Mass tourism in the Canary Islands: Protests split the islands!

Mass tourism in the Canary Islands: Protests split the islands!

On Sunday, May 19, 2025, protests against mass tourism took place on the Canary Islands. The demonstrations were under the motto "Canaria's Tiene Un Límite" ("The Canary Islands have a border") and were initiated on several islands at 11 a.m. Despite the great mobilization, the government information stated a number of 23,190 people, while the organizers estimated the number of participants at around 90,000, including 300 in Madrid. According to the organizers, around 15,000 people gathered in Tenerife, while the police only registered 9,000.

demands of the demonstrators

The initiators of the protests criticize that politics ignore their demands despite the high participation. The most important concerns include a sustainable change in the tourism model, control of the number of tourists and a stop of illegal construction projects. Helena Espinosa from Atan emphasized the overload of the islands, while Felipe Ravina denounced the unchecked population growth and implementation of illegal projects. The demonstrators called for the demolition of illegal buildings and a moratorium for hotel and holiday apartments.

Further claims outline different aspects such as a residence law, the expansion of renewable energies, the protection of nature and the introduction of an effective tourist tax. There is also a matter of restoring ecosystems, promoting nutritional and energy sovereignty and rejecting large projects.

background information

Mass tourism has led to a massive increase in visitor numbers on the Canary Islands in recent years, where around 14 million foreign tourists, primarily from Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, were welcomed last year. There were also about 2 million visitors from the Spanish mainland. Although this has a significant economic relevance, since the tourism sector constitutes around 35% of the Canary Islands and provides 40% of the jobs, but it has also led to social and ecological problems.

The Canary Islands are considered the second most souvenir autonomous community in Spain, which intensifies the debates about mass tourism and its effects on the quality of life of the residents. It can be observed that the number of protests against tourism in all of Spain has increased in recent months. The population of the Canary Islands is around 2.2 million, which classifies the large number of protesters in a clear social context.

In contrast to the information from the organizers, reports from Tagesschau Different number of participants, which indicates a divergence between police estimates and the information from the organizers.