Jorge Marichal, president of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodations, revealed people were calling ahead before flying out to the Canaries in an interview with local radio.
In recent weeks, graffiti telling tourists to go home has appeared in some parts of the popular tourist destination, while a protest is planned next Saturday (20 April).
Residents of the Canary Islands, including Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and La Palma, are set to take to the streets. Canaries Se Agota, the group behind the protests, insists it is not opposed to tourism but instead it wants a model that is more sustainable and fairer for locals.
Ahead the protest, Marichal said: “One of the problems I am facing is clients are beginning to call and ask what’s happening here and whether it’s safe. It’s happening in some hotels.”
Fernando Clavijo Batlle, president of the Canary Islands, has issued a reminder to the islands’ residents about how tourism is the “main source of employment” there. He called any protests “irresponsible” and urged people to show “common sense” and be “calm”.
Marichal also expressed disappointment over the growing anti-tourist sentiment, saying: “It pains me because people confuse the message. We don’t have to be anti-tourist. What we have to do is demand infrastructure that matches the tourist model that’s been chosen.”
In 2022, Tenerife welcomed around 5.8 million tourists – both overseas visitors and residents from the Spanish mainland and other islands.
