Tenerife will introduce new tourist tax in blow for Brits after furious locals protest over ‘downmarket’ visitors
BRITS will now be hit with a new tourist tax in Tenerife after locals demanded a freeze on holidaymakers in mass anti-tourism protests.
The Canary Islands is now set to adopt measures to regulate the number of visitors while charging tourists a daily cost for visiting the archipelago.
This latest proposal – known as eco tax – is part of the island’s new tourism strategy being drafted by the government of Canary Islands.
The island’s council today confirmed that the new tax system will come in effect from January 1, 2025, as residents of Tenmerife demand a cut on holidaymakers.
The tax will be applied to all the famous nature sites that are protected, including the volcano Mount Teide, hamlets like Masca and several rural parks.
Officials say the new charge will help to protect and control the island’s natural spaces.
And income generated will be spent to maintain and improve these spaces.
While the amount of money charged has not been confirmed yet, it is undtersdoot that locals visiting such tourist attracts will also have to pay the tax.
An angry anti-tourist movement has been gaining momentum throughout the popular holiday hotspot islands in recent months.
Politicians are under immense pressure after tens of thousands of angry residents took to the streets to rage against the tourism industry in the country.
Locals have been fuming that they are “fed-up” with “low quality” Brit tourists who only come for the cheap beer, burgers and sunbathing.
President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, previously warned that a daily cost for visitors could be on the table.
While not included in current plans, Clavijo said the government is willing to look at suggestions of a three euro per night charge.
And just days ago, Rosa Dávila, the first female president of Tenerife, proposed a new tourism model that would charge visitors a fee to access natural spaces.
She also proposed measures to “modulate” the number of tourists arriving in Tenerife – and “study the impact of demographic growth.
She said after the mass protests: “We must analyze the exceptionalities that can be applied in a territory as fragile and limited as ours. What is clear is that Tenerife cannot be a theme park.
“Those who visit us have to value and respect our natural and cultural wealth, our resources, and they have to be clear about the rules for their preservation.
“In addition, there have to be limits to prevent tourism from overflowing.”
MASS PROTESTS
Residents of the Canary Islands seem to be at war with UK holidaymakers as they blast visitors with anti-tourism graffiti and emerging local campaigns.
On Saturday, thousands of people took to the streets today in Tenerife to demand restrictions on holidaymakers after telling Brits to “go home”.
The anti-tourist hordes filled a square in the capital brandishing banners including some that read “You enjoy we suffer” in English.
More than 15,000 people waved Canary Islands’ flags and blew horns to make a deafening noise in the capital Santa Cruz.
Protests also took place at the same time in other popular Canary Islands including Lanzarote and Gran Canaria.
Banners at the mass protest today read: “Where is the money from tourism?” and “‘Tourist moratorium now.”
The marches were organised under the slogan “The Canary Islands have a limit.”
Anti-tourist protestors want the authorities to paralyse two projects including one which involves the construction of a five-star hotel by one of Tenerife’s last virgin beaches.
They are also looking for more protection from mass tourism – to help with the local environment, traffic and housing issues.
Other demands include the protection of natural spaces, a tourist tax and better working conditions for hotel cleaners, who joined today’s protest in Santa Cruz as they insisted to the local press: “We are not slaves.”
Organisers claim the march hit up to 50,000 participators.
Six more capmaigners are still on hunger strike – and public sit-ins are still being organised to support them, the DailyMail reports.
Why are locals in Tenerife turning up against Brits?
RESIDENTS of the largest Canary Island seem to be at war with UK holidaymakers as they blast visitors with anti-tourism graffiti and emerging local campaigns.
Locals have been fuming that they are “fed-up” with “low quality” Brit tourists who only come for the cheap beer, burgers and sunbathing.
Now, they are demanding a tourist tax, fewer flights to the island and a clampdown on foreigners buying houses.
Some protesters are claiming that their anger is directed at the government rather than tourists as they ask for change.
They claim that AirBnBs and other holiday rentals are driving up the cost of living and that they are sick of the noise, traffic and rubbish that accompany the avalanche of vacationers that visit every year.
Jaime Coello, president of the Telesforo Bravo Foundation, said: “The quality of the tourist product is being destroyed by the investors and the regional government.”
Waves of anti-tourist graffiti that has been sprayed across the island to tell Brits they are not welcome.
Bitter messages outside tourism hotspots read “your paradise, our misery” and “tourists go home”.
“Locals are forced to move out and YOU are responsible for that,” said a furious printed sign.
Another read: “Tourists go home!”
The brewing chaos coupled with hatred for visitors is now scaring Brit tourists to go on a vacation in Tenerife.
And Jorge Marichal, a hotel chain boss in Tenerife, revealed that Brits were ringing up out of fear they would not be safe on their holidays to the island.
He said: “One of the problems I am facing is that clients are beginning to call and ask what’s happening here and whether it’s safe.”
While the hotel owner said he understands the pain of local people, he added that being “anti-tourist” is not the way to go in.