The protests against mass tourism in the Canary Islands reach several of the main tourist centers

The protests against mass tourism called by the associations gathered on the platform ‘Canarias has a limit’ have reached several of the main tourist centers of the archipelago this Sunday, October 20, with the participation of at least some 8.000 personas according to the first count of the Government Delegation at 1:30 p.m., collected by Europa Press.

Thus, the around twenty associations grouped together under this seal have promoted these new manifestations that aim directly at tourism because they understand that it is the epicenter of the development model. “unfair and unsustainable” that they denounce.

In this way, protests have taken place in the central hours of this Sunday in the tourist centers of Maspalomas (Gran Canaria), Las Américas (Tenerife), Corralejo (Fuerteventura), Puerto del Carmen (Lanzarote), Los Llanos de Aridane (La Palma) and Valverde (El Hierro).

They have also been convened on the Peninsula in the Plaza de Colón of Barcelona; the Town Hall Beach Valencia; the New Square of Granada; Opera in Madrid; and they have even scheduled another protest in Berlin.

During them, chants such as ‘Clavijo listen, the Canary Islands are in the fight’, ‘The Canary Islands do not sell themselves, they love and defend themselves’, and posters advocating for ‘work and dignity’, as well as slogans such as ‘We are foreigners’ could be heard. in our land’, ‘The Canary Islands is not a theme park’ or ‘My home is not a business’.

Likewise, there were critical and ironic messages with the speculation and the housing situation with ‘Rents are higher than Teide’ or ‘Foreigners buy one in three houses in the Canary Islands’.

Among the multitude of banners, environmentalist and territorial defense slogans could also be seen. (‘Fewer Hotels and more trees’)as well as posters against several of the projects planned in the archipelago.

For their part, in the case of Tenerife, the protesters have taken their protest to the sand of the beach where the tourists were spending the day, although no type of incident has occurred.

A SYSTEM THAT IS “DESTROYING” THE ISLANDS

“We will go out to the tourist areas because that is where the injustice that we are denouncing materializes and because that is where we want to stand up to the system that is destroying our islands,” the argument states.

‘The Canary Islands have a limit’ has insisted that tourist areas are the core of the developmental model that is destroying the territory. “Speculation is concentrated there – he adds -, the unbridled construction of hotels and large infrastructures, and the exploitation of our natural resources for the benefit of a few.”

Furthermore, the platform indicated that the current development model that the archipelago has “materializes the most extreme inequality”, since “while tourist areas prosper at the expense of our landscapes and resources, many local communities suffer the consequences: increased cost of living, loss of housing for residents, job insecurity and deterioration of the environment.

Likewise, the organization has highlighted that the objective of these new demonstrations being in tourist areas seeks to ensure that tourists are also aware of the real impact of their presence on the islands and what is happening and that not only the rulers and businessmen listen to us

“By protesting in tourist areas,” he continues, “we are directly communicating to those who visit the Canary Islands that the current tourism model is unsustainable and harmful to our land and our lives.”

However, the argument of ‘The Canary Islands has a limit’ sees tourism as “the center of precarious work”, clarifying that its fight is not against people who depend on tourism to earn a living, but against a model that exploits both territory as well as the workers themselves.

“Taking our protest to the heart of mass tourism is a clear sign that we are not afraid to raise our voices where it hurts most to those who perpetuate this system. We want to make visible our rejection of the model that continues to prioritize economic profit over life, nature and the well-being of our people,” the platform noted.

A ‘TABLE OF EXPERTS’ AFTER 20A TO “APEASE THEM”

On the other hand, he indicated that after the demonstrations on April 20, the institutions created a ‘table of experts’ to “appease them” although he clarified that the change must come “from the hand of the people who fight in the streets and from its organization and not from empty pacts promoted by those responsible for the collapse.

“Our land and our people cannot take any longer. The current development model is unfair and unsustainable and is taking the Canary Islands to the limit: more roads, more hotels, more tourists, more environmental destruction, more drought, more climate change, more precariousness …we are fighting against an unfair system that endangers the present and future of the islands and we will not stop until we stop it,” they noted.

“Tourist areas are the symbol of the abuse of our resources and the speculation that is destroying our territory. Every hotel, every road, every golf course is a wound to our future and a threat to those of us who defend a sustainable and fair Canary Islands” , highlighted ‘The Canary Islands have a limit’.

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