British tourists may soon be required to fork out a tourist tax when heading to Tenerife and the other Canary Islands.
Not long before residents in Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and other holiday hotspots took their frustration at overtourism to the street, the President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, indicated he was willing to listen to their plea.
Mr Clavijo said on Friday: “It is true that the ecotax is not included in the government programme, but it is also true that we are willing to discuss it; the government will always engage in dialogue.”
The local government had planned to introduce a tourist tax in the Canary Islands in 2021, but the project was scrapped as the tourism sector was still reeling from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and authorities didn’t want to further burden it.
As residents on the archipelago are voicing their concerns for the future of their islands and tourist arrivals are surpassing historical records, the government appears to be considering once again the fee.
The senator of the PSOE in the Canary Islands, José Antonio Valbuena, rejected concerns a tourist tax would push tourists to choose other locations.
He said: “Do they honestly believe that a tourist who spends an average of €1,500 [£1294] during their holiday will stop coming because, for example, we charge them €27 [£23.29] more when they arrive at the hotel?”
The seven main Canary Islands are home to around 2.2 million people. Last year, the archipelago welcomed nearly 14 million international tourists – 5.6 million of which headed to Tenerife.
Tenerife, a destination particularly loved by British tourists, hosted a massive demonstration on Saturday, which one of its organisers claimed was attended by around 120,000 people.
The protest took place on the island’s capital, Santa Cruz, and saw tens of thousands chanting the Canaries “have a limit”.
Its organisers stressed they don’t have tourists and that the demonstration was aimed at tourism giants and the local government, to make them understand the current tourism model is no longer sustainable.
The protesters lamented the huge waves of tourists reaching the islands are placing its natural resources, environment and infrastructure under huge strain.
Moreover, the ever-growing number of hotels and tourist rentals is pushing up the prices of mortgages and rents to levels that many locals cannot afford.
Ahead of the march, some tourists have acknowledged and understood the issues presented by the protesters, while others lamented that without tourists Tenerife’s economy would struggle.
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