The President of the Gran Canaria Island Council, Antonio Morales, stated yesterday that the island is already working towards “a model of sustainable, eco-social economic diversification, which includes most of the demands of this movement that has been growing in recent weeks,” and that culminated in the massive demonstration, under the slogan Canarias tiene un límite, last Saturday on the eight islands and in cities like Barcelona, Madrid, Granada, Malaga, London, and Berlin.
“In Gran Canaria we have a clear proposal for sustainable development, social development, and economic development. And we have always argued that success cannot rely on continuous growth, but we must reach a model of economic diversification where tourism has its place, but cannot be the only way to face the future of this land,” stated Morales (NC).
According to him, “the gatherings this Saturday also made visible that the realities of each island are quite different. In Tenerife, double the number of people mobilized compared to Gran Canaria.
Morales highlighted the high participation of young people “who feel insecure in their access to the job market and cannot afford housing; in the Canary Islands, the Government has not built public housing in many years,” he emphasized.
On the other hand, Rosa Dávila (CC), President of the Tenerife Island Council, stated yesterday that the tourist model needs to be reviewed and measures such as charging a fee to visitors of natural spaces need to be implemented.
Following the massive concentration on 20A in Santa Cruz de Tenerife against mass tourism, she emphasized that “it is necessary to listen to the concerns of the demonstrators and those who did not protest but are also worried about the enormous pressure the Islands are under,” which Dávila described as “immense” for Tenerife.
Regarding the fee for access to protected areas, already in place in locations such as Timanfaya National Park, in Lanzarote, the President of Tenerife clarified that it would be “earmarked” and all funds raised would be allocated to the Island’s environmental protection, including waste management. She also supports “measures to regulate” the number of tourists visiting the Archipelago and “studying the impact of population growth.” “We need to analyse the exceptions that can be applied in such a fragile and overcrowded territory like ours,” stated Rosa Dávila, concluding: “It is clear that Tenerife cannot be turned into an amusement park.”
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The President of the La Gomera Island Council (ASG), Casimiro Curbelo, calls for “listening to the people’s voices and understanding their reasons” following the protests on 20A, although he argues that the root of their problems is not tourism. Curbelo points out that issues like housing problems, overpricing, inflation, and “growing discontent” among citizens facing low wages, traffic jams, and deficiencies in accessing public services “are real.” “But the solution,” he continues, “does not lie in cutting back the wealth we derive from our only successful sector,” tourism, “but in figuring out how we can regulate a population growth that is not sustainable.”
