#Overtourism #environment #damaged #citizens #threatened #poverty
Tenerife –
The Canary Islands are one of the attractions of Spanish tourism. Its beautiful beaches are the reason tourists flock here.
Last year, 48 million tourists visited the island and half of them were British. Even British tourists have been warned not to travel to the Canary Islands including popular spots such as Lanzarote and Tenerife.
Popular tourist destinations there include Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma, Fuerteventura and El Hierro.
Reporting from Mirror, Tuesday (13/2/2024) the crowds had a negative impact on the environmental conditions of the Canaries and local residents. Despite the booming tourism industry, Spanish authorities fear increasing poverty and a decline in the local population’s living standards. As residents struggle to afford increasingly expensive homes in the regions most sought after by tourists, namely Tenerife and Lanzarote.
Fernando Clavijo, president of the Canary Islands government, acknowledged that tourism is the archipelago’s leading industry. He called on the tourism sector to support other industries such as agriculture, and increase wages to better distribute wealth.
He added that around 36% of the island’s population (around 780,000 people) are at risk of poverty and social exclusion. Surprisingly, they realized that ‘the poor are getting poorer, the rich are getting richer’.
Clavijo emphasized that the tourism sector must be aware that they have a responsibility to society. Remembering that they exploit nature which truly belongs to everyone.
Another view was expressed by Casimiro Curbelo, president of the Cabildo de La Gomera, which is responsible for landscape and forestry on the islands. He does not want to change the current tourism model but wants to improve it to be sustainable.
He believes it is surprising that the tourism sector in the Canary Islands continues to grow stronger, while people are getting poorer. He said it was important to find out ‘what went wrong’.
Curbelo added that there is no need to change the tourism model, but it needs to be improved to be more competitive and sustainable. He urged the president to work together with public institutions to address the structural deficits of poverty and unemployment.
Experts warn against environmental damage
Spanish urban planning experts warn that the beautiful island can no longer afford to receive more tourists. With too many tourists coming, massive exploitation of the island is inevitable.
Not only the quality, but the quantity of development also causes the island to be critical.
“The Canary Islands region has been overexploited. We have exceeded the region’s carrying capacity by seven times, resulting in a scenario of systemic collapse due to the structure of urban development,” said Eugenio Reyes of the Ben Magec-Ecologists in Action campaign group.
Experts warn that the Canary Islands may experience the same thing as Barcelona, with too many buildings for tourists and displacing local residents. They say this could make life difficult for the people living there and harm public services.
The Ben Magec-Ecologistas en Accion group says there are too many tourists on the Canary Islands. They want restrictions on tourists to help nature and local residents. Also, they consider all waste and use of resources to have a negative impact on the plants and animals on the island.
Earlier this month, two academics at the University of Las Palmas spoke about the threats facing holiday destinations in the Canary Islands. These include a huge waste problem, a chronic housing shortage, and chaos on the streets.
Although they are frank about the problems caused by tourism, academics explain that the Canarian population continues to welcome visitors from all over the world as usual.
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(sym/wsw)
