Tenerife's president calls for an end to 'tourismphobia' and says 'we cannot ... trends now
The President of Tenerife's Council has called for an end to 'tourismphobia' in the Canary Islands as activists prepare to go on hunger strike to protest the construction of new hotels.
Rosa Dávila yesterday said the council is willing to work with activists to 'reform what we all see could be improved' within the tourism industry, but declared her officials are 'far from those who hold radical positions and we would not understand them'.
'When developing an economic model, one must be vigilant and observe the improvement of the quality of life of the society it serves... (this does not entail) dismantling an entire economic model that contributes significantly to the GDP and the jobs generated in the Canary Islands, directly or indirectly linked to the tourism subsector,' she was quoted as saying by Canarian Weekly.
Her comments were echoed by the President of the Canary Islands Fernando Clavijo, who urged anti-tourism protesters to use 'common sense'.
'What we cannot do is attack our main source of employment and wealth because it would be irresponsible,' he said.
The furore over so-called tourismphobia came as members of the 'Canarias se exhausta' (The Canary Islands are exhausted) movement announced they plan to go on hunger strike from April 11 unless work on two new tourist attractions is halted within the next ten days.
They demand authorities provide 'urgent solutions' and not 'false promises' to definitively stop the works at Hotel La Tejita and Cuna del Alma, in Tenerife's Puertito de Adeje.
This strike would be followed on April 20 by widespread anti-tourism protests across the islands of Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and La Palma under the slogan of 'The Canarias have a limit'.
Rosa Davila, the presidentPresidency of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Rosa Davila
Almost twenty associations have called for a protest on April 20th in Gran Canaria against the overcrowding of the island, on the same day as the one in Tenerife. It is being organised under the same motto 'The Canary Islands have a limit' (Placard reads: Canarias not for sale)
Canary Islands activists will join widespread protests planned for April 20
'If we have reached this point it is because we have no other choice and because of the serious faults that our bad Government of the Canary Islands is committing,' the activists said in a manifesto.
They have warned that 'the responsibility for what could ultimately happen' with the hunger strike 'would be the same government that forced us to take this desperate measure.'
'They are putting our present and our future and that of the new generations at risk,' they added.
'Do not underestimate us, because we are many people. We are all of the Canary Islands, a whole movement. Without our work, our votes, you are nothing and nobody and you are not for what you are doing with the Canary Islands.
'We say enough is enough, not in our name,' warns the manifesto, read by 'Canarias se exhausta' members Víctor Martín and Isora Mesa.
News of the unrest has unsettled British holidaymakers, with hotel operators revealing they are receiving calls asking whether the islands will be safe to visit.
Jorge Marichal, president of regional hotel association ASHOTEL, said: 'I was in one of my hotels yesterday morning and one of the problems I had to solve was that clients are beginning to call and ask what's happening here and whether it's safe.'
While expressing sympathy with the protesters in an interview with Spanish radio station COPE, he qualified: 'It pains me because people confuse the message. We don't have to be anti-tourist.'
A wave of new anti-tourism graffiti has popped up near resorts in Tenerife over the past few weeks, with messages reading 'tourists go home' and 'too many guiris'
Puerto Rico beach - Gran Canaria, Canary Islands.
Jorge Marichal is the president of regional hotel association ASHOTEL in the region
The campaigners say they are not against tourists, but the effects produced by having too many holidaymakers on the islands.
Activists said both the planned April 20 demonstration and the hunger strike are motivated by 'despair'.
'Why do we want rulers who do not want to see what kind of consumed and worn out, violated and torn islands we are going to leave to our daughters and sons?' they said.
'We would put our lives at risk, but you risk our future and that of the new generations.'
Both the hotel La Tejita and Cuna del Alma projects were paralysed by orders of both the Government of the Canary Islands and the Coast department for various environmental infractions and irregularities, but they have recently resumed construction work.
Marichal expressed sympathy with the protesters, telling COPE: 'People see they have to spend more time on the roads and they can't access housing because residential properties have become tourist dwellings and they can't afford the rents now being charged in many areas.
'It's normal there's a certain unease among the island population because I also feel it.
'What we have to do is demand infrastructures in accordance with the tourist model that's been chosen.
'And we have to understand that the tourist model has changed because of technology and Airbnb and the fact property owners have converted those properties into businesses with very lax regulation and that the growth in the amount of tourist accommodation has not been matched by the investment in infrastructure.'
Tensions continue to rise after British holidaymakers who visited Tenerife for the Easter break were met with anti-tourist graffiti - and a tense reception from locals.
Residents living in the Canary Islands say they are 'fed-up' of British tourists who only 'drink cheap beer, lay in the sun and eat low quality food'.
They say airbnbs are pushing up the costs of renting and the cost of living while they are sick of the noise and rubbish pollution that comes with the seasonal influx of holidaymakers.
Speaking to MailOnline during the first big getaway over Easter, residents on the Spanish holiday island said 'enough is enough' as they called for a moratorium on the industry, along with a tourist tax and stricter controls.
It comes as a wave of new anti-tourism graffiti has popped up near resorts over the past few days, with messages reading 'tourists go home' and 'too many guiris'.
Flyers like this slamming holidaymakers are being stuck to buildings all over Tenerife
Sun-seeking Britons have long favoured Tenerife as a holiday destination
Tensions have recently broken out between British holidaymakers and fed up residents of the canary island
Guiri is a Spanish slang word for foreigner, which is often used in a negative way to describe northern European or American visitors and expats.
One poster taped to a wall said: 'Locals are forced to move out and YOU are responsible for that… digital nomads you are NOT welcome here.'
But some Brits were fighting back, with a message in English scribbled next to one of the slogans saying: 'F**k off, we pay your wages!'
Tensions are rising on the island as more and more people join calls for restraints on tourism.
A poster for the April 20 demonstration says the Canary Islands 'has a limit' and that protesters will be marching for 'conservation of natural spaces, a tourist moratorium, and tougher regulation for foreigners buying property.'
The main gripe among locals is the rising costs of renting and buying homes, as landlords continue to buy up Airbnbs and tourist lets, reducing supply and pushing up prices.
Tech worker Ivan Cerdeña Molina, 36, is helping
