Latest news with #IslandCouncil
Local Spain
15-05-2025
- Business
- Local Spain
Spain's Canaries to hold major protest against mass tourism once again
Protest group ' Canarias tiene un límite' (The Canary Islands have a limit) have called yet another march for Sunday May 18th to be held across all islands as well as other cities across Spain and even overseas who are joining in solidarity for the Canary cause. Organisers are specifically protesting the current economic model "based on overtourism, speculation, inequality and the infinite growth on very limited land' they explained. In a recent statement they added that despite the "massive demonstrations" held in the Atlantic archipelago in 2024, institutions have responded by "ignoring demands, manipulating information, implementing regressive regulations and deepening the social, economic, and environmental crisis'. The demonstrations will take place on the seven main islands at 11am in El Hierro (Tourism Department, Valverde); La Palma (Plaza de La Alameda & Island Council, Santa Cruz de La Palma); La Gomera (Plaza de Las Américas in front of the Town Hall, in San Sebastián de La Gomera); Tenerife (Plaza Weyler, Santa Cruz de Tenerife); Gran Canaria (Alfredo Kraus Auditorium, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria); Lanzarote (Bandstand in Arrecife); and Fuerteventura (Calle 1° de Mayo & Plaza de la Iglesia, Puerto del Rosario). The group's ten main demands include: The immediate end of destructive construction projects and the demolition of those already declared illegal. The cancellation of more hotels and vacation rentals A residency law to protect the rights of residents over non-residents, especially with regard to housing The promotion of renewable energy without "exploiting" the territory The promotion of natural areas and a tourist tax Ecosystem restoration and food and energy sovereignty Immediate measures to stop the pollution of the sea The rejection of large-scale projects such as railway networks, road expansions, highways, ports, and airports The preservation of cultural and social heritage The creation of an environmental restoration law Other cities across Spain will also be holding their own protests in solidarity with the Canary Islands. These include Granada, Valencia, Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao, Pamplona, Santiago de Compostela. Even the German capital of Berlin will join in. The current tourism model in the Canary Islands is considered unsustainable and is pushing the islands towards collapse. Overpopulation, overwhelmed public services, state-permitted overdevelopment, almost as many cars as there people (1.8 million compared to 2 million), seas polluted with faecal matter which lead to beach closures - the list of problems goes on. While overtourism is an issue, it goes hand in hand with the housing crisis, which is a bigger problem for Canarios than tourism per se. The reason why tourism is often at the centre of the slogans on banners is that it's the economic motor of the archipelago, representing 35 percent of their GDP and roughly 40 percent of jobs together with hospitality. But this economic model is no longer sustainable nor beneficial for the majority of islanders, who have the second lowest wages of all regions in Spain. Most locals can't afford to buy homes because holiday lets and more affluent foreigners (many non-residents) keep driving the prices up. Earlier this month, the Spanish government rejected placing limits on foreign home ownership in Canaries and Balearics, which many of the locals called for. This isn't even the first time locals in the Canaries protested this year. In February, a march was organised on the island of Tenerife to coincide with the FVW Travel Talk congress but this was only attended by several dozen protesters. May 18th's protests are more likely to have the numbers of April 2024's demos, where between 57,000 and 100,000 people took part across the eight Canary Islands. More overtourism protests are planned for next month too in many holiday hotspots across all of Spain. On June 15th, marches, demonstrations, picket lines and disruption to travel services will take place in Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, the Canary Islands again, and San Sebastián. It's likely that others could join such as Málaga and Seville too.
Daily Mirror
08-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Canary Island airport chaos forces urgent meeting as Brits stuck in horror queues
A lack of "human and material resources" has resulted in length queues at this Canary Island airport. Now, the Island Council President has proposed a meeting to get things back on track. Recent chaos at César Manrique-Lanzarote airport has promoted coordinated efforts to upgrade the travel hub. British tourists arriving at Lanzarote airport have faced an 'uncomfortable and chaotic experience' which has elicited a response from the President of the Island Council in Lanzarote. President Oswaldo Betancort has requested a meeting with Spain's airport authority AENA to discuss the future of César Manrique Airport (also known as Arrecife Airport). According to Betancort, there are insufficient police on duty at the airport, which is the tenth-largest in the country by volume of passengers and third in the Canary Islands. The airport authority AENA already has plans to remodel the airport in 2026 with a budget of €140 million (£118.5 million). AENA's construction plan will include the extension and renovation of the Terminal 1 check-in, boarding and security zones. The renovation will also effectively join both of Lanzarote Airport's two terminals. Separate from the AENA renovation, the Island Council is also planning work on the airport zone and the LZ-2 main road. Because of this confluence, Betancort has proposed a meeting with AENA to coordinate efforts. Speaking of the Island Council project, Betancort shared: 'We want the remodelling of the airport terminal area to be inspired by the Lanzarote landscape and the spirit of César Manrique's work, with an architectural proposal that engages with the surroundings.' While the meeting is meant to help coordinate both construction efforts, Betancourt also reportedly plans to raise the subject of the long queues that have resulted from a shortage of border officers. 'It is unacceptable that residents and visitors have to endure long waits due to insufficient staff at security checkpoints. More human and material resources are needed to guarantee efficient operation,' says the Island Council President. The reputation of Lanzarote airport has suffered in recent years due to multiple complaints about the time it takes to retrieve luggage and get through passport control. British tourists have shared that getting through these checkpoints can take about an hour and is usually followed by long waits for a taxi. Lanzarote residents agree there is a "significant mismatch" between supply and demand of taxis at the airport. The local authorities say creating a digitalised service is the way forward and is thus beginning talks with the taxi association. The Mirror's Victoria Chessum recently traveled through Lanzarote Airport and experienced some of the chaos. She wrote: "I visited Lanzarote out of peak-season, and therefore ignorantly expected the airport to at least be manageable in terms of queues. 'While checking-in was super easy, along with bag-drop, navigating the small and disproportionate terminal building was not. Armed with a sleepy toddler, a pram, and a few hand luggage bags, the whole experience quickly escalated into something of a nightmare." Recent figures suggest César Manrique-Lanzarote airport was designed to accomodate nine million passengers, a figure that was nearly reached in 2024 with 8.7million recorded visitors. According to Canarian Weekly, this demonstrated a 6.1% increase from 2023. Reportedly, tourism figures have already seen an uptick in February 2025, with big arrivals expected for the approaching summer. The implementation of the European Commission's new Entry/Exit System is also expected to add to the queuing times at high-traffic borders across the continent. Non-EU travellers will be required to register their biometric data with passport control officers—including facial and fingerprint recognition—the first time they enter the EU after the new system is in place in October.
The Independent
03-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Ibiza and Airbnb announce joint crackdown on unregulated tourist flats
Authorities in Ibiza have announced an agreement with Airbnb to work together and crack down on unregulated holiday lets on its platform. Consell d'Eivissa (Ibiza's Island Council) announced on 20 February that it signed a 'historic' and 'unprecedented' agreement with the short-term letting platform, along with Ibizan tourist accommodation associations, to collaborate in combating unregulated tourist accommodation on the Spanish island that 'that operate on the margins of legality'. The council says that this agreement will help ensure environmental, social and economic sustainability for the island, as well as enhancing the quality of tourism. Ibiza is one of the most popular destinations for British tourists, attracting partygoers to its club scene, as well as families seeking beach holidays along its white sand coastline. However, like many other Spanish destinations, short-term rentals used for holiday lets have become a point of contention with permanent residents. Airbnb is committing to accelerate the process of removing listings that go against local regulations, as well as working with the council to put measures in place to address the unregulated tourist lets. So far, 300 accommodations have been taken down as part of this new agreement, yet this number could still rise as the effort is ongoing. The president of Consell d'Eivissa, Vicent Marí, thanked Airbnb for its collaboration and says the agreement is "a milestone in the roadmap that we set out more than five years ago to lead a relentless fight against the island's unregulated [tourist accommodation] supply". Tourist accommodation will be removed from Airbnb if the authorities identify it as going against local regulations and Airbnb's terms of service. The council also has a portal on its website that identifies all tourist accommodations, companies and guides that have registered with the council. Jaime Rodríguez de Santiago, the general manager of Airbnb's marketing services said: 'This joint commitment between the public sector, Airbnb and the representative organizations of the tourism sector, underlines the common interest in ensuring that Ibiza remains an exceptional and quality tourist destination for future generations'. The Ibiza Tourist Accommodation Association, the Ibiza and Formentera Hotel Business Federation and tourist promotion company Fomento del Turismo, who also signed the agreement, will be working with the council and Airbnb to promote and assist in tackling unregulated accommodation. The crackdown on unregulated short-term rentals comes after authorities in Ibiza also implemented new regulations to limit the simultaneous arrival of cruises by allowing no more than two cruises to dock at the same time. Mr Marí said that while the island is not against the arrival of tourists on cruise ships, better planning needs to be carried out to ensure overcrowding does not affect their residents. Ibiza is not the only Spanish destination calling for a change in how tourism is managed, with residents in some popular tourist locations have blamed short-term rentals on intensifying housing crises. A group in Tenerife recently protested over mass tourism on 21 February, with coastal towns being 'destroyed' to make way for accommodation for tourists. Earlier in the month, a Mallorca campaign group that has led large-scale protests against overtourism said it would be 'redoubling' its efforts.
