Tenerife

A warning has been issued for visitors to the Spanish island of Tenerife, which is situated off the coast of West Africa and is known for its excellent, sunny weather throughout the year

New warning signs directed at British tourists have appeared in Tenerife.

The Spanish island, situated off the coast of West Africa and known for its excellent, sunny weather throughout the year, is hugely popular with UK residents. The Canary Islands overall recorded an extraordinary year in 2024, with nearly 18 million visitors – an annual increase of 10%.

The biggest pull is Tenerife, which attracted more than 6.2 million international tourists and over 900,000 domestic visitors. British visitors are the dominant force on the island, sending 2.8 million sunseekers in 2024 – three times more than those from Germany.

While there’s plenty to love about Tenerife, including its 20C plus January weather, miles of sandy coastline and cheap bars, there is a downside to the island. Holidaymakers can find themselves the victim of pickpockets and muggers.

Now, British tourists visiting the most popular holiday hotspots in Tenerife are being warned about pickpockets after an increase in muggings and robberies. New signs have been put out on pavements to warn visitors about the risks. Messages are also being sent out to hundreds of thousands of social network users.

Have you had a holiday in Tenerife go wrong? Email webtravel@reachplc.com

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The warnings apply to favourite destinations in the south of Tenerife, including Los Cristianos and Playa de las Americas, as well as Puerto Colón, Puerto Santiago and Los Gigantes. Several Facebook communities are now being used to report such crimes, with photographs of alleged pickpockets shared, and risk points are identified.

Although hard figures are not available, there is an anecdotal suggestion that theft cases are on the rise in certain parts of Tenerife. One of the most notable areas is the vicinity of English pubs in Los Cristianos, particularly San Francisco Avenue, which is known for being a high-risk location, especially at night and during periods of high visitor concentration.

On one Facebook group, a user recently recounted: “Two pickpockets in Los Cristianos were surprised and arrested by my husband when they tried to steal a woman’s purse”, describing a spontaneous intervention to stop a robbery in the middle of a public road. Other reports mention stolen cell phones, hotel room cards and wallets.

Some car rental companies in the south have begun to incorporate warning messages aimed at their customers as a preventive measure. These companies recommend that their customers carry out practices to reduce the risk of theft, such as not to leaving mobile phones on tables, avoiding carrying wallets with large amounts of money and choosing to carry only cash and essential cards.

They also suggest the use of fanny packs, carrying bags on the front of the body and not leaving valuables inside vehicles.

During a nine-month period last year, reported crime rates in the Canary Islands increased by 3.3% compared to the same months in 2024, according to the Ministry of the Interior. The archipelago ended the first nine months of the year with 83,358 criminal offences, compared to 80,707 in the same period in 2024.

The report highlighted a significant increase in property-related crimes, with 1,467 violent robberies clocked (+12.8%) and 21,889 thefts (+3.5%), Tenerife Weekly reported.

Joseph McCabe, who runs his own construction firm and co-owns a party boat business, was jailed for 46 weeks on Friday at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after admitting four sexual offences

A former soldier who sexually assaulted four Jet2 cabin crew during a flight to Tenerife has been jailed.

Joseph McCabe groped and slapped the buttocks of two flight attendants before grabbing a third around the waist and attempting to hug a fourth. A court heard McCabe’s behaviour forced the plane, which had left Edinburgh, to be diverted to the Portuguese island of Porto Santo.

Police there arrested the 40-year-old man and, last month, he admitted the four sexual offences. McCabe, who was a private in the Royal Logistic Corps for five years, was jailed for 46 weeks on Friday at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

The court heard McCabe made sexual comments to one woman about her tights and make up, asked her age and where she lived and ripped up a written warning he had been given for his drunken conduct. The former soldier also threw his bank card at an air employee and began dancing in the aisle on the plane in March last year.

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The defendant, who now runs his own construction firm and co-owns a party boat business called The Drunken Anchor, has been handed a lifelong ban from flying with Jet2 and has refused to pay the £5,000 fine the airline had imposed on him.

Sentencing, Sheriff Alison Stirling said the offence had involved “a high level of culpability and a high level of harm”. McCabe, who has two children, was also placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years and was made subject to non-harassment orders banning him from having any contact with the victims for an indefinite period. Solicitor Anna Kocela, defending, said her client is a self-employed building boss and had been drinking excessively at the time of the flight due to a family bereavement.

Previously, prosecutor Miriam Farooq told the court the Jet2 flight took off from Edinburgh Airport bound for Tenerife with around 110 passengers on board at around 8.30am on March 15 last year, reports Daily Record.

Ms Farooq said the flight was packed with families and children and shortly after take off cabin crew had noticed McCabe “making multiple trips to the toilet”.

The fiscal depute said around 90 minutes into the flight a female flight attendant was serving a passenger when she “felt someone behind her touching her buttocks”.

The employee turned round to find McCabe was “looking at her with a smirk on his face” and had asked her “where she bought her tights because he liked them”.

McCabe, from Glasgow, was given a verbal warning on the flight and then ripped up a written warning given to him by the air crew for his shocking behaviour.