A British sustainable tourism expert has joined a campaign to save a protected area of Tenerife from hotel development, as thousands staged anti-tourism protests in holiday resorts across the Canary Islands.
As Britons headed out for the half-term holidays, demonstrators gathered in Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, El Hierro, and La Palma.
On Playa de las Américas in Tenerife, they appeared on the beach, where tourists were sunbathing, and chanted: “This beach is ours.”
Under the slogan “Canary Islands has a limit,” activists blamed mass tourism for pricing locals out of the housing market, draining resources such as water, and causing environmental damage. Authorities reported that at least 8,000 people participated.
Sharon Backhouse, who owns GeoTenerife, a science, training, and research company, is fighting to save a protected area of Puertito de Adeje in Tenerife, which she says is threatened by the Cuna del Alma hotel development.
After local authorities granted permission to begin construction in September, the Spanish Geological Survey (IGME) declared the area a Site of Geological Interest, describing it as “high priority for protection” due to its volcanic deposits.
The Canary Islands government may now halt the hotel development.
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