Furious locals in Lanzarote are erecting fake ‘closed due to overcrowding’ signs at island beauty spots in a new dirty tricks campaign against holidaymakers.
The posters and stickers have appeared on the island last month and were put up by anti-tourism protesters, who wrote on social media: ‘It is time to boycott, with the tools at our disposal, the tourist activity that is expelling us from our own land.’
Lanzarote gears up for a huge protest on April 20 to stop the influx of tourists, with residents in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and La Palma also taking part in the demonstration.
‘Lanzarote has a limit’ is the motto of the call for worried residents on Lanzarote and is carried out by anonymous citizens ‘who do not represent any group or political party.’
Messages on social media under the hashtag Lanzarote has a limit (#lanzarotetieneunlimite) encourage ‘all citizens’ to participate in this demonstration.
Fake ‘closed due to overcrowding’ signs have been put up in popular beauty sports on the island as environmentalists say Lanzarote is being ruined by its own success
Another fake ‘closed due to tourist overcrowding’ was put up near the Timanfaya volcano
Anti-tourism activists also put up posters at the door to luxury flats, which also said ‘area closed due to tourist overcrowding’
‘We want you to be the protagonist of this demand. Waitress, cleaning worker, doctor, farmer, teacher, merchant, businesswoman, rancher, scientist, whoever you are, participate in this massive protest.
‘Lanzarote does not support more than three million annual tourists (3,049,188 tourists in 2022, ISTAC) who visit the island in a disorderly manner. The island is collapsing socially and environmentally,’ the organisers claim.
They condemn tourist overcrowding and its consequences ‘but not the arrival of tourists in a controlled and sustainable way.’
‘We want to unite all the citizens of Lanzarote who are concerned about tourist overcrowding and its effects on the territory and public services. As is happening on other islands, Lanzarote is no longer sustainable,’ they explain.
The campaigners say it is impossible to access housing and also criticise the congestion of health services, the collapse of the waste management system, the lack of water for consumption and the agricultural sector, the loss of quality of life, poor public transportation, overcrowding of protected spaces affected by multiple crimes and environmental infractions and the loss of biodiversity, among others.
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‘The current model has completely destroyed the quality of life in the Canary Islands and those reasons that made the islands unique: the conditions of a dignified and valuable life, our biodiversity, our landscapes, our people and the identity of what we were,’ they say.
‘It is necessary to act immediately to change the mass tourism model for a regulated model based on degrowth and the sustainable coexistence of the tourism industry with the general well-being of the population.’
In addition, they demand ‘improving and increasing health services, increasing educational resources, multiplying public transportation and guaranteeing the right to housing.
Finally, they demand the ‘reduction of tourist pressure in protected natural spaces with better management and greater surveillance to avoid ecological attacks and environmental deterioration that are currently taking place.’