Tenerife deputy mayor tells Brits to 'go elsewhere' as island cracks down on 'all inclusive' holidays

Holidaymakers have faced tensions in Tenerife as locals protest over what they perceive to be "overtourism" amid declining living standards
Holidaymakers have faced tensions in Tenerife as locals protest over what they perceive to be "overtourism" amid declining living standards -Credit:Lauren Hurley/PA Wire


The deputy mayor of a European holiday hotspot has urged Brits "to go elsewhere". This comes only days after locals organised an anti-tourism protest.

Holidaymakers have faced tensions in Tenerife as locals protest over what they perceive to be "overtourism". This is amid a decline in living standards for locals, reports BirminghamLive.

Local outlet El Dia reports First Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Public Services, Environment and European Projects of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council, Carlos Terife, said the island needs to undergo the evolution to higher quality tourism.

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El Dia reports he said: "Where before there were hotels with 250 beds, today we are in hotels of fewer beds and of higher quality. I think that is the tourism we need in our country, not the bracelet and 'all-inclusive', of "I stay inside the hotel and do everything inside the hotel."

He wants "five-star and five-star luxury hotels", where tourists "not only come to enjoy the facilities, but come to eat our local product, etc." An estimated 57,000 people joined the protests on Spain's Canary Islands this weekend against a model of mass tourism they say is overwhelming the Atlantic archipelago.

Protester Lydia Morales told the BBC this weekend: "The major problem is that it's the model of massive tourism that is intransigent in the island... [for] decades, and it's just destroying the island... and the life of the residents here."

"We are feeling we're being pushed away, our priorities are not taken in consideration". She added that politicians were "more focused" on building tourism complexes and hotels.

The Canary Islands, which lie off the northwestern coast of Africa, are known for their volcanic landscapes and year-round sunshine. They attract millions of visitors every year, with four in ten residents working in tourism.