A video shared on social media shows activists smashing car windows and setting fire to rent-a-cars in Tenerife, targeting tourists in the Canary Islands amid the anti-tourism movement that has spread across Spain
Activist groups in Tenerife, opposing the surge of mass tourism, have escalated their demonstrations to intense levels, resorting to vandalism by breaking windows and igniting rent-a-cars, it has been reported.
Footage that has been spreading on social media lately captures several individuals targeting rental vehicles from Cicar, a renowned firm among Canary Islands tourists. These acts of defiance occurred within Tenerife’s southern regions.
This wave of protests follows a summer filled with unrest in Spain’s favoured holiday destinations during 2024. Residents had voiced urgent pleas for government action against the crunch in housing, escalating rents, increasing burdens on community facilities, and environmental degradation, the Canarian Weekly reported.
While committed activists have vowed to press on with protests in the upcoming summer, no group has yet stood forward to claim the recent destructive outbursts in Tenerife. However, various activist-linked social media profiles have purportedly disseminated the footage.
One statement declares: “We have received this video from Canary Islands activists, exhausted by mass tourism, overpopulation in their neighbourhoods, and the complete lack of redistribution of the so-called wealth generated by tourism. We have nowhere to park, nor anywhere to live in peace.”
Local news outlets report that the National Police are now delving into the case. An activist spread the footage on his social platforms and was cited in Canarian Weekly with the remark: “Peaceful means have been exhausted”, adding that activists were “tired of not being listened to and of having their peaceful protests ignored”. It is not known if the person who shared the video was involved in the incident.
In recent weeks, activists have defaced Loro Parque zoo with graffiti, labelling it ‘Loro Prison’, and set fire to construction equipment at Puertito de Adeje, a site linked to tourism projects. Meanwhile, over in Spain, the Mallorcan anti-mass tourism group Banc del Temps Sencells released a video on Monday suggesting further actions are on the horizon.
The footage shows community members marching with ‘for sale’ signs, expressing their frustration over locals being pushed out due to the influx of tourists.
“Almost a year ago we were shouting loudly,” they declared in the video. “But this has done nothing. Thousands of people in the streets, demanding the right to live in Majorca without having to be rich. And now? We are even worse off. Rents are skyrocketing, people are being expelled, desperation is growing.”
Overtourism is an increasingly pressing issue across many parts of Europe. The Mirror recently visited Dubrovnik in Croatia which was hit with negative headlines back in 2017. CNN named it one of 12 places to avoid visiting due to the large number of tourists and cruise ships.
The city’s politicians have taken action to improve the situation in the city, including by keeping track of visitor numbers, staggering cruise ship arrivals and reducing the number of vendors in the Old Town.