Izquierda Unida Canaria (IUC) has strongly criticized in a press release the proposal launched by Coalición Canaria (CC) to implement an ecotax in Tenerife, considering it "an opportunistic distraction maneuver in the face of the mobilizations planned for May 18 in defense of a change in the tourism model in the archipelago." The formation has described the proposal as a "smokescreen" that "does not seek to transform anything, but to deactivate the growing social unrest."
"We regret that CC uses a fair tool such as the ecotax for partisan purposes and without any serious institutional commitment," said Luisa Tamayo, National Coordinator of Izquierda Unida Canaria. "What they have presented at their Insular Congress is just an announcement to cushion the 18M, a screen that tries to appear sensitive while they continue to govern with a model of tourist monoculture that marginalizes the Canarian people."
The formation has recalled that Rosa Dávila, president of the Cabildo of Tenerife and secretary of Organization of CC, was the one who rejected an ecotax proposal in the island corporation just a year ago, calling it "discriminatory." "Now they present practically the same proposal as if it were new and revolutionary. It is the height of incoherence and political cynicism," Tamayo denounces.
The proposal, which proposes a tax of three euros per night for non-resident tourists with some exemptions, has generated divisions not only between parties but within the autonomous government itself. The Popular Party, CC's partner, has openly expressed its rejection. The Minister of Tourism, Jessica de León (PP), has stated that the ecotax "makes no sense in the Canary Islands," and the vice president of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Lope Afonso, has called it a "risky experiment."
"It is a simple internal party debate, not a real institutional proposal. And the most serious thing is that the only headlines that come out of these empty debates are those that seek to wash the face of those who have been governing for decades without the will to redistribute tourist wealth," adds Tamayo.
The political organization has pointed out that while the island leaders "debate without consequences about a possible tourist tax, the economic data of the hotel sector reflect historical income records." According to recent figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), hotels in the Canary Islands have invoiced more than 149 euros per room in February of this year, 6.4% more than in 2024. "These record figures do not translate into well-being for the Canarian population," Tamayo emphasizes.
The Canary Islands is the autonomous community with the lowest salaries in the country and "with alarming rates of poverty and social exclusion," she indicated. "While hotels invoice historical figures, the working class of the archipelago lives with starvation wages and precariousness. Where does that wealth go?" Tamayo questions. "The ecotax, well designed, could be a useful tool to reverse that injustice, but not in the hands of those who use it as pure marketing."
IUC reiterates its commitment to a real, redistributive ecotax linked to a structural change in the tourism model of the Canary Islands. "It is not just about charging those who visit us, but about democratically planning how the territory is managed, what resources are allocated to and how it is guaranteed that tourism does not prevail over the lives of the people who reside here," concludes Tamayo.
Izquierda Unida Canaria has announced that it will be present at the mobilizations of 18M throughout the archipelago, encouraging citizens to demand a brave, coherent and committed policy with the future of the Canarian people.
