SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Nov. 8 (EUROPE PRESS) –
The president of the Government of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, has asked this Tuesday not to mix tourism with the “overpopulation” debate because if the archipelago, instead of having more than 14 million visitors a year, had “five or six million” there would be a “serious” economic problem.
In an interview granted to ‘Cope Canarias’ and collected by Europa Press, he has asked for “calm” regarding the demographic debate on the islands because “there are islands without overpopulation”, the case of La Palma, which was in decline before the eruption or areas of the interior of Teneirfe and Gran Canaria while Lanzarote and Fuerteventura have grown but also have a large extension of territory.
Torres has commented that the Canary Islands have depended “on transit” and the arrival of visitors from abroad for more than 60 years and now it is about “taking advantage of the new situations” and the global commitment to a “green planet”.
Thus, he has insisted that a “unique opportunity” is opening up to achieve a “safe health destination” because “the covid is there” and it is essential that a tourist feels “well protected” if they have a health problem.
He has given as an example that this year will close with more than 14 million tourists -one million less than before the pandemic- but with 10% more turnover and it is about continuing to take steps towards a sustainable destination where there is an economy circular, the hotels are powered by photovoltaic energy or there are electric cars. “You have to correct things and improve them,” she commented.
On the criticism of environmental groups around the developmentalist model of the islands, he has pointed out that he shares his idea of ”preservation” of the planet and understands that the Canary Islands are endowed with planning guidelines, moratoriums and laws that have been slowing down urban growth.
However, he has indicated that “hotels must be built where they can be built in an orderly manner” and warned that if it cannot be built there would be “no places or where to live.”
The Canarian president has also highlighted the “very important” role of presiding over the ORs in 2023 – coinciding in the second semester with the Spanish presidency of the EU – since it is “an opportunity” to define the European agenda for tourism and “clear up doubts” about taxes on kerosene or the “fiscal regimes” of the ORs, leading “a new vision of Europe”.
