The Real Club Náutico de Arrecife has announced that next week its headquarters will host the 1st Conference on Cultural Heritage of the Canary Islands in the face of the risks and threats of tourism. In a statement published by the organization, it revealed that "in the face of the tourist saturation of the Canary Islands and the threats to cultural and natural heritage," the first conference will be held between April 19 and 21 to discuss and propose solutions to this problem in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
In this sense, it has pointed out that knowledge "must and has to address how to resolve conflicts in touristified societies like ours." That is why this meeting is organized with a "large" group of professors dedicated to studying and working on tourism from a critical perspective, with the support of the EnSeñas Patrimonio program of the Government of the Canary Islands.
The meeting begins on Wednesday, April 19 in the Aljibe of Haría, continuing on Thursday, April 20 in the Salón César Manrique of the Real Club Náutico de Arrecife and ending on Friday the 21st in Fuerteventura, with a public debate in the auditorium of the Centro de Arte Juan Ismael in Puerto del Rosario.
Among the speakers will be Margalida Ramis, promoter of the Law recently approved in the Parliament of the Balearic Islands focused on the Well-being of Present and Future Generations. The head of campaigns and spokesperson for GOB Mallorca will discuss this new proactive initiative and other tourist conflicts in the Balearic Islands, "where the main tourism multinationals on the planet are located." She is part of the group «Tot inclòs», which arose to combat the "all-inclusive" and which has allowed her to focus her approaches on the analysis and criticism, from the perspective of social and political ecology, of the economic model of tourist specialization of the Balearic Islands.
One of the pioneers of critical tourism, Ernest Cañada, will also participate, who will talk about precariousness and tourism. He is the author of books such as Global Touristification. Critical perspectives on tourism and Those who clean hotels: hidden stories of labor precariousness, among many other texts, he is also the coordinator of the Alba Sud association. Researcher on work in tourism, socio-ecological conflicts and alternatives to tourism development.
Claudio Milano, professor at the University of Barcelona in the department of Social Anthropology and director of the Master's Degree in Sustainable Tourist Destinations and Territorial Tourist Planning at Ostelea, will also be part of the conference. His presentation will focus on the tourist saturation of destinations and the rejection of the resident population.
In addition, Carla Izcara, researcher and technician at Alba Sud, will participate, who will address gender inequalities in the tourism labor market.
The archaeologists and coordinators of the Enseñas Patrimonio program of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Government of the Canary Islands, Ángel Rodríguez Fleitas and Eduardo Mesa Hernández, will talk about the impact of tourism on the archaeological heritage of the Canary Islands.
Francisco Galante, Professor of Art History at the University of La Laguna, director of the César Manrique Cultural Chair of ULL and professor at the University of Leuven, will intervene to delve into the work of Manrique, under the prism of Tourism, Territory and Cultural Heritage.
The development of tourism in the Canary Islands needs to expand the capacity for analysis and provide coverage to other relevant sectors of society such as the university and citizens, to help in decision-making.
"We are in a new historical and social era that requires sharing other proposals," said the Real Club Náutico de Lanzarote in a statement. In this sense, Natalia Díaz Luis, activist and professional beekeeper on the island of Tenerife, will participate, who will expose the role of tourism and the destruction of the territory." She proposes other alternative activities to tourism such as traditional agriculture and livestock, as essential elements to advance to other productive models that put people at the center.
In addition, we will have the professors of the University School of Tourism of Lanzarote (EUTL) Pedro Hernández Camacho, scientific coordinator of these first conferences and María José Morales García. Both will present the characteristics of the current tourist situation and the processes that have taken place, reflecting on the urgent need to make shared decisions between citizens, knowledge, politics and business.
"The meeting is planned in Lanzarote, but also in Fuerteventura, as an interaction of two tourist spaces affected by a massive influx of visitors that is difficult to control and that in itself implies the deterioration of the tourist destination and the loss of quality of life as well as threats to historical and natural heritage," the statement concluded.