Last Tuesday the 30th, the Conference of Presidents was convened in the Parliament of the Canary Islands. It is good that we meet, that we share the different realities of each island, that we open spaces for dialogue with businessmen, unions, environmental organizations... The visions that were already presented there are plural, sometimes disparate... as are the islands of this Atlantic archipelago. This was the vision that I conveyed, from the Council of Gran Canaria, to the Government of the Canary Islands and the other island councils regarding the demographic challenge, tourism and its social, economic and environmental effects.
The men and women of the Canary Islands are poorer today than two decades ago, and they are increasingly moving away from the European average in income and purchasing power despite the growth of the archipelago's economic indicators. The trend is general in the State as a whole (GDP and employment growth are greater than expected), but the negative data in our land are above average. The Canary Islands are among the three communities with the highest unemployment rate (16,9%) We are the third community with the highest rate of risk of poverty and social exclusion (32,8%)
It is not only that we are becoming poorer, it is that we are more unequal every day. And 0.3% of the Canary Islands (6.477 people) accumulate 22.417,5 million euros, a figure equivalent to half of the GDP. It is the largest sum they have ever accumulated. Being the community with the least GDP per capita, we are the fourth community in great fortunes. Meanwhile, the Canary Islands register a poverty and exclusion rate of 35,5%, when the average in Spain does not reach 28%.
On September 20, 2023, the professor of Applied Economics at the University of La Laguna, José Luis Rivero Ceballos, in a debate within the Conecta Conference organized by the Parliament of the Canary Islands, categorically stated that the economic development of the Canary Islands in This century is a “disaster” and the Canary Islands GDP per capita has distanced itself negatively from the Spanish and European average since 2000.
In 2000, the GDP per capita of the Canary Islands was 20.703 euros, while the state GDP amounted to 21.401 euros. This meant that the GDP of the Canary Islands was 97% of that of Spain, presenting a difference of almost 700 euros. In 2021, the GDP per capita of the Canary Islands was €18.990 euros, compared to the GDP per capita of €25.498 euros in Spain, which places us in last place in Spain in terms of wealth per inhabitant. This is very serious.
In the last fifty years the Canary Islands have experienced an unprecedented population increase, but in the last two decades the increase that has occurred on some islands of 100%, 70% or 35% is truly worrying (in Gran Canaria there has been been 15% in this period and in the last 10 years 1,1% - 9 inhabitants-).
While this is happening, tourism, our main economic activity, continues to grow. In 2000, 9.975.977 tourists arrived in the Canary Islands, in 2022 14,6 million and in 2023 16 million, a figure that is practically certain to be exceeded this year (tourist arrivals until August had increased by 16% ).
Well, yes, as I already said, in 2000 the per capita income in the Canary Islands was 20.703 euros, in 2021 it was €18.990 euros and according to Eurostat data this year it has fallen again. That is to say, in these two decades we have seen the arrival of visitors increase by 50% and yet we have lost 1.700 euros of income per capita.
We see, therefore, that the increase in tourist arrivals does not translate into greater well-being for a significant part of the Canary Island population and that the strategy of " counting tourists", that is, focusing our efforts on increasing the arrival of visitors, has failed.
Demography does not operate outside the socioeconomic structure. Without the economic opportunities linked to tourism (work, investment, etc.) it would be very difficult for this population increase and the social and economic drifts that this causes to have occurred.
Canarian society is becoming more aware every day that infinite tourism growth is not the only way to increase their income and well-being in the broadest sense. And the data seems to indicate that there are reasons for this. And the impossibility of being able to access affordable housing in the main urban centers of the territory, the inconvenience due to the saturation of public infrastructure and facilities and the deterioration of essential public services such as health, education or the socio-health system are issues that affect a social majority regardless of ideologies.
It is also affected by the fact that the Canary Islands are the second autonomous community in Spain with the worst average salary per month (only three quarters of the average Spanish salary), which means that many people are in a situation of poverty, even when working. How water restrictions and water insecurity in many territories also affect, the contamination of some coastal areas by sewage or the concern about the deterioration of natural spaces and beaches due to an uncontrolled expansionist desire that is occurring on some islands...
Now, having said this, I believe that to adequately address the problems we must take into account that the situation is not the same on all islands, and there are, in fact, important contrasts. The number of tourists per inhabitants is not the same on all the islands (Tenerife, the island most similar to ours in square kilometers and population, has almost two million more tourists than Gran Canaria), the environmental problems are not the same and the impacts on infrastructure, equipment or services, either.
However, in Gran Canaria the spending of those who visit us has grown by 2.200 billion euros, which is 67% more. It is justified not only by the increase in tourists but also because we went from an average expenditure of 126 euros to 170 euros per night.
Contrary to what happens on other islands, Gran Canaria has been without a macro tourism project for almost 20 years (the last large hotel was inaugurated on this island in 2015) and has lost more than twenty thousand tourist beds in recent years. And yet, the large projects that we have underway or planned are linked to the energy and ecological transition and some have tried to put them in the same bag (Salto de Chira, the next call for offshore wind energy, the reform of the grid of clean points, film sets, the new Infecar building, guided transportation, etc.) or with public services (the network of social and health centers, the Museum of Fine Arts, etc.).
Much emphasis is also being placed on the issue of water, both wastewater discharges and restrictions, both issues that do not have a significant impact on Gran Canaria. We are increasing water reuse and do not discharge wastewater into the sea. In fact, a couple of weeks ago we inaugurated the new Guía and Gáldar treatment plant, one of the main demands of the north in terms of water treatment. 107 actions with a budget of more than 150 million euros are guaranteeing the water security of the island.
But we cannot demonize tourism. They will never have us on that side. The tourism sector is not responsible for all the situations described, at least in Gran Canaria. This does not prevent there from being many aspects of our development model, with tourism activity at the center, that need to be reviewed. If today we are poorer than two decades ago, despite having doubled the number of tourists, and the population increase is placing our capacity to provide essential services (water, roads, health, social health centers, public transportation, etc.) to the limit. to the population, we have to set limits to growth. You can't grow indefinitely.
We have to work to improve the quality of the destination, deepening its digitalization, making it more sustainable and generating high added value services linked to culture, gastronomy, the primary sector and the environment that can be covered by local actors. That tourists who choose our islands to rest spend more time with us, generate more spending during their stay and contribute to strengthening sectors such as agriculture and livestock, local commerce or the protection of the landscape, territory and biodiversity. May the dependence on tour operations become less and less, generating our own structures.
The search for solutions to the housing problem is vital. No public housing has been done in the last 20 years. The lack is enormous: public housing must be built. I believe that the latest decree is not the solution, although it has been applauded by businessmen. A third of homes in the Canary Islands are in the hands of foreigners with purchasing power: this practice must be limited. There are more than 211.000 empty homes: they must be put into use. Vacation housing has distorted the market in a brutal way: it must be regulated for safety and quality assurance for the tourism sector. Today it represents 36% of the total tourist beds and has doubled since 2017. It cannot become an exclusive activity. The use of housing by large owners for tourist activity is perverse.
It is necessary to adapt road, socio-sanitary, health, educational, water, waste treatment and water purification equipment and infrastructure to population growth. It requires greater public investment to adapt these essential services to the population reality. The administration must provide itself with adequate human resources, in addition to tackling the excessive bureaucratization that we suffer from to make the proposals viable in a very agile way.
It is essential to implement policies that regulate population growth linked to the economic system. Urban planning must prioritize the conservation of natural spaces and limit uncontrolled urban expansion. And all islands and municipalities must update their municipal or island planning. Gran Canaria already has it, but there are enormous delays and insecurities in many island and municipal territories.
I also defend a finalist ecotax that helps correct and alleviate these effects. Furthermore, the experience of its application in other parts of our European context - or in places in the Spanish State such as the Balearic Islands - indicates that it does not have any impact on business volume. The increase in the IGIC does not respond to these needs. And it seems to me that the Cabildo of Gran Canaria is left alone in this demand. We also propose that a fee must be charged or access prevented, controlled or limited, depending on each reality, to natural spaces.
I defend a tourism that contributes to a greater extent to breaking down inequalities by improving the conditions of its workers, raising salaries, dignifying the provision of professional services to the sector with the necessary qualifications and training and producing greater collective benefits. And I repeat that this situation occurs in all economic sectors, but I believe that in tourism the ideal conditions exist to act.
Dignity, qualification, improvement of working conditions and increased salaries would make possible greater integration of men and women from our land in the tourism industry and would make the incorporation of foreign personnel less necessary.
The tourism sector must also integrate effectively into society by acquiring a greater commitment to social and economic business responsibility by actively participating in the development of social welfare, cultural, sports, environmental policies, etc. And it doesn't. On many occasions it seems to show that he lives in a bubble outside the social reality with which he coexists. Large companies shy away from a social commitment to culture, sports or social policies.
In conclusion, population growth, linked to an infinite tourism growth model, poses significant challenges for the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the archipelago. The ecological and carbon footprint has reached worrying levels and it is imperative to take measures to reverse this trend.
The adoption of policies that regulate growth and offer real opportunities for the citizens of the islands around a new economic model are imperative. If everyone consumed resources as they do on the islands, 3,84 planets would be needed to cover that demand.
It is urgent to take general measures in the Canary Islands without losing sight of each of the island realities. Since the recognition of this situation, different proposals for working commissions have been launched without any result.
In 2005, Paulino Rivero forced the creation of a bilateral commission in the Spanish Congress of Deputies to analyze the worrying evolution of the population on the islands, which was diluted like sugar. In 2008, the European Parliament approved a report, to no avail, insisting that the European Union should pay special attention to the Outermost Regions on issues such as immigration and population growth. In 2022, the central government promoted a working group to specifically address the demographic challenge in the Canary Islands and it has not yet met once, nor does it appear that it will do so almost two years later. In September 2022, a commission was also created in the Parliament of the Canary Islands to analyze the demographic challenge and population balance. It began meeting in November of that same year, for a few months until the end of the previous legislature, and has been renewed again in this one, with the opposition of Vox. Your opinion and proposals must be a priority. And they must be coordinated with the proposals that emanate from the working committees created within the framework of the Conference of Presidents.
The Conference cannot follow the same steps. The search for alternatives to a situation that could cause a collapse in the islands due to demographic overload, as many experts warn us, cannot be delayed any longer.
From the Cabildo of Gran Canaria we have been making our humble but determined contribution for eight years to the search for alternatives to this situation with multiple proposals that include the generation of employment, the fight against poverty, the creation of opportunities for youth or the promotion of economic diversification (with support for the primary sector, renewable energies, R&D&I, new technologies for water desalination and water purification to strengthen water security, circular and blue economies, the audiovisual sector , industry, commerce, care policies, adaptation and mitigation of the effects of climate change, the smart island, etc.). It's called diversification and, despite the limitations of the island fact, it can be done.
It is evident that the development model that has been implemented in the last five or six decades is clearly exhausted. We must have determination and political imagination to promote measures and generate the necessary consensus that makes a change of course possible. Because the truth is that we have the potential to be a benchmark for sustainability and well-being.
Opinion piece: Antonio Morales Méndez
President of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria
