The archipelago's institutions and political parties are beginning to lose interest in a movement that promised to be the Canarian 15M and that has ended up deflating in just over a year.
Neither opinion pieces, nor invitations to meet, not even a condescending mention... Canarian politicians no longer see any interest in the timid "Canarias tiene un límite" protests, which a year ago seemed to be the birth of a social movement on the islands worthy of the 15M movement, but which, after little more than a year since its inception, has been reduced to a gathering of friends with jokes and banners with reused and hackneyed slogans.
What happened this Sunday is a far cry from how events unfolded just over a year ago, when on April 20, 2024, the archipelago's menceyes, along with regional councilors and senior officials, broke out in a cold sweat at the images coming from Tenerife and Gran Canaria, where thousands of people marched, screeching against tourism and against the political class itself, who, according to them, were complicit in the overcrowding of the islands by not promoting policies such as the eco-tax or limiting licenses for tourist homes.
While some were already throwing their hands up in horror and seeing themselves returning to the private sector with their tails between their legs, the advisors began to work on the image clean-up: publications on social networks claiming to be “enthusiastic” by the power of the images, which “change is possible”, invitations to meet with the group and listen to their demands and even launching opinion articles wondering if that demonstration was “a turning point in the tourism model”.
Demonstrations that were heated beforehand by several hunger strikes and Public shaming of the President of the Canary Islands Government, Fernando Clavijo, at his home in La Laguna by activists of the movement.
The impact of these demonstrations was such that even The British press suggested that tourists should align themselves with the same movement that sought to limit their arrivals.In the political sphere, many feared a revolution in the Canary Islands with the possible emergence of a new party from the movement.
However, from there everything went downhill. The high of the meeting remained just that, a demonstration that many signed up for FOMO (fear of missing out on something big, in Spanish) and others simply to unleash a verbiage against tourists and politicians to make themselves feel good.
After that, the movement was supported by groups of young people who wanted to see in “Canarias tiene un límite” some kind of cultural movement and among the capital's officials and friends of the public sector who dreamed of entering the institutions, but had to settle for sterile meetings with politicians who used them to get their photo ops.
Following the cancellation of the new election, very few politicians have spoken out, practically all of them from the neighboring island. On the regional government side, while Clavijo and Jessica de León celebrated the success From the struggle organized in Madrid, Alfonso Cabello came forward to deliver the message that is recurrent on these occasions: assuring that the Executive understands the movement's concern about the housing problem in the Canary Islands, avoiding getting involved in the tourism issue.
Through Nira Fierro, the Canarian PSOE described the demonstration as a "success" while the leader of a Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarista, Román Rodríguez, assured that "The people are once again saying that the Canary Islands have limits in the face of the contempt of CC and PP", in an attempt to win the sympathy of the movement's faithful and prevent his party from continuing to bleed itself dry.
