A video has been circulating on social media showing a group of unknown individuals smashing windows and setting fire to rental cars in the south of Tenerife. The vehicles belong to Cicar, a Canary Islands-based company which is considered to be a key player in the archipelago’s tourism industry.
Although no one has claimed responsibility for the vandalism, several Tenerife accounts managed by environmental and anti-tourism activists have shared the video with this text: “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.”
According to local media reports, the National Police are investigating the case and investigating whether activists caused the damage.
“Peaceful means have been exhausted,” said activist Roberto Mesa, who shared the video on social media.
Though he claims to have no direct knowledge of the criminals, he insists that the local population is frustrated by being ignored and having their peaceful protests disregarded. He stressed that this was his personal opinion.
The attack reportedly occurred in the early hours of March 5th in a car park used by several car rental companies in Costa Adeje.
“We have nowhere to park, nor anywhere to live in peace,” the activists wrote in their post.
“We don’t need more roads, just fewer rental cars. The Canary Islands, as a country, would rank seventh in the world in terms of the number of cars,” Mesa argued.
“Unfortunately, I think things will get worse if there’s no change.”
This alleged anti-tourist violence is the latest in a string of attacks against the Canary Islands’s leading industry.
In the last fortnight, graffiti appeared outside the Loro Parque zoo, which activists have dubbed “Loro Prison”. The graffiti attacked zoo owner, Wolfgang Kiesseling, calling him a “murder”, and threatening him with messages including: “We’re coming for you”.
Meanwhile, the Tenerife employers’s association, CEOE, reported at the end of February the burning of construction equipment involved in the controversial Cuna del Alma project in the south of the island.
