The gesture seems innocent: building a small tower of stones by the sea, photographing it, and sharing it on TikTok or Instagram. But on Maspalomas beach, this digital ritual is having real consequences. The piles of stones, now a tourist trend, are disrupting the ecological balance and weakening the natural protection of the coastline. Stacking stones might seem like a symbolic, even spiritual, act. But in an environment like Maspalomas, where every grain of sand plays a role in the natural defense of the coast, this digital trend becomes an act of unnoticed erosion. The lesson, according to experts, is simple: the landscape is not a backdrop, but a living organism. And protecting it requires more awareness than likes.
What began as an aesthetic trend has spread like a silent epidemic along the entire Maspalomas Lighthouse promenade. Dozens of visitors build their own "totems" every day facing the dune, unaware that this manipulation of the landscape directly affects wildlife and accelerates coastal erosion.
“Removing the stones from their natural position weakens the barrier that protects the ecosystem behind the beach,” Abel Sanromualdo, a researcher at the Institute of Oceanography and Global Change at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), explained to Canarianweekly. “These rocks help absorb the energy of the waves. When they are removed, the sea advances further and erodes the coast.”
The stones are not merely decorative elements: they are shelters for insects, crabs, lizards, and other species that are part of the coastal ecosystem. By moving them, tourists destroy these microhabitats and leave the animals exposed to predators.
Furthermore, the rocks of Maspalomas have scientific value. “They are natural records of the island’s geological processes,” explains Sanromualdo. “By relocating or stacking them, valuable information for the study of coastal change and marine dynamics is lost.”
The phenomenon also has a symbolic component: the stacked stones alter the visual identity of the most iconic landscape in southern Gran Canaria, the area stretching between the Maspalomas Lighthouse and the Dunes, a designated Special Nature Reserve. The situation is reminiscent of what happened a decade ago, when visitors built makeshift stone shelters to protect themselves from the wind in the same area. At that time, an awareness campaign promoted by the Gran Canaria Island Council and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) succeeded in reducing the practice thanks to informational signage and direct environmental education.
Sanromualdo insists that banning or removing the towers is not enough. “We have to explain why they are harmful. If tourists understand that they are damaging the environment they come to enjoy, they will change their behavior.” The warning comes at a critical time. Maspalomas is already suffering from accelerated erosion of its dune system, urban development pressures, and an increase in storms from the southwest. Every minor intervention, such as moving stones or opening paths in the sand, amplifies the fragility of the environment.
Meanwhile, the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council and the Gran Canaria Island Council are considering reinforcing surveillance and signage in the area, with multilingual messages for visitors. “Protecting the landscape is part of the tourism product,” island sources say. “There is no beauty without ecological balance.”
