Lanzarote will declare itself "saturated" and seek a future with fewer tourists

The island of Lanzarote, with a census of just 151,000 inhabitants, received 2.5 million tourists until November 2022, that is, 17 times its population in eleven months. Now, the Island Council has advanced the idea of declaring itself a "touristically saturated zone", something for which they assure there is "broad social consensus".

The president of the island corporation, Dolores Corujo, explained that this status is not an objective, but a previous step to initiate a phase of tourist degrowth that they understand is necessary "to guarantee the future of generations to come".

30 years ago, Lanzarote already set a model that did not contemplate the creation of more beds, but of "more quality and with a unique complementary offer that differentiates us in the world". Corujo insisted that this position means aspiring to receive fewer tourists, "with greater spending at the destination so that they generate greater wealth in the economy as a whole".

The difficulties they face a priori, according to Corujo, is that more than half of the island's visitors come from the United Kingdom, so it would be necessary "a diversification strategy to reduce dependence on the British market".

In this sense, she expressed that a growth of the French, Italian, Dutch and peninsular markets is expected, which they hope will have a direct impact on the increase in tourist spending at the destination."