In an increasingly sustainable world, the inhabitants of the Canary Islands have unsustainable lives.
The Canary Islands are considered an earthly paradise because the climatic conditions are ideal for psychophysical well-being throughout the year, for the wonderful natural landscapes, for its charming beaches and the "stellar" spectacles offered by the sky.
However, most of the inhabitants of this paradise live a hellish life.
The economy of the entire archipelago is based on the tourism market.
Who keeps this market standing?
The effort and sacrifice of the workers in the sector, exhausted by exhausting shifts and unable to have a decent existence due to the disproportion between their salary and the cost of living in the islands, which continues to increase, such as rental prices that rose 30% in the last year alone (datosdelanzarote.com).
While hotels adapt their standards to the levels of sustainability required by the European Community, while competing to win awards and display "Green" labels, human beings, the resources on which everything depends, succumb.
How can an activity be sustainable for the planet if it is not for the people? How can people themselves be sensitized and held responsible for respecting the environment if their own lives are ignored and trampled on?
In this context of unsustainability, the workers of the Sol Lanzarote (Melia) hotel raise their voices, who since February 7, 2025 have called a strike due to overwork and low wages.
Today I went to talk to them, who still seem to have not received any response from the Melia company. The solidarity of other workers and the inhabitants of the island of Lanzarote was impressive, and the support of the tourists was wonderful.
Everyone interviewed told me about the love they have for the people who come to visit Lanzarote, that it is thanks to the kindness of the colleagues and the tourists who continue working, out of respect for the service they have to give, because they recognize the importance of the work they carry out every day. But they don't have time to be present with their children, to educate them or to be able to enjoy their parents, to help them. Above all: there is not enough money to pay the rent and eat, they work more hours and cannot even afford a house, but rather rooms in shared apartments, or the space of a van. What's more, many spend the money on doctors for muscle problems or due to stress.
We want a more sustainable world, but where is the sustainability for human beings?
