Canary Islanders tell Brits to go home.

So from channel 4, talking to some of the thousands marching, hotels not being finished, developers building on maritme
land areas, precarious work, and there needs to be more sustainable tourism, in their words. 40 million tourists last year 2 million residents. Hunger strikes also going on.
Really can't blame them for feeling like this.

The housing problem for locals everywhere has erupted since Air B nB grew into its present form. I don't think even the creators foresaw this happening. Local authorities need to tighten restrictions as they are doing and introduce stricter controls.

Agree about AirBnBs. One reason there are fewer rental properties for people to actually live in is because landlords realised they can make alot more money from them by short term lets.

Yes they can make more money it's a good investment and needs little to no staff employed but cripples small legitimate
Holiday accommodation

Totally agree about AirBnB. Housing being used as a business and thereby effectively removing hundreds of thousands of dwellings from the market. Houses are homes for people to live in; to raise families and to thrive in … they should not be money making enterprises. We don’t use AirBnB! If we go away for a short break we stay in a tradional Bed & Breakfast or a hotel - that’s what they are there for.

There does need to be more control over using homes as holiday accommodation but that’s not going to stop it because many have second homes in holiday areas. At present many councils have extra charges for second homes similar to business rates.
There are many different accommodations on Airbnb cabins, boats, Huts, Yurts, apartments, rooms, annexes, also many legitimate holiday homes also use Airbnb for marketing. We prefer a hotel if the cost is comparable often it is not, in May we have a short holiday in Interlaken, hotels are around £200 a night so we booked an annex in a chalet for half that.

Business rates can and should be applied to Airbnbs it’s easy to achieve just check who is advertising and chase them up.

In France a registered B & B has to pay business tax, house tax
television tax for every t.v. , diffusion of music tax , whether
it is or isn't , cotisations (Nat.Ins. which are heavy) tourist tax to the Marie and not forgetting 15% commission to the likes of
Booking.com. Quite a support to the economy.

Unless all this protesting brings a new law out the extra building certainly won’t affect where I stay and where I will be staying in November as it is a small place compared to the ones that the protest is about.

I too hope the protesters suceed in getting their politicians to listen to them and, preferably get the rest of the world to realise that tourismn is not necessarily a good thing.

The mass influx of people every year to natural beauty spots or man-made places such as Delphi or The Acropolis is damaging.

We could also argue that culturally it has not been an entirely good thing that people have travelled so much and so easily in the 20th century.

Far from broadening our outlooks and promoting good understanding between the nations of the world, quite often an adverse effect has occurred.

We are fast getting to the point where we ALL celebrate Christmas, whether we are Christians or not, Hallowe'en whether it is part of our country's tradition or not, often to the detriment of a local tradition, we all wear the same clothes, made and sold by the same gigantic firms. We all learn English, even if we intend to holiday in a country that has a different native language.

These are examples, but they stem from tourism and damage our culture as much as the mass influx of people and their modes of transport damage the (physical) environment

Time to stop, pause and reflect, then perhaps to see the point of cutting back on tourism amongst other damaging things.

I have to say we went to Gran Canaria for the first time in January and I though everyone was either very fed up or just couldn't stand tourists. Service was appalling wherever we went and we certainly never felt welcome. We would never go back.

Being honest I saw the protests on TV news and now won't go to the Canaries again
People in the streets holding placards with Tourists Go Home written on them and chanting Tourists get out. That's enough for me and my family. I would never go anywhere I wasn't welcome. Most of Spain is against tourism too but there are plenty of other countries that have nice beaches so will be going there.
The solution isn't banning tourists but to make a law that certain properties can only be purchased by local people and foreign people cannot purchase any more second homes unless emigrating there permanently.
Sorry if this isn't a popular post but it's how I feel about it. I would feel very unsafe as a tourist there.

We have cruise ships visiting here during summer season and it certainly causes a bit of disruption at the harbour to parking and normal daily routine. However most people are very welcoming and hospitable. Generally it’s not a huge percentage that come ashore. We are all probably proud to show off our island home.

I hope they succeed too. I grew up in Blackpool in the 60s and 70s and boy did we hate the tourists. My adult self knows full well that that most of the money coming into the town is from holidaymakers but looking at the place now that really isn’t a good model to aim for. There has to be a plan B.

BlueBelle
*Lots of complaining that the houses are all being bought to turn into AB&B s and rendering the locals unable to buy any
They have a point*

Similar to many holiday destinations in UK including most of the Norfolk coast.

I feel for them and everywhere else around the world where mass tourism is overtaking. I don’t know what the answer is. Maybe we should all be reflecting on the way we take holidays. Years ago, it was great to have one holiday in a year. Now, it seems many people can’t stop going away. The sadness is that often local residents and the environment are treated disrespectfully…and I’m not even sure that the tourists have that wonderful a time either! I read somewhere, that the drive to get away results from our dissatisfaction of our every day lives.

sazz1

Being honest I saw the protests on TV news and now won't go to the Canaries again
People in the streets holding placards with Tourists Go Home written on them and chanting Tourists get out. That's enough for me and my family. I would never go anywhere I wasn't welcome. Most of Spain is against tourism too but there are plenty of other countries that have nice beaches so will be going there.
The solution isn't banning tourists but to make a law that certain properties can only be purchased by local people and foreign people cannot purchase any more second homes unless emigrating there permanently.
Sorry if this isn't a popular post but it's how I feel about it. I would feel very unsafe as a tourist there.

There is an easy option, put the prices up that will restrict the numbers there is nothing worse than overcrowded tourist spots. Years ago I went to Venice in June when it was hot, it was hell, there was literally nowhere to sit and take the weight off you feet.
The solution is in their own hands if Spain does not like the tourists put the prices up and a lot less will come, there is no case for providing employment it’s difficult to find the service workers needed for tourism.

Canarians cannot now afford to buy their own homes in holiday areas - disgraceful as it is in Wales, Cornwall and areas of Eng;and.

I live in a Northumbrian market town, since covid it has been even more popular with tourists ( as has much of the UK) Many do benefit from having visitors, but the majority don't get any benefit. The main issue is the housing market and parking. I agree with others that there should be a ban on second homes, its pushed the property prices through the roof and our youngsters are really struggling. I wish we would impose a ruling like The Lake District !

We’ve just returned from Lanzarote, the house we rented was owned by a local, it was their second home.

Some locals are obviously able to afford more than one home.

As always we found the local people to be very friendly.

Years ago I went to Venice in June when it was hot, it was hell, there was literally nowhere to sit and take the weight off you feet

Venice is my favorite city in Europe but I have never visited in summer for that very reason. I have only visited in late spring or winter. Italy is not cold by UK standards in winter and the place is very different. You can walk around those narrow twisty streets without bumping into people, eat in the restaurants without waiting an age and the locals are much more friendly. You just have to take a warm sweater and a wooly hat.

Venice now charges a tourist tax which I gladly paid on my last visit. The charge is "per person" so as a single I am not getting ripped off to subsidies families and couples for once. I also spent a lot of money in the local economy on food and gifts and getting about.

My greatest regret is that Venice is not a city for the mobility impaired with all those steps and bridges so I will never ba able to go there again.

Yes they do have a point but it is not just the Canary Islands that are having problems, so is many other countries. Blame the people who sell their properties to Airbnb companies or to people who sell their homes to other people who buy them as holiday homes and stay a few months out of the year.

Don't blame the buyers, blame the sellers.

OK - this will make me REALLY unpopular…AirBnb is scandalously unfair. Friends of mine have leapt on the bandwagon to make a bit of cash, but what is happening is that they undermine and undercut professional hotels, guest houses and B&Bs without having to fulfill all the more stringent health and safety requirements. (Yes, they have to pay tax on a certain amount of their income, I know.) In the early days I tried a few until I realised that this was the case. Won’t touch them, now. In the same way, Uber is putting black cabs out of business without having the training or ‘the knowledge’ - satnavs are not the same. Yes, business is business, but AirBnb should have to compete on a level playing field. They just add to the strain put on locals by second homes. 200% council tax is a brilliant strategy, also, in parts of Cornwall and Devon (where I live), some properties can be bought only if you have lived in the locality for a qualifying number of years. Good luck to the Canarians - and shame on the holiday Brits who let us all down.

We have just returned from a short break to Faro where we had very interesting conversations with local young women who worked at the restaurant we frequented. Their hourly pay is just over €4 and one could only afford to rent a room in a house. She had no chance of ever renting on her own and the thought of buying was beyond her means. She didn’t blame tourists but those who were behind the lack of planning for local people to stay in their towns, villages. Like many here they have been driven out by market forces. We have been visiting Northumberland since 1984 and suddenly it has been “ discovered” and property prices have rocketed. We try to stay in a pub/ hotel to avoid cottages or Airbnb.

We hate airports now due to the behaviour, attitudes, lack of manners by passengers and tourists. I feel embarrassed by many but I don’t blame the locals in the Canary Islands and other places for making a stand.

I remember holidaying in Crete in the 198Os and feeling sorry for the local people because the whole of the east coast had been built up as concrete hotels where tourists had beach/hotel holidays that might have been anywhere. Meanwhile the West of the island was so lovely. Empty beaches. Locals thumbing lifts from you. Inviting you into their homes. A little restaurant with locally grown traditional food.
I thought with gratitude that mass tourism couldn't come to the north of Scotland because of the cold and the midges. But it has. Nose to tail camper vans on the narrow roads. People racing round in sports cars and motor bikes. Rubbish. Human waste.
But I want to be a tourist myself. But not with a mass of people spoiling it for me.
And the centre of my own city of Edinburgh is packed with tourists now which ruins it to an extent for everybody both locals and tourists. But I suppose it is an economy of a kind.
It is hypocritical of me.
There is no easy answer to all of this really Most of us are both locals and tourists at different times. It can't just be OK for me but wrong for everybody else.

glammagran

We went to a smallish game park in South Africa 9 years ago. The description given by another poster bears no resemblence to what we experienced. Our driver was very knowledgeable and we could drive for an hour without seeing another jeep and when we encountered wildlife (and we did see a female cheetah with 3 cubs) the driver switched his engine off and it was so quiet you could hear lions footfall on the road. The animals ignored us totally. We got within a few feet of a female giraffe with her calf who didn’t even look at us while eating from an acacia tree at the side of the road. The downside was nobody had told us it could get down to 0°c at dawn and dusk in September and we hadn’t enough warm clothing. 😂

I too saw the programme as described, which showed a veritable jam of safari vehicles full of people. I was shocked