Activists have begun a hunger strike on the island of Tenerife, in protest at what they see as the destructive growth of tourism on the Canary Islands.

Protesters are calling for a halt to the construction of a hotel and a beach resort in the south of the island.

They also want a moratorium on all tourism development projects.

The small group of hunger strikers began their protest on Thursday night after a deadline for local authorities to discuss the matter expired.

The move is part of a wider protest movement across the islands, calling itself Canarias Se Agota, or The Canaries Have Had Enough.

“Either [the local authorities] listen or these people are going to put their lives at risk,” Rubén Pérez Flores, a spokesman for Canarias Se Agota, told local media.

A series of protests are being organised across the archipelago next weekend.

A total of 13.9 million tourists visited the Canary Islands in 2023, according to local chamber of commerce figures, 13% more than the year before. That is about six times more than the islands’ population of 2.2 million.

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