The Ashotel hotel association is urging the island’s Government to demonstrate “courage” and promptly designate the sensitive area of the airport Tenerife South to tackle the congestion in taxi services, which experience lengthy queues on busy days and during peak arrival times for international flights.
Jorge Marichal and Victoria López, the president and vice president of the association, respectively, voiced their concerns regarding the increasingly frequent issues faced. “We seek dignified treatment for travellers and tourists,” they stated, recalling that on April 24, 2013, the BOP published the Cabildo approval for the sensitive area declaration for Tenerife South.
“We do not wish to jeopardise anyone’s employment but rather to ensure that adequate service is available whenever necessary, particularly during busy work periods,” Marichal asserted, calling for “common sense” since, at present, only taxis with municipal licences from Granadilla de Abona are permitted to collect passengers at the airport terminal. The president also noted that discussions are ongoing in Parliament concerning regulations that restrict hotel businesses from obtaining their own licenses for discretionary transport. “If this situation persists, we will advocate for looser regulations to enable Tenerife hotels to act on the matter,” he added. “Enough with the explanations; what is required is for those who need to make the decisions to do so.
Highlighting the seriousness of the issue, Jorge Marichal and Victoria López indicated that the situation at passport control is an urgent matter. Insufficient staff, facilities, and equipment (in terms of both functionality and space) result in discomfort, complaints, and queues (exceeding an hour) for passengers reaching the taxi area. “No measures are initiated; the digital devices are left unused beside a wall, and the blame games continue,” they said.
Ashotel has rejected the statements from the Minister of the Interior, Gómez-Marlaska, who attributed the problem to coinciding flights, delays, and cancellations—circumstances that Marichal labelled as “normal.” According to him, Tenerife South Airport is “understaffed, under-resourced, and understaffed”, and he added, “I doubt it is lawful to keep so many individuals at this control point.”
Victoria López claimed that hoteliers have long been “exhausted from requesting measures against the overwhelming queues that develop during peak hours at passport control and the following taxi area, not just for the tourists who visit us, but for the residents who regularly use this critical infrastructure for inter-Island transport.”
The Major Investment
The head of the Hotel and Non-Hotel Association of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera highlighted that these deficiencies are exacerbated by the chronic lack of governmental investment in Tenerife South. In May 2022, AENA and the Tenerife Cabildo announced, during a meeting with the island’s economic and social stakeholders, an allocation of eight million euros to remodel a terminal that has remained virtually unchanged since 1978 and fails to meet current demands or the volume of operations and passengers it annually accommodates.
Marichal reminded that Tenerife South, “a highly profitable airport,” was excluded from the Airport Regulation Document (DORA II 2022-2026), despite persistent pressure from public institutions and business organisations. “Tenerife South requires urgent investment; label the document however you wish, DORA II, DORA III, it is inconsequential, but we need an investment now,” he continued. He concluded: “They are being unjust to the South Airport.”
Traveller Registration
Concerning Royal Decree 933/2021 on traveller registration, which has raised significant concerns within the hotel sector, Marichal insisted that “it is unfathomable that, in the fight against crime—which the Ministry of the Interior cites as the reason for this decree—hotels should transform into police stations.” Guests are required to provide 42 pieces of information, “when from January 1, Germany will cease requesting the DNI.”
After a emphatic “we do not agree”, Marichal recalled that tourism bodies had submitted objections to the ministerial order, which is currently aimed at simplifying the decree. Victoria López highlighted an additional hurdle: the challenges at receptions concerning data entry, particularly with characters from various languages that the SES Hospedaje platform fails to recognise. Furthermore, hotels face penalties for any breaches of the legislation, which is already in effect. “It is absurd. I hope this nonsense is resolved swiftly,” declared the vice president of Ashotel.
Winter Season
Even though the seasonality of tourist activity is dissipating, the Tenerife employers’ association reported that the reservation levels have surged by 25% compared to the figures of 2019, a pre-pandemic benchmark year recognised for positive activity data. For this Christmas, reservation rates are currently estimated to be at 86% on average among the establishments associated with Ashotel in the province, which is three percentage points higher than the same period last year. Moreover, the occupancy rate and expenditure have increased by nearly 10%. “Spain is no longer merely a sun and beach destination,” he explained to illustrate the evolution in today’s tourist profile.
The Sector Fuels the Economy
Employment within the tourism sector has risen by 6.01% (+31,720) when compared to November 2023. “The sector is the driving force behind the Canary Islands’ economy,” emphasised Victoria López. Ashotel highlights that a significant issue is the shortage of qualified personnel and housing availability.
Reservations for the Christmas period have reached 86%, with the southern region of Tenerife demonstrating the highest reservation rates at 88%, while the north maintains an 85.3% accommodation capacity and the Metropolitan area stands at 67%.
