A MAJORCAN hotel chief has warned the mass tourism protests in the Canary Islands protests could be repeated in the Balearics.
Blau Hotels CEO Joan Pla said he “wasn’t surprised” by the huge demonstrations earlier this month in places like Tenerife.
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He claimed the number of homes built for local residents that were being purchased instead by foreigners as holiday properties was a problem.
And he complained islands like Majorca, where he is based, were having to cope with the influx of too many people at certain times of the year.
Mr Pla’s comments, made during an interview with a local paper, come as hotel bosses in Benidorm admit they are “very worried” by the Canary Island protests and they showed there were serious problems that needed to be addressed.
Blau Hotels has two luxury hotels in Majorca, Blau Punta Reina on its east coast and Blau Colonia Sant Jordi on its south coast, as well as establishments in Asturias in northern Spain and Cuba.
All are at least four-star hotels.
Asked whether he thought more quality was the future of tourism, Mr Pla told Majorcan newspaper Ultima Hora: “We need to look at what we mean by quality tourism.
“It’s clear that the irruption of Airbnb had a huge impact on the decline, but now we’re in another phase in which the homes that are built for residents are bought by foreigners to spend a few months in.
“All this makes us lose sight of where we are going. There is nothing sustainable about the number of people coming to the islands and the high consumption of resources we have.”
He added: “I am not surprised there are demonstrations like the ones in the Canary Islands, which could also happen here” and insisted after identifying massification and the rising cost of living as problems: “Everyone has the right to live in their own house.”
Fede Fuster, head of Benidorm hotel association HOSBEC, said last Friday in a General Assembly speech to members: “We watched with concern how people in the Canary Islands protested a few days ago against the ‘negative’ effects of tourism.
“This is serious, it should worry us and occupy our minds. The delicate balance between tourists and residents that we have been able to maintain for decades has been broken.”
But he went on to insist those pointing the finger at hoteliers were confusing the “righteous for sinners” in an attack on the expansion of holiday rental homes by claiming: “The genesis of this virus is called the hotelisation of housing and the digital platforms are its carrier.”
Mr Fuster, elected HOSBEC president in December 2022 in place of the former long-time leader Toni Mayor, also had a dig at the Spanish government for not making tourism “part of its priorities.”
Canarias Se Agota, the organisation behind the April 20 demonstrations across the Canary Islands, has organised a new protest later today in the northern Tenerife town of La Laguna where five activists are now on the 20th day of their hunger strike.
One of the six men and women who began the extreme action had to quit at the weekend on the advice of medical experts.
Many of the protestors are calling on regional president Fernando Clavijo to answer their demands, which include a tourist moratorium, or resign.
Late last week Tenerife paved the way for tourists to be charged to visit the island’s natural spaces including the iconic Teide mountain from January 1 next year.
Its politicians voted to introduce the fee for non-residents following a viability study.
The vote followed mounting pressure on politicians to deal with some of the demands made by protestors who took to the streets of the Canary Islands ten days ago.
The protestors made their voices heard under the slogan: “Canarias tiene un limite’, which in English translates as ‘The Canary Islands have a limit.’
Last Wednesday morning the same words appeared painted in white on the tarmac of one of the access roads to Mount Teide.
Another message painted on the road said: ‘Moratoria turistica’ – ‘Tourist moratorium’ in English.’
Tenerife, a popular island with Irish tourists, has been at the forefront of the protests linked to the type of mass tourism it attracts.
Last Tuesday a leading Tenerife politician urged British and Irish tourists looking for cheap all-inclusive sunshine breaks to go elsewhere for their vacations.
Carlos Tarife, deputy mayor for the island capital Santa Cruz, said holidaymakers interested in staying in their hotels with their mandatory wristbands on should book places like the Dominican Republic instead.
Graffiti in English left on walls and benches in and around Palm Mar in southern Tenerife at the start of the month included ‘My misery your paradise’ and ‘Average salary in Canary Islands is 1,200 euros.’
In an apparent UK backlash, a response left in English on a wall next to a ‘Tourists go home’ message said: “F**k off, we pay your wages.”
Canarias Se Agota has insisted it has nothing to do with the graffiti that has appeared in parts of Tenerife over recent weeks – and has accused regional politicians of blaming them of tourism-phobia as part of a ‘dirty tricks’ campaign.
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