BRITS heading to the Canaries have been warned that massive anti-tourism protests are brewing – and this time, they’re set to be the “most forceful yet”;.
The demos are expected to hit popular tourist resorts on May Day – just two weeks after thousands tourism workers protested over Easter.
Next Thursday, protests are expected across the in Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Palma, El Hierro, Paraje pico de Malpaso, La Gomera, the Plaza de las Américas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Thousands of people are set to demonstrate, under the slogan “Protect what has been conquered, win the future“.
Protests were first organised by workers' unions, CCOO and UGT, but they have now been expanded.
They are encouraging people to take to the streets on all of the islands in what they have described as “the most forceful” protest to date.
The archipelago has the lowest salaries in and the poorest despite contributing more than ever to the Spanish GDP, according the Comisiones Obreras and UGT in the Canary Islands.
Union leaders held a press conference, blasting the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, while workers struggle with sky-high rents, low wages and rising living costs.
They condemned the Canary Islands’ healthcare system as “the worst” in Spain, citing the “longest waiting list” and poor working conditions that leave the working class in precarious situations.
Campaigners called on employers in private clinics, agriculture, hospitality and commerce to take responsibility towards workers who “deserve a fair salary, a fair agreement with decent wages”
The unions urged a mass mobilisation “in defence of social and labour rights” and “in support of the European project as a pillar of social democracy, coexistence and progress”.
“It is time to fight for workers' rights and to build a retaining wall against the fascist policies that exist at the national and international level,” said Manuel Navarro, the general secretary of UGT.
It comes as thousands of tourism workers in the , April 17 and 18.
Representatives of the Tenerife workers' union – who demanded a rise in pay – said the offer from employers was unacceptable.
The tourism employers' association, formed by Ashotel and AERO, had offered a four percent increase in pay for workers, hoping it would prevent them from protesting during the Easter .
But unions want 6.25 percent.
Meanwhile, Spain's first anti-tourism protests of the year kicked off on April 5 with vigour, when thousands of .
Huge crowds across 40 different Spanish cities took to the streets.
The main issue addressed was soaring rents and a lack of affordable .
