Speaking from first hand experience, I had travelled to South Tenerife for six days, it was a short getaway on a beautiful Island. The south of the island juxtaposes the north side of the island which has its capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The north is notorious for its grand, mountainous landscapes whereas the South has its beaches and banana plantations. Upon arrival, I was greeted with the warm weather and nice coastal breeze, and it was overall a lovely stay on a beautiful island with welcoming, kind citizens. However, speaking to some of the citizens and holiday goers I had noticed there was an absence of any local Tinerfeños/as or Guanche indigenous people. I found my self typically speaking to Italian, Hungarian, Cuban and British people and they had similar stories of either moving to the island in the recent years or had been living in Tenerife for several years with their families and established businesses. Understandably so, it is a beautiful Island where the sun always shines. But it led me to question, where had the locals disappeared to?
During my stay I began to ask more and more questions, I had even encountered people from the neighbouring continent of Africa. Specifically Moroccan and Senegalese people, as my friends and I were sat at a restaurant, a Moroccan man approached us and we began to talk, he told us that he had been living in Tenerife for twenty years and enjoyed living there. He then stated that the island was supposed to be ‘Moroccan’ had the Spanish conquistadors not taken hold of the land before them. Personally, it was unsettling to hear that the country was a means of conquest. As are many other countries and islands but not on this scale. I still have many countries to visit and explore but travelling to Portugal, there was a sense of local community present. I could identify who was a tourist and who was a native citizen to the land. And the same could be said for Gambia, my homeland. There is a surplus amount of tourists who travel there however, there is still a huge local community of Gambians. So to travel to Tenerife and not see ONE local Tinerfeño/a, or Guanche was quite shocking to say the least. My friend had spoken to our French Canadian driver who explained that the government in Tenerife was unstable and corrupt. Land laws were not as stable as you’d find in for example the United Kingdom. So if you bargained at the right price essentially anyone could build their home or business.
Furthermore, the influx of tourism in Tenerife has been increasing each year, the beautiful coastline with its beaches was filled with newly built hotels, resorts and businesses from foreigners. He stated that the rent prices are quite high near these areas, averaging €1000 however, if you were to move further up into the mountains it would be around €500 or less. In my research it appears as though the south of Tenerife is more or a ‘tourist strip’ appealing to holiday goers. I myself, as a tourist found my self in those areas but I wish I could have experienced the culture and different municipalities of Tenerife. Whilst researching I had found an article by the Mirror expressing my concerns of the Spaniards and Tinerfeño/as and the gentrification of their towns causing them to migrate elsewhere ‘On Saturday, April 20, Canary Islands residents took to the streets in droves to protest against the effects of over-tourism. They have expressed fears of "extinction" if measures aren't taken to prevent outsiders from taking over and pushing the cost of living up.’ The article further expresses the concerns of many locals being uprooted from their shacks and makeshift homes in the mountains as they had been displaced with no legal papers to build homes on the rocky terrains they are often harassed and threatened by the police. There are several pros to tourism as it boosts the economy, with climate change, agriculture alone would not sustain the island especially in the South of Tenerife, they have been experiencing droughts in the recent years. However, the government should assist the locals in building cost friendly homes for them to live in rather than abandoning them to live in unsustainable conditions.
Sources
Zak Garner-Purkis. “Tenerife Locals “Living in Shacks under Abandoned Hotel” amidst Island Crisis.” The Mirror, 25 Apr. 2024
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