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Hundreds of protesters in Lanzarote turned out on Sunday evening to show their support for tourists, following a mass protest against the influx of holidaymakers.
The pro-tourist protest came just hours after locals hounded British holidaymakers, forced them to flee, and ordered them to “go home” during an anti-tourist march.
An estimated 10,000 people took part in the protests across Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Palma, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, and El Hierro.
In one tense incident, locals reportedly chanted, “This beach is ours,” at British tourists in Playa de las Americas in Tenerife.
The organisers of the pro-tourist march hope that their support for holidaymakers in one of the most popular Canary Island destinations will help ease concerns among tourists. Marching under the banner “Lanzarote loves tourism,” locals marched through the resort of Puerto del Carmen, chanting that tourists were “not to blame” for the country’s problems.
The counter-protestors in Lanzarote defended tourism, arguing that tourists were always “welcome” on the island.
Augusto Ferreira, a restaurant owner from Puerto del Carmen, helped organise the counterprotest. He said tourists were being scapegoated and blamed politicians for “playing political games” with the industry. He added that thousands of locals in Lanzarote rely on holidaymakers for their livelihoods.
He said that once he saw the plans for an anti-tourist rally, he knew “something had to be done” in response. He added: “What we cannot allow to happen is for wrong messages to be sent out about what Lanzarote is really like.”
He told local news programme A Buena Hora: “I have walked many streets visiting businesses and talking to people. I have heard very nice stories from people who say their family live off tourism and that thanks to tourism, they are what they are.”
He continued: “A man in Playa Blanca thanked me for what I am doing; he told me to keep going, that he supported me and that his whole family would be there.
“That is what gives me the energy and strength to continue with this idea, which is to send a clear message to the world that we do not want to provoke a confrontation with tourists who are certainly not to blame for the problems that have been generated on the Island in recent years.”
Many tourists, including British holidaymakers, in Puerto del Carmen cheered and applauded the rally as they passed.
Supporters of the Canary Islands Have a Limit group, who led the earlier rally, have said mass tourism was pricing local people out of the housing market and impacting their quality of life.
Lanzarote welcomed 2.2 million tourists between January and August 2024, a 7.5 percent increase from the same period in 2023.
According to the protest group, tourists consume up to six times more water than residents, threatening the island’s precious resources and damaging the environment.
This year, the Canary Islands have seen a series of protests against perceived overtourism in Barcelona, as well as other popular holiday destinations like Mallorca and Malaga.