Wish you weren’t here!
Tenerife locals say too many tourists pushing up rents
HOLIDAYMAKERS in Tenerife for Easter have been confronted with anti-tourist graffiti by locals telling them to “go home”.
Canary Islands residents are “fed-up” with British tourists who “drink cheap beer, lie in the sun” and eat low-quality food.
They say Airbnbs push up the cost of accommodation for locals while the seasonal influx of holidaymakers brings noise, pollution and hurts wildlife.
A group on the Spanish holiday island wants measures to control tourists with higher taxes and stricter controls for visitors.
Messages read “tourists go home” and “too many guiris” – a Spanish slang word for foreigners. One poster said: “Locals are forced to move out and YOU are responsible for that. Digital nomads, you are NOT welcome here.” But some expats are fighting back with one message in English scribbled next to the slogans saying: “**** off, we pay your wages.”
A locals protest march – planned for today in capital Santa Cruz – is dubbed “Salvar La Tejita” or Save La Tejita, referring to a beach by a nature reserve. A second demonstration is scheduled for April 20.
Another poster states the location “has a limit” and that they will campaign for “conservation of natural spaces, a tourist moratorium and tougher regulation for foreigners buying property”.
Ivan Cerdena Molina, 36, from local conservation group ATAN, said: “It’s a crisis. People are living in their cars and even in caves, and locals can’t eat, drink or live well. Airbnb and Booking.com are like a cancer consuming the island. The benefits of the industry are not trickling down to everyday people.”
Local painter Vicky Colomer, 63, said: “It’s like everything is made for British and German tourists who drink cheap beer, lie in the sun and eat burgers.
“We need tourists who want to experience our culture and food and respect our nature.This was a paradise, now it’s not. We must reduce flights and focus on bringing in higher-quality people.”
Airbnb said: “We want to help communities with the challenges of mass tourism and have invested in tech to help divert bookings away from Europe’s most saturated hotspots.”