Brits flood Canary Islands as all-time record smashed and key message ignored

Daily Mirror

08-05-2025

Despite growing hostilities and rampant anti-tourist sentiment, it seems swathes of Brits cannot be deterred when it comes to sunning it up in the insatiably popular Canary Islands
An influx of tourists has broken records in the insatiably popular Canary Islands - despite stark warnings from locals. New data published by Spain's National Institute of Statistics (Instituto Nacional de Estadistica) found the archipelago was Spain's main destination for holidaymakers in March.
Lured in by the boozy strips of Tenerife, Lanzarote's volcanic vineyards, or Gran Canaria and its vast sand dunes, holidays to the Canaries accounted for almost a quarter (23.6 per cent) of the country's total visitor makeup. A staggering 1.56 million tourists flocked to the group of islands, marking a 0.9 per cent increase compared to the same year before.
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In the first three months of 2025, the Canary Islands witnessed a 2.1 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2024. While this has bolstered spending figures in the area (with foreign tourists pumping a whopping €2.43 billion (around £2.06 billion) into the economy) not everybody will be happy with the revelation.
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The new figures come amid rising anti-tourist sentiment and growing hostility - with demonstrators arguing the insufferably busy islands have reached a ' critical tipping point '. Concerned that soaring demand for holiday homes and short-term rentals will price them out of the property market, calls against over-tourism have become intrinsically linked to Spain's housing crisis.
Locals have also flagged concerns over rowdy tourists damaging national parks, clogging up traffic, and treating their homeland like a 'theme park'. All of this spearheaded the slew of protests that erupted across the country last year - with thousands of frustrated residents flocking to the streets, armed with banners demanding Brits 'go home'.
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More recently, anti-tourist rhetoric appears to have taken a violent turn. Back in March, a horrifying sign threatening to 'Kill A Tourist' was spotted in Tenerife, while reports also emerged that anonymous activists had set fire to rental cars on the island to make their message clear.
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More protests across the archipelago have been planned for this month, with more than a dozen groups pledging to take part under the umbrella protest platform 'Canarias Tiene Un Limite' (The Canaries Have a Limit). As previously reported, a spokesperson said: "Today, our dependence on tourism is greater than ever, housing is more inaccessible than ever, the levels of poverty and social exclusion keep rising, we're losing our unique natural heritage in the world at an alarming rate and macro-projects serving foreign speculation continue unabated.
"We're still lacking a true change of model that guarantees a decent future for the people who live on these islands. That's why we're announcing that, in the month of May, we will take to the streets of Tenerife again and we call on the other seven islands to join us again in this shared mission".
Spanish activists have also promised to unleash misery on Brits this summer, with Menys Turisme Més Vida (Less Tourism, More Life) - who have been at the forefront of Spain's anti-tourist wave - vowing to 'intensify' efforts over the peak months. This could explain Tenerife's sudden slump in hotel booking over the summer season.