Movement collectives 20A announced on Friday the initiation of new demonstrations five months after the protests held on April 20, which are scheduled to occur on October 20 across various locations in the archipelago.
This protest initiative has been organised by numerous groups across several islands due to the notion that “political parties and institutions, rather than addressing social concerns and exhibiting any indication of comprehending the grave issue we encounter, persist in favouring a predatory tourism model.”
The organisers criticise public officials for “filling their speeches with terms like rethink the model, sustainable tourism or green measures when the situations have only deteriorated,” and express dismay that they have failed to even “halt projects riddled with irregularities such as the Chira Soria power plant, the La Tejita hotel or Cuna del Alma.”
For this reason, they are urging citizens to once again take to the streets en masse to protest against this “imposed model”, also remembering that throughout these five months “the protests have continued unabated” and the participatory process Canary Islands Palante has engaged 75 groups and over a thousand individuals from all the islands.
Scheduled Demonstrations
This time, the groups have selected tourist hotspots on the islands as locations for the demonstrations.
In Tenerife, the demonstration will take place in the municipality of Adeje, situated in the south of the island. The procession will commence at 12:00 p.m. from Metrópolis Centre, located in Playa de las Américas.
In Fuerteventura, it will be held in the town of Corralejo (municipality of La Oliva) at 12:00 on Avenida Nuestra Señora del Carmen, 41.
In Gran Canaria, the demonstration will occur in the tourist town of Maspalomas, also at 12:00 p.m.
The Fate of 20A
Earlier this week, the Tourism Minister dismissed again in the Parliament of the Canary Islands the potential for a moratorium on holiday rentals, which has been requested by various political and social organisations, while legislation aimed at regulating this sector across the islands is under review amid an influx of new applications for such accommodations. He also eliminated the prospect of implementing an ecotax, citing arguments that have largely been outstripped in other regions, including the Balearic Islands or Catalonia.
Since the public took to the streets advocating for limits on the tourism sector and policies that safeguard both the inhabitants of the Canary Islands and the islands themselves,
Nothing has altered in the Archipelago: the regional administration has granted permits for the construction of new hotels across various islands. The works at Cuna del Alma have been revitalised after the Adeje City Council (PSOE) approved a building permit, the contentious Motor Circuit in Tenerife has also recommenced, and progress on the La Tejita hotel continues. Moreover, tourist arrival figures consistently surpass those of the previous year, while visitor expenditure rises considerably and the industry hikes prices, contributing to an increase in the CPI over the summer.
Simultaneously, the Canary Islands have regained the unfortunate distinction of having the second lowest wages in the nation, while the hospitality sector in the country at large dominates lower wages.
The Aftermath of 20A
The Canarian Government asserted that it had heeded the messages from 20A and that it was indeed fulfilling its requests. However, merely four days following the protests, the four parties supporting the Canary Islands Government (CC, PP, AHI and ASG) dismissed in Parliament a motion from the Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarias group (NC-BC) that proposed seven measures to manage tourist growth, incorporating many of the 20A demands. Only one of the proposals was approved (urging the Government to impose fees for entering specific natural areas within the Canary Islands), while the others, including the moratorium and tourist tax, were declined.
Five months later, preparation for the Vacation Rental Law is underway, yet it has already garnered more than 3,000 objections, and even the César Manrique Foundation believes that the draft necessitates a complete amendment. Among other concerns, experts consulted by this publication argue that instead of reducing the quantity of holiday homes, it paves the way for their proliferation, diminishes the criteria for establishing them, and fails to dedicate any resources to ensure compliance with the law.
A month following 20A, the government’s opposition had already been disparaged for not implementing “a single measure” in the four governmental councils convened since the protests that addressed these demands, alongside one for increasing hotel beds by nearly a thousand in Fuerteventura. “Not a singular action has been taken; the policy remains unchanged, both then and now; nothing is different, announcement after announcement,” Sebastián Franquis expressed at the time.
Those were times when the parliamentary discourse was heavily centred on questioning and attempting to enhance the development model of the Canary Islands.
This Friday, World Tourism Day is commemorated, and the Islands are set to shatter all their historical arrival and entry records in 2024 by leaps and bounds. Meanwhile, mass tourism continues to impact the relationship with residents, as seen in the coastal town of Bocacangreo, which seeks to decrease visitor numbers, or in the southern part of Tenerife, where locals face pressure to vacate their rental homes for the sake of the tourism industry. However, the political focus remains directed elsewhere.
