Thousands protest in Spain's Canary Islands against over tourism

By Borja Suarez

GRAN CANARIA, Spain (Reuters) - Thousands of people protested in holiday resorts in Spain's Canary Islands on Sunday against over tourism which they say prices local people out of the housing market.

Under the slogan Canary Islands has a limit, residents demonstrated simultaneously in Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Palma, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and El Hierro and called for a change in the tourism model for the islands.

In the Playa de las Americas in Tenerife, protesters appeared on the beach while tourists were sunbathing and chanted "This beach is ours."

Activists claimed the arrival of millions of visitors every year depletes limited natural resources like water and damages the environment. At least 8,000 people took part, the Spanish government said.

Between January and September, 9.9 million tourists visited the Canary Islands, according to the Spanish National Statistics Institute, 10.3% more than in the same period in 2023. The islands' population was 2.2 million last year.

"We need a change in the tourist model so it leaves richness here, a change so it values what this land has because it is beautiful," Sara Lopez, 32, told Reuters in Gran Canaria on Sunday.

Tourism-dependent Spain has seen a series of protests against over tourism this year in Barcelona, and other popular holiday destinations like Mallorca and Malaga.

The Canary Islands regional government drafted a law which is expected to pass this year to toughen the rules on short lets following complaints from locals priced out of the housing market.

Newly built properties will be barred from the short-let market and property owners with a permit will have five years to comply with requirements that include granting neighbours the right to object to these permits.

The Canary Islands decided to crack down on tourist rents after the number of private renters exploded in recent years.

On Saturday, hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Valencia to call for more affordable housing, saying tourist flats push up prices.

(Reporting by Graham Keeley, additional reporting Borja Suarez, editing by Giles Elgood)