Spanish island loved by Brits wants to cut tourist numbers to stop 'saturation'

03 February 2023 , 15:48

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Lanzarote wants to declare itself "saturated"

A Spanish holiday island hugely popular with Brits wants to cut down on the number of tourists who visit it.

Lanzarote's leaders are hoping to declare the island "saturated" and is aiming for a tourist decline to "guarantee the future of generations to come."

Part of the new strategy will be to become less dependent on Brits who currently account for more than half of holiday numbers.

Lanzarote, which has just over 151,000 inhabitants, received 2.5 million tourists until November 2022 - 17 times its population.

Now, the Island Council has advanced the idea of declaring itself a "tourist-saturated area" and claims that the idea enjoys "a broad social consensus".

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Lanzarote's tourism leaders want fewer tourists to come

Lanzarote's president Dolores Corujo said that it would be necessary to adopt "a diversification strategy to reduce dependence on the British market."

Tourism bosses say they want fewer hotel beds but of higher quality, so the island can get a more refined destination.

They say that massive investments will be needed to attract a tourist with higher spending on beaches and other infrastructure.

At this stage, Lanzarote's island council hasn't said how it plans to reduce tourism saturation or visitor numbers.

Two recent visitors to the island who didn't take up a hotel bed were a pair of British mums, who flew to Lanzarote from Manchester Airport and back in the same day.

The parents made their children's packed lunches before jetting off for the day on a 2,500-mile round trip - for just £23.

The best friends set off from Manchester to Lanzarote for a fun day out while documenting their travels on one of the pair's '0nlyMums' TikTok account.

The holder of the account said the trip involved a 9-hour excursion to the popular holiday destination in the Canary Islands to "blow off January blues."

One of the mums wrote: "Well my weekend's on the up because I’ve just booked a £23 flight to Spain for the day to blow off the January blues - me and the bestie - the packed lunch is made for the kids on Monday and I’ll be back at midnight!"

With flights costing just the price of a few pints, or less than a train from Liverpool to Sheffield, the mum mates enjoyed cocktails together and a swim on the beach.

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In another video, she shared photos of her living her best life in Lanzarote saying it was “better than a Sunday round Sainsbury’s!”

In one video they wrote: "We've got seven children between us. We booked £23 flights to Lanzarote and back in one day, gossip on the plane, brunch, Spanish Zara, cocktails overlooking the beach and a dip in the sea.

"A Burger King to sober up at the airport (then) back in my own bed for 12.30am!"

It is unclear whether the Island Council will aim to discourage this kind of tourism.

Rita Sobot