blame

The Canary Islands are facing an overtourism crisis, with locals protesting over sewage-polluted beaches, soaring housing costs and water shortages following a record 18.4 million visitors

Canary Islands residents are warning that their communities are being pushed to breaking point as record visitor numbers put pressure on housing, water supplies and sewage systems.

“Tourist, go home!”, “Your paradise, our suffering” and “Even the Canarians have their limits” are among the slogans shouted at recent protests against overtourism across the Spanish archipelago.

The islands welcomed a record 18.4 million visitors last year, compared with 15.1 million seven years ago, before the coronavirus pandemic disrupted travel, according to the National Institute of Statistics. That means an extra 3.3 million visitors needing food, water and accommodation in an island chain with 2.2 million permanent residents. In 2009, visitor numbers stood at 10 million.

Development journalist Ava Hughes says the boom is taking a toll on residents and returning holidaymakers alike, reports the Daily Star.

Do you have a travel story to share? Email webtravel@reachplc.com

“Tenerife is currently trapped in a high-volume, low-value cycle that is alienating its most loyal visitors while simultaneously radicalising the local population against the very industry that provides 35% of their GDP,” she said. She described “viral images of high-rise construction looming over crowded beaches” as “symptoms of a systemic failure in the island’s infrastructure”.

“The primary grievance for many returning travellers is the feeling of being ‘sardined’ into a concrete jungle. When a visitor pays thousands of pounds for a sea view and instead spends their week staring at the rusted cranes of a half-finished luxury resort or the back of another tourist’s parasol, the value proposition evaporates. This isn’t a case of ‘fussy’ travellers; it is a rational response to a product that no longer matches its price tag,” Ava added.

The growth in tourism has been accompanied by a major expansion in accommodation. One estimate puts the number of operating hotels across the Canary Islands at 593, with approximately 265,000 tourist beds.

For Daniasa Curbelo, a young activist who grew up in a disadvantaged family in a small rural village in Tenerife, the changes are deeply personal. She remembers a local beach free of holidaymakers, with pristine water. Today, it is crowded for much of the year.

“Because of social media, no place has remained a secret from tourists,” she told IS.

Like many young Canarians, Daniasa cannot afford to rent a home as tourism and the expanding hotel sector push up costs. Meanwhile, water supplies and waste systems are struggling to keep pace with demand. “Sewer pipes are breaking into the sea and beaches are being closed. Our islands are on the verge of collapse,” she said.

In Tenerife alone, Playa de El Médano, Playa del Socorro, Playa Jardín, Playa de Leocadio Machado, La Jaquita and Tabaiba Area Beach have all been closed this year because of sewage contamination in the sea. By one estimate, tourists use six times as much water as locals, adding to pressure on supplies and farms across the islands.

John Dale Beckley, founder of sustainability platform CanaryGreen.org, told Fodor’s: “Tenerife has been under an official water emergency, but honestly, on the ground, we’re not feeling a ‘water emergency’ at all. People are still showering, watering gardens, filling swimming pools, everything as normal.”

Yet tourism remains central to the islands’ economy, directly accounting for 35% to 40% of GDP. For some residents, its continued growth feels unavoidable.

“The bad part is that everything is tourism,” local resident Jorge told Sage. “The neighborhoods—as we see—are being destroyed.”

Canarian authorities have introduced a “Zero Growth” hotel policy restricting new hotel construction licences in an effort to manage expansion. This year’s visitor total is expected to remain broadly in line with 2025, rather than continuing the increases seen in previous years.

Alongside those restrictions, investment is shifting towards more expensive, upmarket holidays. Last year, €1.039 billion was invested in Canarian hotel developments, more than in any other region of Spain. Much of that money has gone towards turning ageing two- and three-star hotels into luxury accommodation.

According to EY Parthenon reports, 44 new hotels and luxury extensions are expected by 2028, adding 6,395 rooms. The developments include a €700 million masterplan in Gran Canaria intended to deliver five new premium hotels over the coming years. As the market moves upmarket, budget accommodation is becoming harder to find. The Hotel Price Index shows room rates rose by 65% in the five years to 2023. More recently, the average hotel room price across the islands increased by 4.3% from 2025 to 2026, reaching €131.94 a night.

Travelling to the islands is also becoming more expensive. Jet kerosene alone now costs roughly €84.60 per passenger each way on typical routes from London airports to Gran Canaria, partly because of the fuel price surge triggered by the US and Israeli invasion of Iran.

Travel publication Fodor’s has placed the Canary Islands on its ‘No List’, highlighting destinations holidaymakers should consider avoiding.

Campaign group Asociación Tinerfeña de Amigos de la Naturaleza has also warned about the pressures facing the archipelago.

“The continuous arrival of new residents—mainly Europeans—worsens overpopulation, environmental degradation, and land occupation, given the islands’ very limited space. Essential resources like water are also being pushed to their limits,” the group said.

“We are losing our identity, culture, and, ultimately, our right to exist as a community. Tourism has become unlimited, mass-oriented, and largely low-cost party tourism that doesn’t come to truly discover the islands, but to consume a fake backdrop.”

The Canary Islands tourist board has been contacted for comment.

Manchester United make worst start to a season in 40 years, but Michael Carrick ‘confident’ ahead of Bournemouth game.

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick mounted an impassioned defence of ⁠⁠his leadership on Friday, accepting responsibility ⁠⁠for the club’s collapse in form and saying he remains convinced he can lead the team out of their current crisis.

Carrick’s position is under increasing pressure after United extended their winless run to seven matches in all competitions with Wednesday’s humiliating 4-1 ⁠⁠Champions League defeat at Como leaving them 20th in the table with three points.

Before taking questions ahead of Sunday’s Premier League home game against Bournemouth, Carrick delivered an emotional opening statement, acknowledging supporters’ frustrations and the scale of the challenge facing him.

“Recently, we haven’t had a good time. I think that’s ⁠⁠pretty obvious. So I totally accept what we’re going through at the moment,” he said.

“We had five months of relative success [last season] in a spell where I was happy with a lot of things I was seeing and that we were doing as a team,” he said.

“We haven’t done well enough lately. We’ve had a spell that we’re really not happy with.”

Carrick described the loss in Italy as one of the most painful nights of his tenure.

“Wednesday was a bad ‌‌night. It was a bad night for a lot of reasons. It hurt a lot,” he said. “It obviously hurt me to see us play that way. As I said after the game, it was really unacceptable.”

The defeat intensified scrutiny of Carrick after captain Bruno Fernandes appeared to question United’s tactical approach in his post-match comments.

Dressing room cracks for Carrick after Fernandes outburst

Asked whether public criticism from players suggested cracks within the dressing room, Carrick rejected any suggestion the squad was split.

He also sidestepped questions over Fernandes’ future as captain and declined to reveal whether he had held talks with the Portugal midfielder following the defeat.

Instead, he stressed that his priority was restoring an identity that has disappeared from the side in recent weeks.

“My responsibility is to ⁠⁠get a team on the pitch that represents this football club, represents the supporters and they can be proud ⁠⁠of it with the identity that we show,” Carrick said.

“We have gone away from that just recently in certain games, which I’m fully aware of and definitely doing something about.”

He reserved special mention for United’s fans, many of whom travelled to Como only to watch their side suffer the heaviest defeat of his reign.

“The supporters are a huge part of this ⁠⁠football club. They have to make the effort and the time and money they spend, to feel how we all felt on Wednesday was a tough moment,” he said.

Carrick defiant as Man United form slides

Despite growing speculation about his future, Carrick struck a ⁠⁠defiant tone, saying he remained confident United could rediscover the energy and connection that characterised ⁠⁠last season’s performances.

He took over in January 2026 after the sacking of Ruben Amorim and oversaw a remarkable turnaround, steering United to a top-three finish and Champions League qualification.

“For [the fans] to feel like they felt for five months at the start of the year … is something we need to get back to. We will get back to it. I fully believe that,” said ‌‌Carrick.

Former Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is among the names linked with United’s managerial job, although the 57-year-old Italian said on Friday he had not had any negotiations “at an advanced stage” with any club.

Carrick acknowledged that United had lost their way but said responsibility rested squarely with him.

He ended ‌‌his ‌‌opening remarks by saying it was his duty to get the club back on course, describing his role as “holding the umbrella for me to get wet and everyone else to stay dry”.

United are 13th in the Premier League standings on seven points, while Bournemouth are a point behind them in 15th.

Strictly Come Dancing star Lawrence Robb has filmed his temporary exit as Mack Boyd on the ITV soap, and now scenes have confirmed how he is leaving as he takes a break

Mack in Emmerdale is leaving the village very soon, and now we know his exit plot.

Actor Lawrence Robb is currently taking part in Strictly Come Dancing, and so he’s taking some time out from filming. He will be offscreen for a few months, and now the latest episode has explained what happens to Mack.

It’s all Robert Sugden’s decision for him to leave the village, and not everyone is happy about it. It’s a pretty random exit, but it appears farm owner Robert is paying for Mack to go on a course in Germany.

In the episode, Robert told his partner Aaron Dingle and Mack’s nephew Matty Barton that he was sending Mack on the course the next day. They were shocked as he said he was sending him to Germany for the course to benefit the farm.

Later in the episode, Mack sat down with his wife Charity Dingle and repeated the news to her. Charity said Robert could “get stuffed”, and told her husband not to go, amid her drama with her prison ordeal.

Mack explained it would be good for him and the farm, and would help him in the future. He was keen to go and Charity reluctantly accepted it.

She then confessed she would be happy to visit him in Germany while he was away, with her son Noah Dingle leaving there. Mack explained it would be for a few months and he would then return.

So that’s it, this is exit confirmation for Mack. This confirms exactly why and how he is leaving, paving the way for actor Lawrence to film BBC’s Strictly.

Recently, the Mirror caught up with Lawrence’s co-stars Jeff Hordley and Katie Hill about Lawrence taking on the series. Speaking about their co-star, Katie shared: “I think he was brilliant.

“I think everyone will love him. He’s such a lovable person. He’s so positive. He’ll give it his best go. I think he’s going to be incredible.” Jeff added: “He’s a joy. I share a dressing room with him, and he’s just such a lovely man.

“We all love him and we all want him to do brilliantly, and I think he will because he’s a really dedicated human being. He’ll give it 110 per cent. He’s done musical theatre so he’ll know how to shake those hips.”

When asked if they were backing Lawrence, Jeff quipped: “If it goes on a personality contest, Lawrence will win hands down. I don’t know about the dancing, but we’ll see.”

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

However, Jorge Galindo, director at the Esade centre for economic policy, says that available data makes it difficult to know exactly how many Spanish properties are owned by so-called “vulture funds” and being used for speculation.

He points to Bank of Spain figures from 2024 showing that only 8% of properties for rent are owned by companies.

Galindo says he concludes from the data available that there is not a notable accumulation of property to rent among a small number of owners in Spain.

“When it comes to explaining the rise in rentals, that is not the big cause,” he says. “What explains it is the shortage of supply compared to demand over recent years.”

The Bank of Spain appears to agree, and has estimated that the country has a housing shortfall of around 750,000 homes.

The institution’s deputy governor, Soledad Núñez, warned in September that by 2028 that could rise to one million.

There are 3.8 million empty properties in Spain, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE), but a large number of those are in depopulated rural areas and therefore have little relevance to the current crisis, which is most acute in urban hubs.

Other explanations for this high number include properties awaiting renovation, or legal disputes between family members who have inherited them.

Demographic changes play a major part in the imbalance between supply and demand.

Between 2021 and 2025, there were about 1.2 million new households in Spain, driven in great part by the arrival of migrants who have played a major role in the country’s recent economic growth.

However, house building has not kept pace, with fewer than half-a-million new homes during that period.

That was partly because Spain’s construction industry had shrunk in the wake of the Eurozone crisis, while the cost of materials rose substantially after Covid, and a lack of political consensus put legal obstacles in the way of building.

“It was not a priority for us to build new houses,” Galindo says. “But, once the demographic boom came, we realised how costly it was for us.”

He adds that short-term tourist accommodation, like Airbnb, which has been identified by both the Spanish government and many activists as a culprit, is likely to have had a more localised effect, pushing up prices in specific urban areas rather than having an overall impact.