Overtourism around the world has led to taxes and bylaws to protect local environments and heritage, and even the installation in some places of guerilla signage asking tourists to stay away. But in one of the most extreme reactions to overtourism seen so far, Canary Island residents are threatening to undertake a hunger strike to protest the negative impacts of the islands’ popularity with visitors.
Tourism 40% up
The archipelago has always been an attractive destination thanks to its all-season temperate climes, but tourist arrivals to Spain’s autonomous community in the Atlantic Ocean have rocketed by 40% over the last decade, from 11.5 million to 16 million.
The result, some islanders say, is an environmental disaster, with golf courses, swimming pools and other tourist developments sucking up huge amounts of water in an era when water shortages are becoming more frequent.
And it’s not just the over-exploitation of natural resources that locals are complaining about. The high volume of tourists is, they say, pushing residents out of housing and even making food unaffordable. Certain citizens are being forced to sleep in their cars and even in caves, due to being priced out of the market, say some.
The Canaries have a limit
One pressure group called Canarias Se Agota (which has also become a hashtag on social media) called for a hunger strike starting last Thursday and suggested in a Facebook post that people could show their support for the cause by forming a human chain to send “a strong message to the government: The Canary Islands are not willing to continue sacrificing their future.”
Other protests are also planned, including one on 20 April to raise awareness of the “environmental and social collapse” of the islands. “It’s time to demand a change in approach and to shout, once more, from all of the islands, that the Canaries have a limit,” said Ecologists in Action.
Common guidelines
Island authorities are facing the same dilemma as numerous other destinations around the world: how to balance the economic imperative for tourism with a version of the industry that is sustainable and meets the needs of those who live there all year round. Jéssica de León, the Canaries’ regional Minister for Tourism and Employment, has already taken action to introduce new rules about holiday lets and is establishing “a committee of experts to establish common guidelines,” she said in a statement.
Bringing together politicians, academics and citizens the intention is to develop a tourism strategy that works for all.
