Expats who swapped Britain for the Canary Islands have revealed what it's really like to live in Spain's hotspots. Thousands of locals are protesting in the Canary Islands against what they say is overtourism.
They claim they are being priced out of life because 'unsustainable' tourism drives up the cost of living and damages the environment. The protests are said to be aimed at halting the rise in short-term holiday rentals and hotel developments.
Signs reading 'We don't want our island to die', 'Stop hotels' and 'Canary Islands not for sale' have been seen during the protests. The demonstrations have raised concerns among British tourists considering flying to the Spanish islands.
READ MORE: Booking.com says 'sorry' after Brit flies to Thailand and discovers hotel doesn't exist Sign up here for the BirminghamLive newsletter to get the latest updates on the biggest, most recent stories.Some expats say they are 'frustrated' with the way they think the protests are being viewed in Britain. They fear some holidaymakers may be deterred from visiting the Canary Islands, the Manchester Evening News reports.
John Parkes owns The Vault Bar in the seaside resort of Los Cristianos, Tenerife, where the majority of his customers are tourists. Mr Parkes, 43, was born near Oldham but moved abroad at the age of seven.
He said locals were unhappy about the lack of affordable housing, with the price of a one-bedroom apartment doubling in recent years. Mr Parkes said the problem was due to a lack of new homes and a rise in the number of Airbnbs in Tenerife.
He said: "All long-term accommodation has been taken off the market and replaced with tourist apartments. No one can afford to live where they work anymore, so everyone is being pushed out of the city.
"Wages have not risen accordingly. The aim of the protests is to review how the island is set up for the tourist markets and to see why every house can be rented out to tourists at the expense of living space."
Mr Parkes said the lack of affordable housing, combined with low wages, had made it difficult for businesses to hire staff. He said: "If they don't drive, they can't get home when they finish late at night.
"We have other staff coming over from mainland Spain and they have nowhere to live, so they give up and go back." Mr Parkes said he sympathized with demands for "tourism model reform" and called for more homes to be built.
He also sympathized with restrictions to control the number of properties used as Airbnb. But he said the message behind the protests has been "misinterpreted."
He said: "I'm not a 'tourists go home' trader, but some concerns are valid," he said. 'That doesn't mean that people here at the airport are holding up banners telling them to go home.
'As far as I'm concerned, everyone is welcome here. It's not anti-British. The message is about the tourist model, not about a specific group of people.
"There is no reason to worry if anyone comes here. I work with tourists every day and have never heard of any problems. I am frustrated with the way they are perceived.
"These kinds of things happen wherever there is tourism. Even in the Lake District and Cornwall you have similar problems with the way accommodation has changed from residential places to holiday homes.
"You need to have affordable housing so that there can be harmony between residents and tourists and so that companies can have living space for their staff."
Suzanne Goodwin, 53, moved to Lanzarote last year after visiting the island for the past 25 years. Ms Goodwin, from Sale, said locals were angry about a lack of investment in infrastructure.
Lanzarote regularly experiences problems with its water system, with the water supply in the more rural parts being cut off during the peak tourism season. She said: 'People don't complain about tourists.
'They complain about all the hotels and that no infrastructure is being built. It is their main source of income, but if we continue to grow and grow, what are we going to do about the water and electricity supply?
"People want to come here because you're more or less assured of the weather, but they don't think about the underlying problems and what it can cause." She said she was also concerned about how the protests were coming across to Britons in Britain, adding: 'I'm not sure they are going about it in the right way.
"The way it comes across in the news is that it is against the tourists. They are not against the people, it is against the government. Tourists are welcome here.
"Everyone is friendly. When we go out we always go to the Spanish places and we've never had any problems. I've never had any hostility. Without the tourists it wouldn't survive."
Jimmy Largey, from Blackley , has had a holiday home in Tenerife for the past twenty years and says he supports the demonstrators. The lack of housing was impacting British expats, who are "finding it impossible to find an affordable place" on the island, he said.
Mr Largey said: "The The problem is not the English holidaymakers or anyone else. The problem is the greedy owners of apartments and villas.
"The owners warn the workers and turn their apartments and villas into holiday rentals with one goal: more money." Mr Largey said the same families stay at his holiday property 'year after year'.
But he accused other owners of raising their prices in recent years. He said, "I didn't jump on the gravy train.
"I was one of the originals. I agree with the protest for more housing and fewer hotels. The greedy owners wanted to keep the workers in their apartments, knowing they couldn't get the vacationers at the time. Now it's thanks, go find somewhere else to live.
"There is already a labor shortage here. Now bars, restaurants and hotels are crying out for staff, but the staff cannot find affordable accommodation, so they are leaving the island."
Chris Elkington has lived in Tenerife since 1991 after moving from Stockport. He is editor of Canarian Weekly, an English-language newspaper on the islands.
In recent weeks he has received 'a large number of emails and messages asking if it is safe to come to Tenerife' from concerned Britons. In an open letter on the publication's Facebook page, he accused the British media of "sensationalizing" their coverage of the protests.
He wrote: "Yes, today there are demonstrations about tourism and the fact it is causing problems for locals... BUT no one has said we don't want British tourists - do you think we are that short-sighted and frankly stupid? ?
'What the people in the Canary Islands, because it is not just Tenerife, but all the islands, want it to be fairer. They want to live somewhere.
'They would like to pay, but the government allows too many holiday homes, so they are forced to leave. There are people living in tents, vans and cars on the streets. Is that fair?
"They want to stop the construction of new hotels because it is ruining the island, and where will the workers for these new hotels live? Is that fair? The Canary Islands have some of the highest tourism figures, but the third lowest average wages. in Spain. Is that fair?
"Please understand that this is not about you, i.e. British, or any other tourist nationality, but about the current tourism model... There is a huge difference."
Anthony Caitucoli, who runs the American Indian Cafe in Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote, said: 'There is a shortage of housing for workers and the housing available is expensive to rent.
"There are also problems such as sewage from hotels and apartments being pumped into the sea. These problems need a solution, but that solution does not mean banning tourists or making it more difficult for them to visit the Canary Islands.
"We need more government investment in infrastructure and housing and perhaps a daily limit on the number of visitors to our main tourist attractions and nature parks."
Fernando Clavijo, president of the Canary Islands, previously targeted the protesters, saying their speech "smacks of tourist phobia." He asked people not to cancel their holidays.
There have also been discussions about introducing a €3 per night levy on tourists, an idea that Mr Clavijo has not ruled out. The Canary Islands Tourist Board has also asked holidaymakers to come to the islands.
It said: "In terms of tourists, the situation they see on the eight islands is completely normal. We are aware that some isolated and specific events have occurred, but at no time has this changed the enjoyment of the holiday of those who visit us."
Rosa Davila, Tenerife's first female president, suggested imposing visitor limits, warning that "there must be limits to prevent tourism from flooding."
Ms Davila proposed a new tourism model that would require visitors to pay a fee to access natural areas. After the mass protests, she said: "We must analyze the exceptional circumstances that can be applied in an area as vulnerable and limited as ours.
"What is clear is that Tenerife cannot be a theme park. Those who visit us must appreciate and respect our natural and cultural wealth and our resources, and they must be clear about the rules for their conservation."
