The demonstrations in the Canary Islands held this Sunday to request that the scheme of tourism growth They took place completely normally and with a smaller number of attendees in the tourist areas where they were held. The platforms gathered under the name ‘The Canary Islands have a limit’ They expressed their protest in various locations in the Canary Islands and other cities in Spain as well as Europe. against the current tourism model and development that, according to them, is leading the archipelago to an unsustainable collapse. Since the first demonstration prior to the 2024 European elections, the governing Canarian party, Canarian Coalition (CC), has accelerated his speech, part of the solutions he offers to activists depend on state financing and this Tuesday the Canary Islands president, Fernando Clavijo, who suffered colds at home and even went on a hunger strike, meets in Madrid with the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montoro.
Last April, the PP and the Canarian Coalition, objects of the anger of the protesters who have what remains of Podemos on the islands and some sectors of the Canarian PSOE, which has governed the main tourist municipalities of Tenerife for decades, launched a series of debates in reaction and one of the conclusions is place tax barriers on the purchase of houses by foreigners also develop measures that stop the presence of foreigners on the islands. These fiscal barriers must be defended by Spain before the European Commission with the argument of the remoteness of the Canary Islands from the EU. The CEO of the largest tour operator in the Canary Islands, TUI, Sebastian Ebel, has expressed understanding towards these protests because “without a doubt we should take it seriously, because we would feel the same” since “these protests are directed against certain excessive issues such as rising rents and lack of living space, rising housing prices and traffic volumes.
For the European jurist Carlos Alonso (CC), former president of Tenerife, the idea of imposing tax burdens on those who intend to settle on the islands that discourage them and that, initially, it seems impossible that it could be combined with European regulations, is possible. Since it could be possible to get those authorized deterrent taxes “as long as they do not affect intra-community exchanges”, he opined, stating, in conclusion, that this initiative, “therefore, would be viable, so that “Whoever arrives in the Canary Islands has to contribute more.” The Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) in its article 63 prohibits restrictions on the movement of capital related to the acquisition of real estate, including homes, by non-resident EU nationals.
In addition to different Canarian tourist areas this weekend there were concentrations in the Plaza de Colón in Barcelona, on the Beach of Valencia City Hall, in the Plaza Nueva in Granada, in Ópera, Madrid, and Berlin. From ‘Canarias has a limit’, they explain that these mobilizations seek to denounce a development model that they consider unfair and destructive for the archipelago. According to the platform, the protests are a response to the demonstrations that took place on April 20, after which the institutions proposed the creation of a panel of experts which, in the words of the organization, only sought to appease the protesters.
The organization denounces that the current tourism model is taking the Canary Islands to a critical limit, affecting both the environment and the local economy and the quality of life of residents. “Our land and our people can’t take it anymore,” they emphasize. In addition, they add that the growth of infrastructure, such as roads, hotels and golf courses, is increasing problems such as drought, climate change and environmental destruction, while making the employment and living conditions of the islanders precarious. The organization points out that it is not only important that local authorities listen to their demands, but they also want those who choose the Canary Islands as a tourist destination to understand that the current model is, in their words, unsustainable and harmful to the region.
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