A British couple have described how they think the Spanish island is different today.
Tenerife: Locals and ex-pats react to upcoming protests
A British couple have said that Tenerife is a “special” place for them, and they will be spending their 60th wedding anniversary on the Spanish island next year despite the massive changes they’ve noticed in the holiday hotspot. James Nairn, 78, a retired insulation engineer, and his wife Georgina, also 78, a seamstress who specialises in bridal and casualwear, were relaxing at the English Rose bar on the Playa de la Américas. The couple from West Derby in Liverpool have been coming to Tenerife for 30 years, usually twice a year. But, since they became pensioners, they have made just the one annual trip.
“We’d be lost without a holiday like this,” Mrs Nairn said. But the area has changed over the years, the Liverpudlians observed – and there’s one thing in particular they’re not too happy about.
“Everywhere you go now, everything’s double the price,” Mr Nairn told the Express.
Georgina mentioned that a price of a gin and tonic had gone up in particular, to about €7.50 now.
Couple James and Georgina have been coming to Tenerife for 30 years (Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)
Georgina describes Tenerife as a ‘special place’ (Image: Tim Merry)
She added: “They’re giving you bottle of lemonade, and it costs more money. It used to be on draft.”
Her husband mentioned that more venues used to sell Carling, and now there’s more of a focus on local beers, which actually tend to be cheaper.
Nevertheless, he sticks with the British brew because he prefers it. “I’m not being biased,” he said. “It’s just what I’m used to.”
Overall, though, the island has definitely been “upgraded”, the couple thinks, as bars have “changed hands” and “modernised”.
Georgina said: “I love it here. The different hotels, different character.”
She mentioned in particular that they used to drop in on a pub down the road many a time over the years, but it has since changed.
Protesters took to the streets of Santa Cruz, the island’s capital, the day after.
The Express asked asked the pensioners what they thought.
James said: “Personally, I don’t like what they’re doing. Ordinary tourists like me and my wife, we give more to the economy.
“We’ve only come for a holiday. They’ve shot themselves in the foot. Many people are employed in hotels – they’d be out of work. They’re going after their own people.”
During Covid, Tenerife’s tourist areas “suffered a lot”, he added.
Georgina said: “It’s a special place, we know the area very well. We can understand where they come from. But we help them.”
