Demand for Financial Compensation from Tenerife Hiking Participants - Hiking enthusiasts on Tenerife Island, Canaries, urged to contribute financially for trail maintenance
The Canary Islands are grappling with the adverse effects of mass tourism, with residents in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, and Fuerteventura recently staging protests against the influx of visitors. Approximately 7,000 demonstrators in Tenerife, 3,000 in Gran Canaria, 1,500 in Lanzarote, and 1,000 in Fuerteventura voiced their concerns over the environmental degradation, housing shortages, and rising costs of living.
The call for action was initiated by the platform "The Canary Islands Have a Limit," which advocates for rent control and a halt to new tourist facilities. They argue that the current tourism model unfairly benefits investors at the expense of the environment and local population, particularly with regards to escalating rental prices.
The authorities on Tenerife are addressing the issues caused by mass tourism by limiting the number of visitors to popular attractions like Anaga and restricting the number of tourist buses. Moreover, an entry fee is set to be implemented for visitors to the Teide, Spain's highest peak, aimed at reducing littering and protecting the national park. The exact fee has yet to be determined.
From 2026, private traffic will be restricted on the Teide, with electric shuttles transporting visitors instead. This follows the world's first solar-powered Teide cable car, which already exists.
The Canary Islands welcomed 4.26 million foreign visitors in the first quarter, with a new record expected this year. The boom in tourism is not exclusive to the Canary Islands, as Spain as a whole experienced a 5.7% increase in international guests from January to March 2025.
With growing concerns over the social, environmental, and economic impacts of mass tourism, the demonstrators' demands are geared towards sustainable development and ensuring that tourism benefits both the local community and the environment. The proposed solutions include rent control, visitor fees/eco-taxes, stricter regulations on home purchases by non-residents, and a temporary suspension of authorizations for new hotel rooms and vacation homes.
- The "The Canary Islands Have a Limit" platform, concerned about the impact of mass tourism on small and medium-sized undertakings in the community, such as housing shortages, environmental degradation, and rising costs of living, advocates for rent control and a halt to new tourist facilities, believing that the current tourism model unfairly benefits investors at the expense of the environment and local population, particularly with regards to escalating rental prices.
- The demonstrators' demands for sustainable development in The Canary Islands extend beyond rent control, as they propose solutions like visitor fees/eco-taxes, stricter regulations on home purchases by non-residents, temporary suspensions of authorizations for new hotel rooms and vacation homes, and financing these initiatives via funds earned from the proposed IFE (Imposto Fórmula Empresarial) or business finance model and revenue generated from the tourism sector, aiming to ensure that tourism benefits both the local community and the environment, promoting a balanced lifestyle and business environment.
