Spanish Resort Residents Plan Hunger Strike Against Overtourism

Residents in the Canary Islands, a Spanish autonomous island complex in the Atlantic, have launched protests, including a hunger strike, in a backlash against overtourism.

Campaigners say the unsustainable influx of visitors is ruining life in the holiday hotspot. One activist group on the island of Tenerife has planned a hunger strike over the construction of two new hotels. Others report locals sleeping in cars and caves due to soaring house prices.

In 2023, the archipelago attracted 14.1 million foreign visitors, a record for the island group.

Demonstrators in Tenerife have organized a hunger strike next week over two new hotel developments. Authorities had halted work on Hotel La Tejita and Cuna del Alma in Tenerife’s Puertito de Adeje over environmental breaches but construction has recently resumed.

Tenerife locals say life on the island is 'COLLAPSING' due to tourism https://t.co/qVma7ReHMG via @MailOnline

— CANDY (@CANDY38948483) April 9, 2024

Canarias Se Agota (Canaries Sold Out) also plans to hold demonstrations on 20 April in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and La Palma under the tagline ‘The Canaries have a limit’.

Canarias se exhausta (The Canary Islands are exhausted) is another key group behind the plans for the islands-wide protests.

“We in these islands have always been very welcoming to tourists. But we want more sustainable tourism,” Ruben Zerpa, of Canaries Sold Out, told the UK-based Independent newspaper.

“Tenerife is a small island with limited resources. The roads are overwhelmed with traffic, there is a hydraulic emergency going on and hotels are full.”

Overtourism on Canary Island increases rental prices

Zerpa added that tourism has forced up rental prices making it unaffordable for many local residents.

“I earn about €900 and live with my partner but the rent is €800 per month. That is Santa Cruz, which is not even one of the most expensive parts of the island,” he said.

Ivan Cerdena Molina, who is helping organize the protests, told local news outlet The Olive Press that locals are being forced to sleep in their cars and even caves as housing gets snapped up by tourism operators.

“We have nothing against individual tourists but the industry is growing and growing and using up so many resources and the island cannot cope,” he said.

“Airbnb and Booking.com are like a cancer that is consuming the island bit by bit.”

Greece faces a similar problem

Short-term holiday rentals have caused housing shortages and rent increases in cities around the world. The impact has been significant in many places in Greece, especially in Athens and the Greek Islands.

Anna Theodorakis, a local resident who was forced out of her home in Metaxourgio, Athens, recently told France24: “I think the answer is to go in the streets and block everything and just not do something because people are losing their homes. It is very depressing.”

Theodorakis expressed her concern over the rising number of Airbnbs, stating that they were “wiping out the traditional places” and lamenting that she felt like “a foreigner in my own country”.

For many families whose household incomes were battered during the crisis, the ability to take advantage of Greece’s tourism industry and make some extra money through rental sites has provided a lifeline.

But for those likely to be living in rented accommodation – such as single or divorced people, students, seasonal workers or doctors and teachers in temporary postings – these platforms’ popularity is causing housing shortages and pushing rents up.

In addition, a recent report by Europa Nostra warned overtourism in the Cycladic islands of Greece threatens their integrity.

The Cyclades, renowned for their unique charm and rich culture, find themselves grappling with a myriad of challenges it says are caused by unchecked construction.

Related: Acropolis Among Worst Destinations for Overtourism as per CNN