Canary Island life may seem idyllic, with its sandy beaches and blue sea. But all is not well. A crisis is unfolding.
Locals are struggling to pay rents to live on their slice of paradise.
The latest struggle is being blamed once again on overtourism on the islands, with holiday lets meaning locals are priced out by richer tourists.
But now locals claim the issue has spread from seaside resorts to surrounding towns and villages.
Now locals have had enough. Local unions demand that the government declare areas as “stressed”. That’s right. Not people, but areas.
The Sindicalistas de Base union is one group pushing the Canary Islands government to declare areas as “stressed” to resolve the deteriorating situation.
The union’s general secretary, Francisco Javier Fernández, believes that mass tourism in the islands has not helped make the life of locals – either in the amount they earn or their quality of life.
A housing shortage and lack of affordable housing has exacerbated another growing problem: a lack of workers in the hospitality industry.
Now it’s starting to affect all businesses across the islands.
Fernández bemoans the rise of short term rentals and houses rented out to holidaymakers.
Marking off areas as “stressed zones” would, in his view, push back sunseekers renting out places that should otherwise go to locals.
The problem’s don’t just stop there. Local unions say there is a rise in the number of full time workers leaving companies to go to temporary agency work for a better work life balance.