'Tenerife needs higher quality tourists': Locals say they want holidaymakers 'who want to experience the Canary Islands culture and food' in continuing war against British visitors 'who drink cheap beer and eat burgers and chips'

Tenerife residents have demanded 'higher quality' tourists in a spiralling war against British holidaymakers they say drink cheap beer while scoffing burgers and chips.

Locals say they want to attract more discerning visitors who would appreciate the Canary Islands' culture and food more than a dominant influx from the UK.

There is a mounting backlash against British holidaymakers in Tenerife and the surrounding Canary Islands despite the area's economy being reliant on tourism.

A record 6.5million visitors went to Tenerife last year - an annual surge of 11 per cent - while 16million travelled to the Canaries.

Yet a wave of new anti-tourism graffiti has popped up near resorts over recent days, with messages reading 'tourists go home' and 'too many guiris', using a disparaging Spanish slang word for foreigners.

Meanwhile, British and Irish second home owners in the Canary Islands have been hit with £2,000 fines for refusing to rent out their holiday properties to tourists. 

Among those wanting 'higher quality' visitors is local painter Vicky Colomer, 63, who told MailOnline:  'I feel like a foreigner here, I don't feel comfortable anymore.

'It's like everything is made for British and German tourists who just want to drink cheap beer, lay in the sun and eat burgers and chips.

'We need higher quality tourists who actually want to experience our culture and food and respect our nature.

'This was a paradise but now it's not and it makes me angry. We must reduce the number of flights and visitors and focus on bringing higher quality people.'

She added: 'There are hundreds of caravans who park up illegally and leave rubbish all over the place.

'Near my home a few weeks ago foreign tourists put on a rave with a DJ booth and speakers in the middle of a field, that is not acceptable.'

She added that young people are increasingly tired of being unable to find decent work.

'They study for years and go to university but the only jobs offered to them here is in a hotel or a restaurant or bar, so all our young talent has to move away to the mainland if they want to pursue a proper career, it's not right.'

Her concerns reflect similar criticisms for visiting Brits by school teacher Zarita Chinea, 39, who described the resort areas as 'a bit of a tourism ghetto'.

She said: 'It's like there are two worlds in Tenerife, the tourists and the locals, and we don't mix.

'If I was in power I would try to reduce the number of holidaymakers - there have been so many more in the past year and it is noticeable.

'I also think we need better quality tourists, who respect our land and nature, who want to explore the real Tenerife and go hiking for example.'

One poster taped to a wall in Tenerife declares: 'Locals are forced to move out and YOU are responsible for that… digital nomads you are NOT welcome here.'

But it seems some Brits are fighting back, with a message in English scribbled next to one of the slogans saying: 'F**k off, we pay your wages!'

A protest has been planned for today is planned in Santa Cruz, dubbed 'Salvar La Tejida' (Save La Teijda).

Campaigners are expected to hold a press conference laying out their demands before holding a march with banners and signs.

And later this month, on April 20, a second large protest is being planned by a string of environmental and social groups, again in the capital.

A poster for the event says the Canary Islands 'has a limit' and that protesters will be marching for 'conservation of natural spaces, a tourist moratorium, and tougher regulation for foreigners buying property.'

The frustrated groups are also fighting for the implementation of an eco-tax or tourist tax and regulation of property purchases by foreigners.

It's not the first time Tenerife locals have taken to the streets to protest for new laws to protect those permanently living on the island, and restrict targeting tourists.

Last August protesters voiced their concerns over tourists, brandishing signs with slogans reading 'The Canaries are no longer a paradise' and 'The Canaries are not for sale'.

The islanders' main concerns were with sewage spills, increased traffic, and destruction of the environment - all of which they blamed on tourists.

But officials have begged residents to lose their 'tourismphobia' amid fears that rising resentment towards holidaymakers would see a significant slump in the islands' economy.

And the Canary Islands’ president today admitted he was concerned about the growing anti-tourism movement and its potential impact on revenue for the region.

Fernando Clavijo said: 'We are worried because tourism is our main source of income and I think that whoever comes here to enjoy, to spend a few days and to leave their money in the Canary Islands, shouldn’t be rebuked or face insults.

'We can talk and analyse things to try to improve them but what we can’t do is attack our principal source of income and wealth because it would be totally irresponsible - what we need here is common sense and tranquility.

'Never should there be attacks on an economic activity that puts food on the plate of most people living in the Canary Islands.'

Overnight one of the organisers of the protests insisted they weren’t against tourists but said change was needed.

Jaime Coello, president of the Telesforo Bravo Foundation, said the current system of mass tourism occupying 'every inch of the ground' was leading to many environmental problems and generating social problems including a lack of affordable housing.

He said: 'The quality of the tourist product is being destroyed by the investors and the regional government.'

Locals have raised concerns about the rising costs of renting and buying homes, as landlords continue to buy up Airbnbs and tourist lets - reducing supply and pushing up prices.

Tech worker Ivan Cerdeña Molina, 36, is helping organise the protest this month as part of his role at local conservation group ATAN (Asociación Tinerfeña de Amigos de la Naturaleza).

He told MailOnline: 'It's a crisis - we have to change things urgently. People are living in their cars and even in caves and locals can't eat, drink or live well.

'Airbnb and Booking.com are like a cancer that is consuming the island bit by bit.

'The benefits of the industry are not trickling down to everyday people, whose salaries have not increased in years, the quality of life here is collapsing.'

Ivan was born and raised in El Medano, a once quiet town about a 20 minute-drive east of the most popular tourist resort of Los Cristianos.

This Easter weekend, the area was filled with holidaymakers who packed out the beaches and parked dozens of caravans and jeeps on the once-protected land behind.

Biologist Anne Striewe, 47, also told MailOnline of the damaging effect she fears tourism has on wildlife.

She said: 'There are hundreds of boats and jet skis in our waters everyday, pumping petrol into the water.

'Then there are the boat parties which blast music all day long, and what people don't realise is that this is picked up by whales and other creatures and really confuses and frightens them - it makes them go crazy.

'Meanwhile there have been multiple cases of animals being injured or killed by boat propellers - there are often vessels in protected waters, but no one is cracking down on the activity.'

Environmental group Salvar Tenerife (Save Tenerife) says millions of litres of sewage water are being dumped into the sea off Tenerife and other islands each day, with the amount rising significantly when there is a high number of holidaymakers.

Anne added that locals are tired of tourism being given priority by the government, saying: 'With the recent drought, water supplies have been cut off in some areas away from the resorts, but not in hotels and the golf courses.'

She insisted demands for more controls were 'nothing personal' against individual tourists, but people's patience had reached its limit - hence the provocative graffiti.

Back in Los Cristianos, British expats and tourists rushed to defend themselves against the heightening anti-tourism sentiment.

Melissa Taylor, 47, who works in the popular Giddy Goose English pub in Las Playas de las Americas, told MailOnline: 'The anti-tourism stuff has suddenly peaked recently.

'I think it's unfair what they're saying, without tourism there would be nothing here.

'Brits come here and spend a lot of money, the overwhelming majority of our customers are from the UK.'

Her colleague Terrilea Clayton, 22, agreed, saying: 'It's a bit silly and unfair  without tourism I wouldn't have a job and it brings money to the island.

'During Covid, Tenerife became a ghost town and it was terrible.'

But she conceded: 'I've lived here for 10 years and I do understand some of the arguments about rent, I was actually kicked out of a flat because the landlord wanted to turn it into an Airbnb.'

Another bar worker and mother-of-three Emma Barker, 43, from Leeds, said: 'Obviously it's ridiculous to bash tourism because without it there would be no jobs - the economy relies so heavily on it.

'But the rent situation is getting out of control. I've been really lucky with my landlord, but if I had to find a new flat right now I don't think I would be able to.

'It's just too expensive and there are very few available long-term - I would probably have to move to another country and start afresh.'

British tourists were also adamant that they bring something to the Canary Islands.

John Ashley, 61, from Durham, told MailOnline: 'It's ridiculous, if they stop or reduce the number of tourists coming they'll be sorry.

'If the English didn't come, I tell you right now that graffiti would change to say 'English please come back!''

'We've been coming here for 20 years and have more than helped the economy, we Brits always get a bad rep but we bring all the money in.'

Carol Ball, 60, said: 'I think it's not right - we come here and spend money. Without tourism, where would they be? They rely so much on the industry.

'If they don't want to see drunk Brits, then stay away from the resorts where you're likely to see them.

'Of course there are going to be a small minority who drink too much and go too far, but that's just part of the tourism business.'

Across the road, Londoner Jay Neil, 43, said locals needed to stop taking out all the problems on tourists.

The worker at the popular Yolo bar told MailOnline: 'I've lived here 17 years and, yes, the property situation has got crazy.

'But they need to stop blaming tourists. It's the greedy landlords that are the problem - there's people buying, like, five apartments and renting them to holidaymakers because they know they can make a fortune.

'Saying "tourists go home" is just silly - it's the government that needs to act to sort out the housing crisis, which is happening all over the world not just here.'

Irish expat Bronagh Maheor, 23, added: 'It's totally unfair - without tourists here, there would not be hotels or businesses, I'd be out of a job. We need them.'