Deputy mayor of European holiday hot spot ‘urges Brits to go elsewhere’ days after locals organise anti-tourism protests
BRITS have been warned to stay away from one of their favourite holiday hotspots as the island needs “higher quality” tourists.
The caution comes after tens of thousands of locals gathered to protest tourism in their home, declaring they “have a limit”.
Politician Carlos Tarife, the deputy mayor for Tenerife capital Santa Cruz, said the island wants to move away from “all-inclusive” tourism and wristband-wearing holidaymakers.
He urged travellers who want to stay in their hotel while on holiday to go elsewhere, telling Radio Marca Tenerife: “Where before there were hotels with 250 beds, today we are in hotels with fewer beds and higher quality.
“I think that’s the tourism we need in our land, not the wristband and ‘all-inclusive’ kind of tourism of ‘I stay inside the hotel and do everything inside the hotel’.
“That’s why there are other destinations,” local outlet El Dia reports.
The politician added that Santa Cruz would like to be known as a place with five-star luxury hotels where tourists “not only come to enjoy some facilities, but also come to eat our local product”.
His comments came after Brits were warned that they might be charged a daily “tourist tax” to visit the Canary Islands.
Canary Islands president Fernando Clavijo raised the possibility as tens of thousands of angry locals – up to 80,000, according to protest organisers – took to the streets in Tenerife to rage against the tourism industry and urge Brits to “go home”.
Protesters filled a square in Santa Cruz, blowing horns, waving Canary Islands flags, and brandishing banners reading: “You enjoy we suffer.”
Anti-tourist graffiti had by then already begun to crop up on walls and benches in and around southern Tenerife.
Bitter messages – including “your paradise, our misery” – have been plastered all over the tourism hotspot for months.
Tenerife residents said they were “fed up” of “low quality” Brit tourists who only visit to indulge in cheap beer, burgers, and sunbathing.
Some Brit holidaymakers called their hotels on the island for confirmation that they would be safe on their holidays.
Mr Tarife, who is the head of public services and the environment for Santa Cruz Council as well as deputy mayor, emphasised on Tuesday that he was against a tourist moratorium – but also that the Islands need to try and attract a different demographic of tourist.