Von Sandra Burkhardt
Governments are celebrating record visitor numbers – yet many locals are experiencing the exact opposite of progress: rising rents, stagnating incomes and high unemployment. The narrative of tourism as a model for prosperity has long since ceased to hold water.
Anyone living in Tenerife can see that more and more flats are being turned into holiday accommodation, and rents are rising to unaffordable levels. Young people are either living out of their cars or leaving the island. Instead of long-term prospects, the job market mainly offers roles as cleaners or service staff – with hardly any opportunities for independence or personal development outside the tourism sector.
At the same time, the infrastructure is bursting at the seams: water shortages, mountains of rubbish, gridlocked traffic, a housing shortage and a growing ecological imbalance threaten not only the natural environment but also the social fabric.
Tourism in the Canary Islands: We don’t need ‚more‘ – we need something different
The chart vividly illustrates the imbalance in the Canary Islands: whilst tourist numbers have risen massively between 2015 and 2023, rents have also risen steadily – yet without the population’s incomes keeping pace to the same extent:
Although the unemployment rate has fallen, it remains high. This shows that the tourism boom is not accompanied by social progress. On the contrary, it is exacerbating existing problems and increasingly driving the local population out of their homes.
I have been observing this trend for more than 15 years. In 2024, I launched a petition to draw attention to this undesirable development and to initiate solutions. As an expert in filtration technology, industrial applications and environmentally conscious construction, I have been working for decades on concrete, practical solutions to problems such as:
- affordable housing (‚tiny house‘ concepts)
- decentralised water filtration and wastewater solutions
- car-free parking systems
- reducing plastic waste in everyday life and on building sites
High-quality tiny houses are also supplied to the Canary Islands – fully equipped or configurable to suit your needs in versions for two, four or six people. Many models meet modern living standards and can be supplied, on request, with solar systems and a mini sewage treatment plant – for self-sufficient use, installed either above or below ground.
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