‘We are not a free bar’: Spanish leader responds to drop in British tourism to holiday islands

Louise Brown May 28, 2025 Travel Leave a comment

On Tuesday, the president of Canary Islands spoke in regional parliament to defend the island’s tourism policy. He said: “We do not have a free bar.”

Fernando Clavijo is the leader of Canarian Coalition (a centre-right nationalist coalition) and he insists that while his government welcomes tourism, it will not allow an uncontrolled number of tourists to enter the country at the expense of the local people or the environment.

The regional president’s comments came in response to Nicasio Gallvan, an extreme-right Vox member who expressed concern about the decline in British holiday bookings.

In 2024, more than 40% of all international arrivals to the Canary Islands and 41% of tourist spending will come from British travellers.

READ MORE: Tourism in Spain faces concern as Brits reject holiday islands

Fernando Clavijo’s (right) government has backed tourism in spite of a recent drop in bookings made by British tourists. Credit: Wikimedia commons

However, officials from Tenerife – the most popular island with Brits – raised concerns earlier this month after new figures revealed that bookings from British tourists had dipped 8% in the first three months of 2025.

“We will never be against tourism,” Clavijo vowed, before adding that the islands must be protected so that ‘our children and grandchildren can live here’.

He continued: “We strongly support the Canary Islands as well as fair working conditions.” Of the €25 billion that the tourism sector brings in, the more that stays here, the better.”

Earlier this week, more than 100,000 Canary Islands residents took to their streets to protest against mass touristic activity.

READ MORE: ‘Historic’ anti-tourism marches see hundreds of thousands protest across Spain

The comments of the regional president come only weeks after massive anti-tourism demonstrations in Canary Islands. Credit: Cordon press

Locals in Tenerife Fuerteventura La Palma La Gomera Lanzarote and La Palma marched with banners saying Canarias tiene un limite (‘The Canary Islands have a limit’) and El dinero del turismo, ¿donde está? (‘Where is all the money from tourism?’).

Canary Islanders believe the islands are overrun with tourists. This leads to a lack of affordable housing, and also environmental issues.

In 2024, over 18 million tourists will visit the islands.

Critics say residents are putting themselves at risk, given that tourism accounts for over 35% the total economic output of the region.