Tenerife's anti-tourism hunger strikers end their protest after 20 days, saying ... trends now
A hunger strike launched last month in Tenerife as part of mass tourism protests has been called off after 20 days as officials have shown 'zero interest' in their plight, strikers have said.
Four of the six activists who stopped eating announced their decision yesterday evening in the square in the town of La Laguna in the north of the island.
The other two were not present and were said to be 'recovering'.
One of the six, who were not officially named by the protest platform Canarias Se Agota which they are affiliated to, accused the Canary Islands' regional government of paying them 'zero interest.'
But he told supporters at a popular assembly after taking his turn to speak, looking visibly gaunt after his 20 day hunger strike: 'We've been amazed at the social response and that's the best thing we'll take away from this. I'm very hopeful for the future.'
A man greets people on a hunger strike during a demonstration for a change in the tourism model in the Canary Islands, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, April 20, 2024
Members of the 'Canaria se agota' ('Canaria is exhausted') movement protest against the construction of a hotel near La Tejita playa and other mass tourism infrastructures, in La Laguna on the Spanish Canary island of Tenerife, on April 13, 2024
'Go Home Tourist' has been scrawled in English over a wall underneath a real estate promotion billboard in Nou Llevant, Mallorca, a neighbourhood that has seen a massive influx of foreign buyers over the past few years
Demonstrators packed into Weyler Square in the Tenerife capital Santa Cruz, the start point for a march on the Brit-popular holiday island, on April 20
Canarias Se Agota said in a message after the action was halted: 'This is the society we want. One which organises itself and fights with bravery to defend our land.'
It added: 'We will move forward with determination and firmness until we achieve the Canary Islands we dream of.'
The hunger strike began on April 11 outside a church in one of La Laguna's main squares. It was announced when it started as an 'indefinite' strike.
The activists and their supporters said they wanted regional governors to adopt a more sustainable model of tourism to combat problems including pollution, traffic gridlock and a lack of affordable housing which they have linked to mass tourism.
They also sought the paralysation of two tourist projects including one which involves the construction of a five-star hotel by one of Tenerife's last virgin beaches.
Victor Martin, a spokesman for Canarias Se Agota which translates into English as 'Canary Islands on the Brink, said before it started: 'The hunger strike is indefinite and will continue until the two macro projects we're fighting against are stopped for ever and the regional
