Canary Islands Anti-Tourism Protests: Safety and Facts 2025

If you’ve booked a holiday to Lanzarote or Tenerife, the sight of protest banners in your travel feed can land like a punch. Tens of thousands of locals across Spain’s Canary Islands have taken to the streets since 2024, and the movement shows no signs of quieting. The good news: these demonstrations have stayed peaceful, and tourists have largely been treated as guests caught in someone else’s argument rather than targets.

Demonstrators in recent protests: 7,000+ ·
Major demonstration: 19 May 2025 ·
Key locations: Lanzarote, Canary Islands ·
Protests against: Overtourism and inequality

The table below summarises key protest data and travel context for visitors weighing trips to the Canary Islands.

Why don’t the Canary Islands want tourists?

The Canary Islands received over 15 million tourists in 2024 with a resident population of just 2 million people, according to The Traveler travel advisory analysis. That ratio puts enormous pressure on housing, healthcare, and infrastructure. Short-term rental platforms have priced many locals out of urban centres, while the transport network and sanitation systems strain under peak-season demand.

Reasons for local discontent

Protesters have been explicit: this is not hostility toward visitors but a rejection of an economic model that prioritises infinite growth. The slogan “No es turismofobia, es turismofilia responsable” — translating to “It’s not tourist-phobia, it’s responsible tourist-philia” — has appeared on banners across Lanzarote and Tenerife. Activists point to housing costs, precarious tourism jobs, and environmental degradation as the real targets of their frustration.

Impact of overtourism

The strain shows in concrete ways. Travel and Tour World industry news reported that environmental issues including untreated sewage discharge into the sea have been cited alongside social concerns in advisory lists. Water use, waste management, and infrastructure capacity have become flashpoints in local debates about the industry’s sustainability.

The pattern of environmental harm alongside social strain illustrates why residents view the tourism model as unsustainable without structural change.

Is it safe to go on holiday to the Canary Islands?

Despite the street demonstrations, visitors to the Canary Islands in 2025 have not faced targeted aggression. Eyewitness reports from Lanzarote describe peaceful protest marches where tourists were largely treated as uninvolved observers. Mr TravelON travel reporter on YouTube, a content creator who documented the May 1 Labour Day protests, stated that tourists should have no fear about their holidays.

Recent protest impacts on tourists

The protests have created moments of disruption rather than danger. Holidaymakers at some hotels reported staying in their rooms during major demonstrations, but organisers consistently framed these actions as directed at policy, not visitors. No credible reports of violence against tourists have emerged from the 2025 Canary Islands demonstrations.

Travel advice updates

Tenerife and Lanzarote have appeared on Fodor’s “No List” — an informal UK advisory — alongside other Spanish destinations experiencing similar tensions. Travel and Tour World industry news noted that this placement reflects both protest activity and environmental concerns. However, no official UK government travel advisory has been issued against the Canary Islands, and major tour operators continue operating packages to the islands.

Why are Spanish people protesting against tourism?

Anti-tourism demonstrations have spread across Spain since 2024, drawing between 20,000 and 50,000 participants in initial Canary Islands actions, according to Wikipedia overview of Spanish protests. Similar movements emerged in the Balearic Islands, Barcelona, and other tourist-heavy regions, making Spain a focal point for what activists call the global overtourism crisis.

Nationwide anti-tourism movement

The movement in Spain has taken varied forms. In Barcelona, activists have used more confrontational tactics, including using water pistols on tourists outside the Sagrada Familia in April 2025, as reported by Travel Tomorrow news report. In Palma de Mallorca, approximately 10,000 people marched on May 26, 2024. The protests reflect broad frustration with tourism monocultures that benefit hotel chains and platform operators while driving up local living costs.

Canary Islands specifics

The Canary Islands add unique pressures: island geography limits expansion, freshwater resources are finite, and the seasonal influx is stark. The campaign group “Canarias tiene un límite” (Canary Islands has a limit) organised the May 18, 2025 actions across all seven main islands simultaneously, positioning the archipelago as a test case for sustainable tourism limits in Europe.

The implication is that island-specific constraints make the Canary Islands particularly vulnerable to overtourism’s structural harms.

Why are the Canary Islands on a no-travel list?

Fodor’s, a prominent US travel guide publisher, placed Tenerife and Lanzarote on its 2026 “No List” alongside destinations in Greece, Italy, Thailand, and Mexico. The placement cited anti-tourism tensions, housing costs driven by short-term rentals, low-wage tourism employment, and environmental pressures including sewage pollution.

No-travel list facts

The Fodor’s No List is not a government travel advisory but an editorial curation of destinations the publication believes travellers should reconsider. The Traveler travel advisory analysis noted that advisory lists from bloggers and insurers often reflect protest visibility rather than assessed violence risk. The Canary Islands have not been flagged by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for travel warnings.

Safety perceptions

The gap between editorial lists and official advisories matters for travellers. Protest visibility can make destinations appear more volatile than ground conditions warrant. In Lanzarote specifically, eyewitnesses described a carnival atmosphere at protests, with locals welcoming the attention and framing their message as a call for policy reform rather than a rejection of visitors.

What are the facts behind Canary Island tourist protests?

The protest movement traces to April 2024, when demonstrations calling for tourism limits drew tens of thousands across the Canary Islands, Balearics, and mainland Spain. The movement has grown since then, with coordinated actions planned for June 15, 2025, across multiple Spanish destinations including Lanzarote, Tenerife, Ibiza, Majorca, and Barcelona, according to C-MW.net event planning report.

Protest scale and locations

Labour Day protests on May 1, 2025, in Lanzarote and Tenerife drew workers and community members, with events described as peaceful by Mr TravelON travel reporter on YouTube. The May 18 actions organised by “Canarias tiene un límite” marked the largest coordinated demonstration of 2025, spanning all seven main islands at 11am local time. June 15 brought the most recent wave of protests, with the Southern European Network Against Touristisation coordinating across regions.

Tourist responses

Tour operators and hotel associations have largely taken a wait-and-see approach. Major carriers continue flights to Tenerife and Gran Canaria, and tour operators have not issued mass cancellation recommendations. Some visitors have rearranged travel dates, but industry data shows limited impact on overall booking volumes for the summer season.

What this means is that the travel industry has absorbed protest activity without major disruption to visitor flows, suggesting holidaymakers are distinguishing between protest visibility and actual safety risks.

Related reading: Cruise From Southampton 2025

Thousands of Canary Islands residents protested overtourism in May 2025, with latest news and impacts highlighting housing costs and environmental concerns.

Frequently asked questions