Tenerife and Lanzarote ‘begging’ for UK tourists as British numbers ‘must be reduced’

The Canary Islands have begged tourists and holidaymakers from the UK to visit, despite protests against tourism. The minister insisted islands such as Lanzarote and Tenerife, as well as Fuerteventura, were safe amid a wave of “tourist phobia”.

Jessica de León, who became regional head of tourism last July, told The Telegraph that the archipelago is still very much open for business. “It is still safe to visit the Canary Islands and we are delighted to welcome you,” said Ms de León.

She said she understood the protesters’ frustrations, particularly around the housing issue, but it was “unfair to blame tourism”. Fernando Clavijo, the president of the Canary Islands, also weighed in, saying some of the views expressed by the activists “reek of touristophobia”.

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“People who come here to visit and spend their money should not be criticized or insulted. We are playing with our main source of income,” said Mr. Clavijo. “We have the feeling that we don’t live from tourism; tourism is what lives off us,” said Gabriel González, a councilor for the hard-left Podemos party in the southern Tenerife resort town of Adeje.

“The number of tourists should be reduced. We should be after high-quality visitors, not people from all-inclusive resorts who don’t leave the hotel or interact with the locals and our culture in any way,” said Néstor Marrero, secretary of an environmental group in Tenerife called ATAN.

“Tourists are allowed to behave here in ways they wouldn’t be allowed at home. Do they fall drunk from balconies in London or Wales or drive their cars where it’s forbidden in a nature reserve?” asked the group as well.

Mr Marrero said doing nothing about the situation would be the best way to “create tourist-phobia” with locals reduced to “sleeping in their cars because they can’t afford the rents”.