Canary Islanders tell Brits to go home.

Greciangirl

Apparently, there is a lack of water on the islands.

Overcrowding maybe due to tourism and the strain of hot weather has comprised a lack of fresh water.

There were demonstrations and marches by the natives at the weekend demanding tourists pay a fee for staying there, i think

Much of the water comes from sesalination plants so plenty water in the sea.
When we go to Lake Garda in Italy for some years now we have paid an daily fee for staying there.
You cannot blame the Daily Mail for thousands of people protesting in the Canaries.
We went to Lanzarote twice a year for years and I was so ashamed by the loud drunken Brits in their flip flops we saw frequenting the pubs.

Paperbackwriter

"I wish they could be taken off them and given what they originally paid , why should hard working locals have no chance of living by family These second homes are usually only used a few weeks a year. Have organised park homes or caravans to buy, renting the plot to be renewed every 10 years."

A bit harsh! There is no entitlement - here or abroad - to be able to buy a home in the place you grew up or where your family live. I hear this all the time, having a place in Cornwall. You can still buy a little house here for under £200,000. In SW London (and many other places) that would set you back about £800,000. It's just the way it is. Those who live in pretty places are damn lucky and should expect to share the area with those who visit.

Sharing the area you live with others is fine, so long as they don’t take over, killing villages because they are only there for a few weeks every year. Also if visiting for a holiday that they use their brains and respect the countryside and other people - some of the idiotic behaviour you see if you live in a tourist area has to be seen to be believed. Climbing a mountain in heels - really.

Etoile2701

I don't read the Daily Mail EVER! It is full of articles like that. Sheer unadulterated sensationalist rubbish.

I should watch some news other than the usual msm. On y tube showing huge marches demanding tourists out. So the mail, wether you like it or not, got it right,perhaps only concentrating on British tourists, because yes we are,and because it was many of these British tourists that helped cause the problems in the first place, think drunken hen and stag parties for starters.

I’ve just seen on Sky news that Thanet District Council are considering a modest tourist tax and an extra council tax on second homes. I’ve often considered second homes a luxury, often unused for many weeks of the year and often to the detriment of local residents, particularly those seeking to buy in their locale.
Maybe this will become the norm in the UK at least.

"I wish they could be taken off them and given what they originally paid , why should hard working locals have no chance of living by family These second homes are usually only used a few weeks a year. Have organised park homes or caravans to buy, renting the plot to be renewed every 10 years."

A bit harsh! There is no entitlement - here or abroad - to be able to buy a home in the place you grew up or where your family live. I hear this all the time, having a place in Cornwall. You can still buy a little house here for under £200,000. In SW London (and many other places) that would set you back about £800,000. It's just the way it is. Those who live in pretty places are damn lucky and should expect to share the area with those who visit.

Apparently, there is a lack of water on the islands.

Overcrowding maybe due to tourism and the strain of hot weather has comprised a lack of fresh water.

There were demonstrations and marches by the natives at the weekend demanding tourists pay a fee for staying there, i think

I don't read the Daily Mail EVER! It is full of articles like that. Sheer unadulterated sensationalist rubbish.

Dinahmo

Grammaretto

It's not new either.
I can remember the 1970s when cottages in Wales owned by English people as 2nd homes were being burned down.
We were holidaying there, staying in a B&B (not an airbnb) when a cottage nearby was set alight.

I have never wanted a second home even if it was affordable .

We used to visit Wales regularly in the late 60s and early 70s. specifically Pembrokeshire and Cardigan. The English were buying up what I called do-uppables whilst the Welsh were leaving their old homes for something new. Furthermore it was Welsh people themselves who were selling their wrecks.

What goes around comes around though. Many second home owners are now selling up their Welsh second homes because of the change in the law around council tax for them. The timing is good because more people want to settle in rural areas since the advent of remote working, and they bring money to local economies year round.

I totally agree. We visit Robin Hood's Bay and Whitby in North Yorkshire and the pubs and shops have difficulty getting staff. Young people are moving out of the area because they can't afford housing locally. The local authority needs to address the issue.

There is mass tourism everywhere, exacerbated by the numbers coming from China and other far eastern countries. Large cities like Rome, Florence, Paris and London are inundated.

Pre covid we visited Florence in October. It was packed with tourists. It was necessary to pre-book visits to most of the churches and galleries. The entrance prices in the summer were high, gradually reducing to lower prices as the seasons changed. The authorities were trying to tempt people to go in December or January with lower prices.

The Amalfi coast has been popular for many years but, following the release of Ripley the Italians are expecting many more visitors. Apparently AirBNB is reporting a 93% increase in bookings to Atrani and Ravello since Ripley was released.

In France they are trying to persuade holiday makers to go to the lesser known towns and villages because of the numbers in the well known tourist areas.

I am grateful that we managed to visit many of what are now "hot spots" before they became overrun.

A French friend has an apartment at Lagos, in Portugal. He was amazed when my DH showed him some photos taken in 1969/70 of old people wearing black and riding on donkeys.
At that time it was relatively undiscovered but he and another photographer were there working for Clarksons who were producing a brochure of a holiday location that had just been built.

biglouis

*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.

The first time we went to Venice was nearly 50 ago. It was November, the duck boards were out in St Mark,s Square and it was very damp,getting into our bones. We had planned to have stand up coffees rather than pay the extra to sit at tables and also to have snacks rather than proper meals. As it was, we ate lunch and dinner in restaurants and sat in many cafes, including the two in St Mark's Square. This enhanced our holiday so we were just a bit poorer when we returned to England.

More recently, on our last visit, my DH took a photo of one of the cruise ships which dwarfed San Marco. Venice has started to ban some cruise ships since 2021.

Grammaretto

It's not new either.
I can remember the 1970s when cottages in Wales owned by English people as 2nd homes were being burned down.
We were holidaying there, staying in a B&B (not an airbnb) when a cottage nearby was set alight.

I have never wanted a second home even if it was affordable .

We used to visit Wales regularly in the late 60s and early 70s. specifically Pembrokeshire and Cardigan. The English were buying up what I called do-uppables whilst the Welsh were leaving their old homes for something new. Furthermore it was Welsh people themselves who were selling their wrecks.

There is a balance to be struck between exploiters and exploitees.
The actual inhabitants of Wales, rural England, Canary Islanders (etc.) provide the bedrock that tourism rests on.
Some means of control has to be in place to preserve everyone's interests.

Torricella4

The Daily Mail strikes again!

Have you read the report?

The Daily Mail strikes again!

Allsorts

I think a lot of hotels are all inclusive on the Canary Islands meaning not much money going into local economy so I do see their point. Doubt many will agree with me but second homes in beautiful areas are means little chance for locals to buy, I think they should stop any more second homes and the ones they have already should be heavily taxed, I wish they could be taken off them and given what they originally paid , why should hard working locals have no chance of living by family These second homes are usually only used a few weeks a year. Have organised park homes or caravans to buy, renting the plot to be renewed every 10 years.
Sea dragon, I’m so sorry for the behaviour of the passengers of these cruise ships, can’t you refuse to have them descending on you. One ship at a time and they should pay for the privilege.

We have had a holiday on an all inclusive resort in Tenerife but we went shopping in the local town ate in a few local restaurants went hang gliding off resort visited a local wildlife sanctuary (where we spent money) and had coffees etc in lots of cafes, we mainly ate out to be honest! but it was nice knowing the meals were there if we wanted. We tipped the ladies who cleaned our rooms at the end of our stay too.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 !

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