British holidaymakers have been reportedly told of being trapped in a hotel by furious anti-tourist protesters.
Thousands of protesters descended on resorts across the Canary Islands on Sunday. In Gran Canaria, hundreds assembled in Maspalomas, holding signs that read: “Go Home Tourists.”
Lee Pattemore, 44, was trapped inside the Riu hotel with wife Stacey, 39, and their two daughters, aged 11 and six, reports The Sun.
He told The Sun: “They were circling the hotel. My daughter was asking me, ‘Daddy, why are they shouting?’”
Photos captured the chaos outside the hotel gates as police struggled to restore order.
Landscaping boss Lee, of Epsom, Surrey, said: “There was a lot of pushing and shoving. We’re too scared to leave the hotel now.”
In Tenerife’s Playa de las Americas, 2,000 activists stormed Troya Beach, surrounding startled British tourists in their swimwear while chanting: “This beach is ours.”
Protests also took place in La Palma, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, and El Hierro, under the slogan “The Canaries Have A Limit,” advocating for more sustainable tourism. Protesters argue that locals are being priced out of the housing market and that tourism is damaging the environment.
Activist Daniel Cabrera said: “We want tourism, but we don’t want over-exploitation and low-quality tourism that doesn’t benefit the local economy.”
In Gran Canaria, protesters took to the streets of Maspalomas, in the island’s south, where most of the hotels popular with British tourists are located.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered to express their frustration with politicians for not addressing issues campaign groups link to excessive tourism, such as the lack of affordable housing and environmental concerns.
Some marched behind a large banner reading in Spanish: “We’re foreigners in our own land.”
Tourists watched from hotel rooftops as the protesters passed by, with reports that a few locals gave holidaymakers the middle finger, to which some responded by sarcastically blowing kisses.
