A British ex-pat living in Tenerife has been accused of hypocrisy for leading an anti-tourism campaign which supports a tax on holidaymakers coming to the popular Spanish island.
Brian Harrison, who originally hails from Bridgend, South Wales, is the secretary general of Salvar La Tejita, a group which calls for curbs on the number of holidaymakers allowed to come to the Canaries.
The organisation was started in 2016 to protest against a new hotel being built in the southern Tenerife beauty spot where Brian lives, but has since grown into an influential force in the Spain-wide campaign.
Thousands of Spaniards have taken to the streets this summer as part of anti-tourism protests across the country, including in the Canaries, Balearics and Barcelona – where visitors were even sprayed with water guns by angry locals.
But UK holidaymakers are unlikely to expect to see a fellow Brit among protesters’ ranks, with Mr Harrison admitting that he is frequently asked: ‘Don’t you think it’s a bit hypocritical?’
Brian Harrison, who originally hails from Bridgend, South Wales, is the secretary general of Salvar La Tejita
People march on a street during a demonstration for a change in the tourism model in the Canary Islands, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, April 20, 2024
‘Tourists go home’ slogans spread across the south of Tenerife in March this year
La Tejita, where Mr Harrison lives, is a stretch of coastline which is designated as protected by the Spanish government
‘I’ve never really felt like I belonged anywhere,’ the 57-year-old ex-pat, who has lived in Spain for 30 years, explained to the Telegraph.
‘I didn’t just go on holiday to Spain and stay there, I made a plan to move here when I was in my early twenties and I’ve lived here for most of my life,’ he said.
He admitted he understands that his involvement seems ironic, but argued that the number of years he has lived in the country entitles him to campaign on the issues.
‘Why wouldn’t anyone want to take care of a place they’ve lived in for over 30 years?’ the Welsh engineer said.
He denied claims that his group is completely against tourists, saying that instead it is taking issue with the number of people flocking to his adopted home.
Figures show that the 11 million international visitors travelled to Spain in July alone, 2.6 million of whom came from the UK – up 4.6 per cent on the year before.
Mr Harrison said that the number of people coming to Tenerife every year was around two million when he first arrived in 1991, but that the number has since jumped to around six million.
‘The problem is not the people who come here, but the huge numbers of people who come, the volume,’ he said.
‘For an island that has limited space, it is unsustainable. This is the problem,’ he said.
Despite graffiti often being written in English, Mr Harrison claimed that it ‘is not specifically aimed at tourists
Locals have taken to the streets this year as part of a wave of anti-tourism protests in the Canaries
A hotel hotel which was given planning permission near the seafront in La Tejita has sparked fury among locals
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Mr Harrison said: ‘Tourists are always welcome here, there will be no hostility. But obviously action needs to be taken.
The government has had three decades to deal with this problem and it has gotten worse every year. This is the last resort for the government to take notice.’
He added that anti-tourist graffiti is ‘not as widespread’ as is being reported, adding that ‘you have to go looking for it to find it.’
He said that the authorities ‘have to take action to limit tourism, to make tourism sustainable.’
The Welsh engineer argued that ‘there is no economic model that shows that limiting tourism and increasing the quality of tourism has a negative impact.’
‘On the contrary, many destinations like Mallorca, Barcelona, other places in Europe, all have a tourist tax and there is no negative impact at all, neither economic nor otherwise,’ he said.
La Tejita, where Mr Harrison lives, is a stretch of coastline which is designated as protected by the Spanish government.
But a large hotel which was given planning permission on the seafront has sparked fury among locals, including Mr Harrison.
Thousands of people demonstrate against tourism policies on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain on April 20
Protesters holding signs saying ‘The beach is ours’ and ‘Canaria is not for sale’ had a run-in with police after storming the construction site.
Mr Harrison highlights one concern as being the significant amount of water the hotel will need, which he said had not been accounted for when a drought was declared on the island earlier this year.
Locals in a nearby town are also reported to have gone on hunger strike over plans for a beachside resort.
Daniel Duque, Salva La Tejita’s spokesman, said that while Tenerife’s locals – around a third of whom work in the tourism industry – ‘owe a lot to tourists’, things ‘have to change’.
He added that politicians need to listen to their concerns amid rising fury over lack of affordable housing and other issues, or they will face a ‘public uprising’.
Fernando Clavijo, the regional president of the Canary Islands, has repeatedly said that his administration is taking action to deal with people’s concerns.
He said back in April that the government was ‘revising’ its model for dealing with tourism, adding that while ‘the Canaries tourist model has been a successful one […] as with anything, there are things that could be perfected.’