year. In February, a march was organised on the island of Tenerife to coincide with the FVW Travel Talk congress but this was only attended by several dozen protesters.

May 18th's protests are more likely to have the numbers of April 2024's demos, where between 57,000 and 100,000 people took part across the eight Canary Islands.

More overtourism protests are planned for next month too in many holiday hotspots across all of Spain. On June 15th, marches, demonstrations, picket lines and disruption to travel services will take place in Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, the Canary Islands again, and San Sebastián. It’s likely that others could join such as Málaga and Seville too.

READ ALSO: What to expect from the mass tourism protests across Spain in June