SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, May 19. (EUROPE PRESS) –
Almost a dozen social and environmental groups call this Saturday, at 11:30 am in the municipality of Arona, a demonstration in which they demand the application of a moratorium, an eco-tax and a residence law.
Under the slogan ‘Canary Islands is no longer a paradise. For a change of model’, the march will start at 11:30 am from the car park located next to the Metropolis to continue along the coastal promenade until it reaches La Pescadora square in Los Cristianos.
The conveners assure that the island “is completely collapsed, with the coast full of spills –more than 200–, kilometric traffic jams throughout the island, destruction and occupation of the coastal strip, new hotels and luxury developments that will continue to worsen this situation of collapse and environmental deterioration”.
Regarding the moratorium, they assure that the objective is to “stop” hotel occupancy, prohibiting the construction of more tourist beds in hotels, apartments and other infrastructures for tourism.
In his opinion, “mass tourism has destroyed numerous natural spaces throughout the archipelago, and the degradation of many others, due to the unsustainable pressure exerted by the 13 million tourists who visit the islands each year.”
In the case of southern Tenerife, they indicate, “the cetacean population suffers chronic stress due to the great tourist pressure in the area.”
The protesters point out in a joint statement that “this type of tourism causes irreparable damage to the natural and cultural heritage of the Canary Islands, therefore, to ensure the conservation of these unique values, this moratorium is proposed, followed by a reduction plan, in order to be able to bet on quality tourism, which with its visit contributes to the conservation of the archipelago and not the opposite, which is what is currently happening”.
Regarding the ecotax, they assure that it would be applied to all tourists who visit the islands and the collection would be used “only” for the protection, conservation and regeneration of the natural spaces of the archipelago.
Among some measures that are proposed is a considerable increase in environmental surveillance, the regeneration of degraded natural spaces or creating ecological corridors that connect natural spaces with each other, “since this is the only way to protect biodiversity effectively.”
OVERPOPULATION, AN “ENVIRONMENTAL THREAT”
Regarding the residence law, they point out that overpopulation “is a major environmental threat” for the natural environment of the Canary Islands and is leading a large part of the archipelago “to a situation of depletion of resources and, therefore, of crisis social”.
Along these lines, they state that the destruction of the territory, the increase in housing costs and the scarcity of resources “are some of its most notable consequences” so that if the resident population “continues to grow uncontrollably, this situation will be increasingly serious and unsustainable “.
With this measure, they point out, “it is intended to limit the establishment of all those people who come to live here by choice, to enjoy the islands or the purchase of second homes.”
This measure, they emphasize, “is especially important because of all the housing developments that are planned, and that are destroying hectares of natural spaces for the enjoyment of people with high purchasing power.”
In the current context, they continue, continuing to increase the population “does not make any ecological or social sense.”
