Lanzarote will participate in the demonstration against tourist overcrowding scheduled for April 20. The island of volcanoes is one of the five Canary Islands that are joining this initiative. Among them, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and La Palma.
The overcrowding of Lanzarote's natural spaces, the difficulty in finding housing, the lack of water or the worsening of the quality of life are some of the reasons why a group of anonymous citizens of the island has joined the protest that will take place on Saturday, April 20 at 12:00 noon from the Music Kiosk in the José Ramírez Cerdá Park, in Arrecife
In the case of the island of volcanoes, the organizers hope that it will be the "largest demonstration in the history of Lanzarote". In order to "unite all citizens" who are concerned about tourist overcrowding and its effects on the territory, public services, the landscape, biodiversity and the quality of life of people.
"Waitress, cleaning worker, doctor, farmer, teacher, merchant, businesswoman, farmer, scientist, whoever you are, participate in this massive protest," they stressed in a statement published on social networks. The organizers stressed that they are not "against the arrival of tourists in a controlled and sustainable manner", but that as is happening in other islands, "Lanzarote can no longer sustain itself and cannot support more than three million tourists a year."
Thus, they have highlighted the points for which the island is "collapsing socially and environmentally": the impossibility of accessing housing, the collapse of the waste management system, the lack of water for consumption and the agricultural sector, the collapsed health services, the loss of quality of life, the overcrowded protected spaces affected by environmental crimes and infractions, or the loss of biodiversity.
To conclude, the organizers have insisted that the "current model has completely destroyed the quality of life of the Canary Islands and those reasons that made the islands unique: their biodiversity, our landscapes, their people and the identity of what we were.
Let's go out and fight for what is ours."
