Tenerife Canary Islands: Travel warning as major protest to hit holiday hotspot in May with action group plotting to take over tourist attractions

Campaigners have announced plans for a huge protest as the peak season kicks off in the Canary Islands. A press statement issued on May 18 under the banner "the Canaries have a limit" declared that activists are escalating their tactics.

"From now on, we will take our fight to the very spaces where their predatory model is perpetuated," it read. The group has vowed to sabotage public events, face-off with political figures, and take over symbolic tourist attractions to declare their determination for substantial changes.

This commitment starts with protests beginning May 18, set to spread across the islands. It says: "We will boycott public events, confront political leaders during their appearances and occupy symbolic tourist spaces to make it clear that we will not stop until real change is achieved. The Canary Islands can no longer be a postcard backdrop for the enjoyment of a privileged few”.

The activism will stretch beyond Tenerife, transforming the Canary Islands from a mere vacation photo-op to a region focused on sustainable growth over profit-induced hardship. The group added: "We are the Canarian people - a people who will not give up until we achieve the change we deserve. On May 18, the fight continues in the streets. What comes next will be impossible to ignore."

The protests, led by locals of the Canary Islands, kicked off in 2024 with tens of thousands hitting the streets demanding changes, arguing that the archipelago was "reaching its limit". Initially, these actions were concentrated in areas less reliant on tourism, such as the capital, Santa Cruz, and were timed to occur before the tourist season hit its peak. However, due to the island leadership's perceived "lack of action", the protesters shifted their tactics.

Before the protests in Tenerife, Mallorca will also endure a separate, "massive" tourism protest on May Day, May 1. Trade unions are gearing up for "the most militant demonstration in years." Thousands of people are expected to take to the streets to show their opposition to the Balearic government's policies on housing and mass tourism.