Campaigners in the Canary Islands have gone on hunger strike in protest against the expansion of tourism in the area.
It is part of a wider movement called Canarias Se Agota which has seen demonstrations at buildings sites for new hotels and hundreds of locals linking hands in human chains.
It is not known how many protesters are taking part in the hunger strike in Tenerife, where there have been calls for a moratorium on all tourism developments.
#CanariasTieneUnLímite #CanariasSeAgota pic.twitter.com/UxcAzhnhuy
— Iván López (@Lowylogo) April 11, 2024
A spokesman for the campaign told local media: “Either [the local authorities] listen or these people are going to put their lives at risk.”
Recent figures show around 13.9 million tourists visited the Canary Islands in 2023 which is up 13 per cent on the year before and compares to the 2.2 million who live on the islands which are popular tourist spots for holidaymakers from the UK and Germany as well as mainland Spain.
The Canarias Se Agota movement believes too many tourists are making the islands less inhabitable for locals, impacting the environment and pushing up housing costs.
Anti-tourist graffiti has been daubed on walls in some parts of the Canary Islands recently, reflecting growing anger across the country.
Campaigners in Catalonia are calling for controls on the number of visitors and there are reports of a homelessness crisis in Ibiza, with many locals priced out of the housing market by the demand for tourist apartments.
Spain is not the only European tourist hotspot to decry the effects of mass tourism.
The Italian city of Venice introduced a five Euro tourist tax for day trippers to help pay for its attempts to alleviate the ill-effects of its popularity.
The city, which is home to around 50,000 people, attracts around 30 million visitors a year which it says put a huge burden on infrastructure and affordable housing.
