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Urgent Events: Demonstrations over unsustainable tourism in the Canary Islands

The Canary Islands have seen a steep rise in visitors post-pandemic. Over 14 million foreign tourists visited in 2023, more than the total of two much larger territories Brazil (6m) and Australia (7m). That’s a 24% rise in pre-Covid figures, and 2024 figures look set to be even higher (circa 18 million). Add another 2 million Spanish national visitors, to islands with a population of just 2.2 million.

The Canary Islands offer hugely advantageous terms to foreign investors, with some paying just 4% tax with free repatriation of profits. According to local activists, 70% of the income from tourism here is funnelled abroad even as new hotels go up, fragile landscapes cemented over, and limited resources squandered. The investment in luxury hotels is staggering: in 2023 the Canary Islands received €1.17 billion in hotel investment (the highest in Spain).

But the wages paid are the lowest in Spain (just €1,200 per month on average) and rental prices are rocketing, meaning the average Canarian would need to spend 90% of their salary on a home. One-third of Canarians are at risk of poverty and social exclusion, 65% of them have difficulty making ends meet each month and many can’t afford a home despite having a job.

Some 200,000 Canarian residents protested on the 20th of April and October to make their concerns heard. Frustrated that no progress had been made, they called a further protest six months later on 20 October, this time in tourist areas across all the islands and several cities on the mainland.

Activists want a new tourism model implemented that incorporates their concerns and protects their biodiverse paradise in the Atlantic. GeoTenerife compiles news resources and social media on this developing story below so that locals, students, researchers, journalists and the public alike can access it openly.

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Cite us

Research by Sergio P. Alfaya, GeoTenerife Collaborator, and Ajay Wynne Jones, VolcanoStories Content Coordinator

Key events

  1. On April 20 2024, some 200,000 Canarian people took to the streets to demonstrate against the unsustainable tourism model in the Canary Islands. Activists pointed to over-development putting limited resources under strain, the lowest wages in Spain, and a lack of affordable housing for locals. Despite record tourism numbers, a third of Canarians are at risk of poverty and social exclusion, with some living in cars or caves despite having a job. They called for a moratorium on more hotel buildings and an immediate stop to two contentious luxury resorts in Tenerife: La Tejita and Cuna del Alma. Six people went on hunger strike, and the protesters adopted the “Canarias Se Agota” mantra (The Canaries are Running Out).

    Photo credit Sharon Backhouse, Director of GeoTenerife.
  2. The plenary session of the Parliament of the Canary Islands voted on April 24th regarding multiple measures to mitigate the impacts of the mass-tourism model on the economy, environment, and society. Only one of these proposals was approved: measures to “promote the recovery of island and municipal planning”, and to “promote limitations and fees for non-residents to access protected natural areas”. The latter has informally been referred to as an “Eco-tax”. This “Eco-tax” has been controversial due to worries it will discourage visitors and because it does not charge all tourists who visit the islands but tourists who visit the areas of natural beauty.

  3. To illustrate the extent of the planned construction, our @geointern 2023 local scholar Sergio Alfaya studied the project’s 800-page “Plan Parcial” detailing everything that had been authorised, creating a detailed 3D representation of the proposed Cuna del Alma touristic complex in Puertito de Adeje. The size of the polygons in the model indicates the maximum building height from the highest elevation point in each parcel, assuming a 3-meter rise per floor. This visualization makes it clear how much of the natural landscape will be sacrificed for this project.

    Diagram credit GeoTenerife 2024

  4. On the 11th of August, Salvar El Puertito organised a protest at El Puertito. Protestors stripped the metal fence erected around the Cuna del Alma construction site. Although there has been no immediate response from the Cuna del Alma developers, the president of Tenerife Cabildo, Rosa Davila, was interviewed the day after the protects in El Puertito and said It is essential to review the current economic model so that the benefits of tourism revert to the citizens.” 

    However, in response, employees, allegedly tore out the protected species Echium Triste on the 13th of August, in response to the protests. This was later denounced by the activist group Salvar La Tejita.

    Photo credit Ignacio Garcia, GeoTenerife.

  5. The Adeje City Council officially granted the building permit for the Cuna del Alma tourism project, allowing construction to begin in El Puertito, south of Tenerife. The mayor of Adeje, José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga, set an 18-month deadline for the start of construction and a 48-month timeframe for the project’s completion 

     

    (Canarian Weekly, 2024).

  6. Puertito de Adeje becomes a site of geologic interest by IGME

    Through the collaborative research campaign between GeoTenerife and GeoTenerife affiliated students, international researchers, and local experts we were able to demonstrate the geological importance of Puertito de Adeje. The outcrops of the ignimbrite in this location record a type of rare volcanic activity and are of great importance for understanding and mitigating volcanic risk in possible future explosive eruptions in Tenerife. Over 1000 residents have volunteered to sponsor this rock through IGME ‘Adopt a rock’ initiative. Read more here:

    Photo credit Natalia Puche-Polo, VolcanoStories collaborator.

  7. Six months after the record-breaking demonstration on April 20th thousands returned to the streets for #20-O. Despite many political comments agreeing with the sentiment of earlier protests, activists complained no comprehensive measures have been implemented. Instead of the hotel moratorium they called for, several new luxury complexes have been given the green light. The Tenerife president fast-tracked an “eco-tax” but protesters say it’s an entrance fee to Masca Gorge, not the global tourist tax they are fighting for. Further anger was stoked as the Cuna del Alma project was given official building permits. Local press put the number of protesters at 8,000, but our drone shots point to around 30,000 in Playa de las Américas.

    Photo credit Adriana Ariza Pardo MarineSciCamp student 2024

Foundations and organisations

Canarias Se Agota, is a collective which has been centred during the discussion of the 20A protests, Canarias Se Agota demonstrates and calls for action for “the Ecological and Social Regeneration of the Archipelago”. The demands of the movement are:

Foundations across the Canary Islands have joined to form SOS Canarias and to publish an open draft proposal for policy action, with the aims of protecting the natural heritage of the islands, increasing the archipelago’s sovereignty, and improving the quality of life of the residents. Access the original document and translated English document below.

The Canarias Palante participatory process is a coalition of 75 organizations and foundations from across the Canary Islands. They are requesting that a representative of the Canarias Palante be allowed to participate in future negotiations with the relevant administrations about the tourism model of the island. This participation will help to ensure that the people’s desires are taken into account during the negotiations. Canariaspalante is a platform that allows the citizens of the Canary Islands to voice their opinions through an online form where the locals can suggest ideas that will be considered at the negotiation table.

Timeline of News articles and social media

ALL

19 Nov, 2024 - 2:00 PM

Cuna del Alma – Protestor chained themself to a digger

Newspaper article

Cuna del Alma

A young man chained himself to one of the diggers on the Cuna del Alma site causing the construction works to be temporarily suspended. After several hours of this protest, he voluntarily came off the digger and was subsequently arrested.

19 Nov, 2024 - 2:00 PM

Cuna del Alma – Two thousand sponsors of El Puertito’s geology

Newspaper article

Cuna del Alma

The LIG IC4049 Ignimbrites and Pleistocene Plinian fall deposits from Puertito de Adeje has now been sponsored by over 2,000 people. THIS IS A DECISIVE MOMENT FOR EL PUERTITO as IGME is lobbying the Government of the Canary Islands and ‘beyond’ to protect it. You can learn more about this site on the Spanish Inventory of Sites of Geological Interest here, or sponsor the area’s geology here, We need to be many more! A free and beautiful way to raise our voice for the Puertito we want.

07 Nov, 2024 - 2:00 PM

Cuna del Alma – Barrier around the proposed resort expands

Newspaper article

Cuna del Alma

“We were in Puertito de Adeje researching with @MarineSciCamp today and saw @topoteopozo once again standing guard over Guanche heritage in the area. The Cuna del Alma resort has restarted installing its barrier here, pouring cement and planting posts in the very volcanic deposits recently included in the Spanish National Catalogue of Sites of Geological Interest with a high designation for protection by @igme1849.”

(GeoTenerife, 2024)

28 Oct, 2024 - 2:00 PM

Demonstration – AtanTenerife analysis of media headlines and the pro-tourism perspecive they appear to take

Social media post

Demonstration

AtanTenerife collects the headlines of local Canarian papers and displays te deliberate language used which paints the protestors in a negative light. AtanTenerife shows how more positive perspectives such as the friendly conversations between tourists and demonstrators are not being published. Furthermore, AtanTenerife points out the selective outrage of the media.

Thread regarding media framing of the 20O demonstration by AtanTenerife posted on Instagram
22 Oct, 2024 - 12:00 PM

Demonstration – Twitter user comparing the photos being used to represent the demonstrations

Social media post

Demonstration

“The photo they used yesterday as the front page/the photo they could have used. Journalism? #CanariasTimeisLimited”

Some traditional media have used the first image provided to feed the narrative that the protests were aggressive/confrontational towards the holiday-makers.

Twitter user compares the photos being used to represent the demonstrations

GeoTenerife's press release and comments

Puertito de Adeje sponsored by 1000 people

<p>Thank you! We are over 1,000 sponsors helping to highlight the geology of Puertito de Adeje in Te

Press release: Puertito de Adeje becomes a site of geologic interest

<p>After several field campaigns, in association with a variety of experts and students, GeoTenerif

Plunder for profit

<p>Canarians are taking to the streets on 20 April to protest against a model of tourism that impove

GeoTenerife, interviewed by GBN, about the Cuna del Alma project. This video is a part of GeoTenerife’s Sustainable Tourism project.
GeoTenerife, interviewed by ITV, about the Cuna del Alma project. This video is a part of GeoTenerife’s Sustainable Tourism project.
Sharon Backhouse (Director of GeoTenerife), interviewed by LBC, regarding the protests across the Canary Islands on April 20th.