A protest against the overcrowding and management of Tenerife’s Teide National Park will take place this Saturday (June 7). Spain’s Government Delegation rejected a request from the Tenerife Cabildo to ban the demonstration.
The demonstration is scheduled to take place at 8 a.m. in the Roques de García area. Participants will walk across the TF-21 road from the La Ruleta viewpoint to the Teide Parador and back. The organisers have described the action as “respectful and environmentally conscious.” Last week, Tenerife Cabildo President Rosa Dávila criticised the move, stating, “Teide is not a stage for ideological battles,” Canarian Weekly reported.
Despite opposition from local authorities, the Government Delegation has said it has no legal grounds to prohibit the protest.
During the demonstration, organisers will ask visitors to respect the park’s rules and values. They will urge people not to park outside designated areas and to stick to the marked trails so as not to damage Teide’s fragile environment.
No loudspeakers, no slogans and no banners are expected to be fixed to public property, and the route will remain on tarmac and pedestrian areas. Environmental groups hope the peaceful protest will send a strong message about the need for sustainable tourism and better protection for the iconic site.
Teide National Park is centred on Mount Teide, Spain’s highest mountain. The park covers 18,990 hectares and was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in June 2007.
Teide is the most visited national park in Spain, with around three million visitors annually. In 2022, it welcomed over four million, a 40% increase since 1996.
However, its popularity among tourists has put the park at risk. It is now just as common to see rubbish, crowds of people, and streams of traffic jams as the unusual rock formations. Unruly tourists have also been spotted climbing the fragile landmarks and even removing volcanic stones to take home as souvenirs.
As a result, a new eco-tax on tourists will be introduced from 2026. According to Rosa Davila, the head of Tenerife’s governing council, security cameras will also be installed and stricter traffic controls will be enforced to control visitor numbers to the park.
