Photo: Copyright EBU. Retrieved from euronews.com

Excerpt from euronews.com

Thousands of people protested in Tenerife on Saturday calling for the Spanish island to temporarily limit tourist arrivals.

Holding placards reading “People live here” and “We don’t want to see our island die”, they’re urging for a stem to short-term holiday rentals and hotel construction which are driving up housing costs for locals.

The protesters are being backed by environmental groups including Greenpeace, WWF, Ecologists in Action, Friends of the Earth and SEO/Birdlife.

“We are not against tourism, we are against a model that has led us to the deterioration of our land, of our people because the profits and growth of tourism are not reflected in society,” said Rosario Correa, Secretary of the ‘Salvar Chira-Soria’ platform.

Eleven individuals from Canarias se Agota have been fasting for a week in objection to the erection of two expansive luxury projects in southern Tenerife, which they deem unlawful and entirely superfluous.