Dramatic footage of the brawl, filmed in the early hours near an infamous nightclub strip, shows the two British women grappling on the pavement as jeering onlookers egg them on
Tenerife: Two British women caught brawling in popular nightspot
Two British women have been caught in a violent street fight on a notorious Tenerife nightclub strip – a scene that’s ignited a firestorm of outrage among locals already fed up with drunken tourist antics.
Dramatic footage of the brawl, filmed in the early hours near the infamous Las Verónicas strip in Playa de Las Américas, shows the women grappling on the pavement as jeering onlookers egg them on. One lunges at the other, slamming her into the ground. The move is followed by a flurry of punches before passers-by finally intervene to tear them apart. The video, shared on Instagram via the account @tenerifequejasvecinales, has since gone viral, sparking renewed calls for tighter controls on nightlife and an increased police presence in the south of Tenerife.
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Social media users flocked to the comments to slam the tourists for their unruly behaviour. “This is becoming unbearable,” one said. Another wrote: “What a disgrace, and it’s only getting worse.” The fight has echoed what many residents see as the dark side of mass tourism in Tenerife’s south – and comes at a time when the island is already grappling with a drop in British bookings and rising local unrest.
Anti-tourism reached boiling point on May 18, when thousands of demonstrators flooded streets and beaches across the Canary Islands. It comes after a sharp 8% year-on-year decline in UK summer reservations, according to Santiago Sese, president of Tenerife’s Chamber of Commerce. He warned on Friday that British tourists are being lured elsewhere, citing gains in countries like Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Morocco – while UK-targeted ad campaigns are failing to bring more travellers in.
Tenerife welcomed a record 5.6 million visitors in 2023 – 600,000 more than in 2019 – but the strain is showing. In March 2024, angry slogans like “tourists go home” and “your paradise, our misery” were scrawled across buildings, highlighting simmering resentment over rising costs and stagnant wages. Anti-tourism campaigners also claim that the rise in Airbnb and holiday lets have sparked housing issues, with a growing number of homes becoming unavailable to rent to locals.
“Everything is for tourists… this is our prison paradise,” a disgruntled local wrote on a Facebook community forum. “Just try to understand us local people. If you don’t[,] go home!” Officials have yet to respond publicly to the latest street brawl.