The Parliament of the Canary Islands has rejected this Wednesday, with the groups that support the Government and Vox (a light version of AFD in Germany or UKIP in the United Kingdom) voting against, a motion by left-wing nationalists NC in which They proposed a series of measures to reorient the current tourism model, such as a new moratorium law, the establishment of a tourist ecotax or limiting the acquisition of homes by non-resident foreigners. On the other hand, it did support the charging of a fee to access protected natural spaces.
The NC-BC motion proposes applying legislative measures in the tourism and urban planning field to limit growth in this matter, taking into account the island realities, as well as establishing, through a decree law, a moratorium on new vacation rental licenses until that the rent regulation bill proposed by the Government be approved.
The motion also sees as a priority starting the process to establish a tourist tax, as happens in most important destinations in the world, and includes some measures such as limiting the purchase of housing to non-resident foreigners, the importance of the circular economy or the establishment of fees to visit natural sites.
Sebastián Franquis, from the PSOE, agreed that we must "rethink" the current tourism model, since "the numbers and the fatigue in certain social sectors are what they are." For this reason, he asked the Parliament of the Canary Islands, and especially the Government, to give an "example of leadership" and assume a debate that is "absolutely transversal", as demonstrated in the 20A demonstrations. Vox Group deputy Paula Jover rejected each of the measures in the NC-BC motion, understanding that the tourism sector "does not have to pay for the excesses of incompetent governments." In this sense, the deputy stated that the tourism sector is not responsible for the water emergency or the collapse of the roads or the increase in housing prices, and she stressed that tourism and tourists "are beneficial for the Canary Islands."
