Residents in Tenerife claim British holidaymakers have turned the area into a “tourism ghetto” as a result of “nightmare” behaviour, inflation and surging rent prices.
It comes as tourists were greeted with a series of graffiti messages including “Tourists go home,” “My misery your paradise” and “Average salary in Canary Islands is 1,200”.
The Canary Islands have seen the number of tourists soar since the pandemic.
Some locals in Tenerife are arguing that the tourism industry is causing more harm than good.
Josua Garcia-Garcia, who works in a bar in Playas de las Americas, claimed many holidaymakers are “ignorant of how we are suffering”.
“It can be a nightmare when the tourists come, I only get four hours of sleep every night because of the music and noise, which keeps me up until three in the morning,” he told the MailOnline.
“Rents are soaring and people on average salaries cannot afford to live here any more, once they pay their rent they have no money for food.
“It brings me shame to see how some areas have been totally saturated by tourism. The police and security need to be tougher and bring in stricter rules, people are fed up.”
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Local Zarita Chinea said the resort areas are ‘a bit of a tourism ghetto’ because of fierce reliance on the industry.
He said: “It’s like there are two worlds in Tenerife, the tourists and the locals, and we don’t mix.
“If I was in power I would try to reduce the number of holidaymakers, there have been so many more in the past year and it is noticeable.
“I also think we need better quality tourists, who respect our land and nature, who want to explore the real Tenerife and go hiking for example.”
The Canary Islands have seen the number of tourists soar since the pandemic
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However, while many admit there are problems with tourism, other insist holidaymakers are needed.
Jorge Sanchez, who works in a local cinema, said: “The whole anti-tourism movement is stupid, without tourism, we are f****d.
“Take away all the tourists and what the hell are we going to do? These young people want to blame others for society’s problems, but we need the British, the Germans, the Italians, all of them, without them we don’t have an economy.”
Last year, Canary Island officials urged locals to give up their “tourismphobia” as they have admitted they need Britons.
Disgruntled residents took to the streets to protest against tourists coming to the islands.
Source Agencies
