The Vice President and Tourism councillor of the Tenerife Island Council, Lope Afonso, rejects the implementation of the so-called “eco-tax”: “The island and Canary Islands, in general, do not need a new tax that burdens tourist overnight stays and would also have to be paid by Canarians, but action is needed where there are congestion and disorder issues, as is the case in our most sensitive natural areas.” He acknowledged that “there are areas that are under pressure,” which could affect biodiversity and the uniqueness of spaces like the Teide National Park and the Rural Parks of Anaga and Teno, “as we mentioned months ago.”
He mentioned that the Council approved starting procedures to establish a fee that truly serves an ecological purpose. This would tax “the provision of new services and the improvement of conservation, which involves, among other things, the controlled arrival of visitor flows, especially during peak demand periods; increased surveillance; the implementation of guiding services and self-guided tours; digitalisation of other services to facilitate individual tours, and the improvement of trail signage and protection of unique spaces.”
Afonso detailed that residents would not have to pay this fee because “they have been contributing with their taxes for a long time to facilitate the conservation of these spaces. We accept the challenge, and we mark it as a top priority to have it in effect by early 2025, despite the complexity of the prior procedures,” he emphasised.
Regarding the demonstrations that took place on April 20th, the island’s vice president acknowledged that “there is social concern about what doesn’t work, related to structural issues of the Canary Islands’ economy, particularly in Tenerife, such as mobility and housing.” Therefore, he referred to management failures or lack of decisions: “For these reasons, we have not yet developed the necessary infrastructure for the island that would have helped prevent the uncontrolled population growth in certain areas, which would have also alleviated the issue of mobility collapse. And, moreover, the inaction regarding housing, especially in terms of developing public housing promotion policies. It is up to us, therefore, to continue organising the chaos we encounter in key aspects of the Council’s management.”
Furthermore, Lope Afonso added that “no action was taken against the excessive growth of the vacation rental offer and the entry of major foreign owners into the market, impacting the increase in residential rent prices and fuelling the perception that tourism negatively affects residents’ issues, when, in my opinion, it has been and continues to be the main factor of social cohesion in the Archipelago.” “That is where our commitment lies, in contributing to improving the quality of tourism activity generated on the island, and thereby promoting the enhancement of profitability and working conditions for all sector employees,” he stated.
Sustainability and Quality
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The popular leader stressed that they want “sustainable and quality tourism” and noted that “we are working more intensively with issuing markets, segmenting promotion and product and directing it to a target audience that may correspond to that conscious visitor profile with spending capacity, a strategy that includes, among other initiatives, the extension of the direct flight between New York and South Tenerife to the winter season.” He commented that “we need consensus from everyone through open dialogue between the government, representatives from the sector’s value chain, and civil society.”
According to Lope Afonso, “without sustainability, there is no quality tourism, and they must go hand in hand to maintain our main source of income and employment reasonably, considering the characteristics of our island and our idiosyncrasy.” He acknowledged that the engine of the Tenerife economy is and will continue to be “inevitably” tourism, as “no other viable alternative has been proposed that, to date, can replace it as the driving force of the island’s economy, despite many attempts to diversify it.” He also stated that “at least for now, and enjoying the broadest development of our ERF in recent years, we have only increased the dependence on the tourism sector. Therefore, the commitment to diversify must be maintained, and we are also working towards that goal, promoting measures that enhance investment and conditions for the industrial and commercial sectors in Tenerife, trying to establish and sustain a necessary and struggling sector such as primary, and encouraging the growth of another type of industry through technology and tax incentives, as is happening with the audiovisual sector.”
La Tejita and Cuna del Alma
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In addition, concerning the works at Cuna del Alma and La Tejita, Afonso was clear:«It is necessary to comply with current legislation to generate legal certainty, although it is legitimate for some to question the appropriateness of these actions». Afonso explained that “these actions stem from legitimate decisions, those of two municipalities that, in order to carry out the procedures that have led to the authorizations of these projects, have started by complying with the provisions of their own general plan, the planning tool that the law gives them to decide, with full autonomy, how they want to grow, where they want to direct their economic development and also their population.”
“Both Granadilla de Abona and Adeje decided that this was the best way to contribute to the well-being of their population; if, over time, they believe they did not follow a good criterion, it is only up to those municipalities to reconsider,” he specified. The island’s vice president stated that “there is no other approach than to invoke that municipal autonomy so that those who want to reverse what was planned at the time do so with all the legal consequences” because, he assured, “otherwise, we would be creating situations and precedents that would be very dangerous, not only for business investment, but also for the legal certainty of our residents.”
“In Tenerife, we have observed a phenomenon that has followed a general trend in the Canary Islands, which is that traditional accommodation establishments, far from increasing since the pandemic, are reducing the number of places offered in the market, as a result of the reconversion and rehabilitation process that has led to their requalification and upgrading of category,” he commented.
Housing
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Regarding housing and the tension created around it, Lope Afonso guaranteed that, in this term of office, “the Tenerife Island Council ceases to be a bystander to the biggest problem affecting many people in Tenerife and the institution shifts from being a passive subject to playing an active role, endorsed by the signing of an important agreement with the Icavi, which has resulted, in turn, in two programs that the Housing department has been running for months, namely the Active Housing and Active Land programs.”
The Council’s vice president explained that these projects “are aimed at actively participating in the real estate market to promote the increase of the supply of housing, always under public protection schemes, so that municipalities can facilitate their citizens’ access to decent housing through the formula of social renting.”
Therefore, he detailed that in just this year 2024, over 12.5 million Euros are made available to the municipal corporations that have participated in the Active Land program to acquire 227 homes. Afonso described it as “a clear success in the Council’s trajectory in this area” and a “boost for the island institution, which adds to the new possibilities offered by the decree-law promulgated by the Government of the Canary Islands in February this year and with which we will be able to delve into other complementary actions, with the aim of actively contributing to the solutions to what has undoubtedly become one of the most significant issues for many people in Tenerife.”
