Canary Islands warned protests have 'backfired' after UK tourists take action

Tourism in Fuerteventura has reached a historic milestone in 2024, with total revenues exceeding €3 billion, around £2.5bn.
-Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited


Tourism and overtourism protests in the Canary Islands have backfired, the European Union holiday hotspots have been warned. Tourism in Fuerteventura has reached a historic milestone in 2024, with total revenues exceeding €3 billion, around £2.5bn.

According to Marlene Figueroa, the Councillor for Tourism at the Cabildo Insular, this achievement reflects the resilience and growth of the island's tourism sector. Figueroa emphasised that this success presents an opportune moment to advocate for improved labour conditions and better distribution of profits to benefit the local economy.

The Canary Islands Institute of Statistics (ISTAC) shows that third-quarter revenues in 2024 totalled €760 million, marking a 1.1% increase from the same period in 2023. This builds on strong performances earlier in the year, with €586 million recorded in the second quarter (a 9.6% increase from 2023) and €810 million in the first quarter (a 15.2% rise compared to the previous year).

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Data for the fourth quarter suggest a continuation of this upward trend, with projections exceeding the €772 million reported in the same quarter of 2023. The average expenditure per tourist per trip in 2024 ranged from €1,231 in the second quarter to €1,478 in the third.

It comes after tens of thousands of people demonstrated across the Canary Islands to call for an urgent rethink of the Spanish archipelago’s tourism strategy and a freeze on visitor numbers, arguing that the decades-old model has made life unaffordable and environmentally unsustainable for residents.

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The protests, which are taking place under the banner “Canarias tiene un límite” – The Canaries have a limit – are backed by environmental groups including Greenpeace, WWF, Ecologists in Action, Friends of the Earth and SEO/Birdlife.

“We’ve reached the point where the balance between the use of resources and the welfare of the population here has broken down, especially over the past year,” said Víctor Martín, a spokesperson for the collective Canarias se Agota – The Canaries Have Had Enough – which helped to coordinate protests across the eight islands.