Locals at a beloved holiday destination are demanding that “classier” Brits come to their island as part of their war against rowdy tourists.
Tenerife residents say they want to replace the Brits who come to the Canary Islands to drink “cheap beer and scoff burgers” with a more elevated crowd.
There has been escalating tension between locals and holidaymakers, despite many islanders relying on the tourism trade.
A record 6.5million visitors went to Tenerife last year – an annual surge of 11 percent – with 16million travelling to the Canaries as a whole.
But those who live on the islands have started hitting back, with new graffiti reading “tourists go home” and “too many guiris”, a Spanish slang word for foreigners.
Among those wanting higher calibre visitors is local painter Vicky Colomer, 63, who told the Mail: “I feel like a foreigner here, I don’t feel comfortable anymore. It’s like everything is made for British and German tourists who just want to drink cheap beer, lay in the sun and eat burgers and chips.
“We need higher quality tourists who actually want to experience our culture and food and respect our nature. This was a paradise but now it’s not and it makes me angry. We must reduce the number of flights and visitors and focus on bringing higher quality people.
“There are hundreds of caravans who park up illegally and leave rubbish all over the place. Near my home a few weeks ago foreign tourists put on a rave with a DJ booth and speakers in the middle of a field, that is not acceptable.”
School teacher Zarita Chinea, 39, similarly criticised the Brits Abroad, describing the resort areas as “a bit of a tourism ghetto”.
She said: “It’s like there are two worlds in Tenerife, the tourists and the locals, and we don’t mix. If I was in power I would try to reduce the number of holidaymakers – there have been so many more in the past year and it is noticeable.
“I also think we need better quality tourists, who respect our land and nature, who want to explore the real Tenerife and go hiking for example.”
But some British tourists are fighting back, with a message in English scribbled next to some graffiti saying: “F**k off, we pay your wages!”
A protest has been planned for today, dubbed Save La Teijda. Campaigners are expected to hold a press conference laying out their demands before holding a march with banners and signs.
And later this month, a second large protest is being planned by a string of environmental and social groups.
A poster for the event says the Canary Islands “has a limit” and that protesters will be marching for “’conservation of natural spaces, a tourist moratorium, and tougher regulation for foreigners buying property”.
