EXCLUSIVE: Locals in the Canary Islands are angry that visitor numbers have increased despite their fervent opposition.
Protesters took to the beaches of Tenerife back in October to complain about the influx of tourists (Image: Getty)
Anti-tourism protesters in Tenerife have revealed they will be out in force again this summer after visitor numbers to the island leapt by two million last year.
Demonstrations by Canary Islands natives began in 2024 with tens of thousands taking to the streets and calling for changes on the basis that the archipelago was “reaching its limit”.
Those actions deliberately focused on areas that were not dependent on tourism, like the capital of Tenerife, Santa Cruz, and predominantly took place before visitor numbers were peaking.
However, protesters’ frustration at the island’s leadership’s “lack of action” prompted them to change their approach. In October, demonstrators targeted tourist hotspots beloved by Brits, like Playa De Las Americas, in an effort to spark policy changes limiting visitor numbers and second homes.
Although the first wave of protests made headlines internationally, they did nothing to stop hordes of foreigners descending on the Canary Islands.
Angry protests have continued since they started last year (Image: Getty)
Ivan Cerdena Molina, an activist within the protest movement and a member of the local environmental organisation ATAN, expressed frustration that last year, despite the protests, more tourists came to his homeland than in the previous 12 months.
“We had 16 million tourists [in the Canaries] in 2023 and 18 million in 2024,” he told the Express. In 2025, the number is increasing again. The government didn’t do anything; it just spoke nice words with no real action.”
Asked what his message was to Brits planning a trip to the Canaries this year, Molina was blunt.
“The situation is really critical, no one who wants to enjoy holidays with peace would come to a collapsed and congested island, it’s simple there are too many people everywhere,” he said.
“Local people are really tired and angry, they are showing it. If we can ask something, it would be, please don’t come, we cannot take it anymore.”
Molina and his fellow activists revealed they were planning another massive protest at the beginning of peak season in the island’s tourist areas.
In a press release announcing the action for May 18, the collection of organisations operating under the banner “the Canaries have a limit” said they were upping the anti.
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Numbers heading to Tenerife grew by another two million last year (Image: Getty)
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“From now on, we will take our fight to the very spaces where their predatory model is perpetuated,” they stated.
“We will boycott public events, confront political leaders during their appearances and occupy symbolic tourist spaces to make it clear that we will not stop until real change is achieved.”
The first of these events is due to take place on May 18, with protests also planned on other islands.
“The Canary Islands can no longer be a postcard backdrop for the enjoyment of a privileged few,” they added.
“We are the voice of those who reject false progress at the cost of widespread precarity.
“We are the Canarian people — a people who will not give up until we achieve the change we deserve. On May 18, the fight continues in the streets. What comes next will be impossible to ignore.”
