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Study shows Lanzarote has reached tourist saturation point
The Spanish Island wants to implement plans to reverse this “disproportionate growth” in the most popular holiday hotspots
Over the past 12 months, the Canary and Balearic Islands have been making moves away from tourism dependency and attempting to create more well-rounded financial plans, and Lanzarote has taken a further step this week by opening procedures to have the island declared as tourist saturated.
A study was commissioned by the regional leader María Dolores Corujo to determine the true capacity of the island, and the results clearly show that holiday apartments have dramatically encroached on residential areas and that there are far more cars on the roads, particularly in summer.
And of course, Ms Corujo pointed out that the number of tourists descending on Lanzarote has swelled considerably.
The president pointed out that “The island has far exceeded its tourist carrying capacity. It does not put Lanzarote's image at risk, but it does highlight that people are confusing development with growth and overflow in certain areas.”
Incredibly, two out of every 10 people living in Lanzarote are foreigners and Brits make up 6% of that total, but it’s the annual, temporary visitors that are causing the consternation.
From the data, which the government considers “binding”, a report will be commissioned on the measures needed to reverse this saturation of holidaymakers, holiday homes and rental vehicles.
“We cannot continue by not facing reality. Lanzarote needs to take measures to redirect its tourism model. For this, it is essential to have a rigorous and realistic diagnosis,'' Ms Corujo stressed.
The overall message of the study is that the island is experiencing “disproportionate growth” in the most popular holiday hotspots, with a huge number of tourist rentals per square metre in the resorts.
It’s yet to be seen what plans will be put in place to alleviate this saturation but the regional government has made no secret of the fact that it wants to change its marketing strategy to attract fewer, higher-spending holidaymakers.
Earlier this year, the island’s president caused uproar in Britain when she said that future advertising would be focused more towards French, Italian and Dutch tourists, “a diversification strategy to reduce dependence on the British market.”
Image: GerritR via Wikimedia Commons
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