I’m a Lanzarote ladette who drinks all day & sunbed hogs, I pay locals’ wages, I’m fuming they’re moaning about tourists
LYING by the pool, Emmie Barwise, 31, and her two friends are laughing loudly and enjoying day one of a week-long girls’ holiday in Lanzarote.
It’s July 2023 and it’s Emmie’s third holiday to the Canary Islands.
The events manager and mum to a daughter Frankie, 11, who is staying with her grandparents, is determined to make her break count.
It’s 1pm and already she and her two friends have downed a bottle of Champagne and Emmie is onto her fourth cocktail.
Emmie, from Chester, Cheshire, was up at 6am to ensure she nabbed only the very best sun loungers and tonight she and her mates plan to dance and party until dawn.
“I am a proud Lanzarote ladette,” she says. “Lanzarote is for ladies who love letting loose and partying. I can drink a bloke under the table any day.”
What is the situation in the Canary Islands?
BRITS could face a daily ‘tourist tax’ to visit the Canary Islands after anti-tourist protestors demanded a freeze on holidaymakers.
The Canary Islands president, Fernando Clavijo, spoke out about a daily charge as tens of thousands of angry residents took to the streets to rage against the industry.
He warned a daily cost for visitors could be on the table.
Politicians are under pressure following last weekend’s marches as residents are demanding restrictions on the lucrative tourism industry.
An angry anti-tourist movement has been gaining moment throughout the popular holiday hotspot islands in recent months.
Bitter graffiti has even popped up telling Brits to “go home” and reading “your paradise, our misery”.
While not included in current plans, Clavijo said the government is willing to look at suggestions of a three euro per night charge.
He said last Friday: “It is true that the ecotax is not included in the government program, but it is also true that we are willing to discuss it; the government will always engage in dialogue.”
Tourists visiting the equally popular Balearic islands – including Majorca, Minorca and Ibiza – already pay between one and four euro per day if over 16.
Tenerife particularly has gone to bat against sun-seeking Brits who have called hotels on the island out of fear they may not be safe on their upcoming holidays.
But her words are set to cause controversy as it was revealed Brits could face a ‘tourist tax’ to visit Lanzarote as a freeze on holidaymakers was mooted.
Last weekend angry protesters held up banners reading “People live here” and “We don’t want to see our island die” as anti-tourist graffiti was scribbled on walls.
Meanwhile in Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, Brits were dubbed a “cancer” on the island.
Painter Painter Vicky Colomer, 63, told the Mail Online British and German tourists just want to “drink cheap beer, lay in the sun and eat burgers and chips”.
I come to Lanzarote to let loose, get drunk, dance all night and have fun. I come with my mates and it’s a chance to see the sun, sea and social scene.
Emmie
Emmie, who loves the Canary Islands for its cheap flights, hot weather, great beaches and nightlife said she was disappointed some locals didn’t want her to come.
But at the same time, she admitted part of the fun of holidaying was “misbehaving.”
She told how she was a “sunbed hogger” – someone who raced to grab a poolside bed before they were taken – drank way more than she did in the UK, and even skinny-dipped.
She said: “I come to Lanzarote to let loose, get drunk, dance all night and have fun. I come with my mates and it’s a chance to see the sun, sea and social scene.
“I admit I do spend most of my holiday happily plastered or sleeping on the sun lounger before getting loud and wild on the dance floor. But that is what holidays are for.”
Thoughts on the protests
She was in two minds about the protests, saying: “The locals charge us high prices for drinks and food. They make a huge profit off British holiday makers visiting.
“We pay for the privileges of visiting so why can’t we party and have fun?
“I’m not awful. I have class. My daughter stays at home to spend time with her grandparents and I get some me time.
“Every time I down a strawberry margarita or a Jagerbomb [a mixture of Jagermeister and Red Bull] I’m boosting Lanzarote’s economy.
“I’ve holidayed there three times. I know I help pay the locals wages.”
I usually spend eight hours by the pool or on the beach and get squiffy on cocktails and Champagne.
Emmie
She said she usually spent around £1.2k for her holiday, which got her 4* accommodation and three daily meals.
“I take another £500 for my ‘drinking’ budget,” she says.
“I usually spend eight hours by the pool or on the beach and get squiffy on cocktails and Champagne.”
“I have a nap for a couple of hours and then it’s time for dinner before hitting the town.
And she does do something pretty wild – skinny dipping.
Acting wild
“I know it’s naughty but I’m on holiday,” she says.
“But overall I don’t cause trouble. It’s stag and hen groups that make way more noise than me. I have class so I don’t vomit in the streets. That’s something holiday newbies do. Not me.”
According to Emmie, it’s ‘wannabe’ influencers who arrive with their personal glam squads and photographers who cause more problems.
“I’ve seen them causing traffic jams to get the ‘perfect shot’ in some ballgown,” she says.
It’s stag and hen groups that make way more noise than me. I have class so I don’t vomit in the streets. That’s something holiday newbies do. Not me.
Emmie
“I love coming to Lanzarote. It’s fun and relaxing. I have had the odd argument over sun loungers but that’s normal.
“I always tip the hotel staff. I know I get loud when I have a few drinks but that’s the ladette in me coming out.
Emmie also reckons many families let their children run loose at hotels causing problems for staff and other holidaymakers.
I am planning a holiday to the Canary Islands this year but if the protests continue my mates and I are considering cancelling it and going somewhere else… but I don’t want to do that.
Emmie
“I am planning a holiday to the Canary Islands this year but if the protests continue my mates and I are considering cancelling it and going somewhere else… but I don’t want to do that.”
“You see kids peeing in the pools,” she says. “They cause havoc on the beaches and misbehave.”
And despite the protests she said she would still visit. “But I’m cancelling if the protests continue.”
