Activists on the Spanish island of Tenerife went on a hunger strike on Thursday to protest overtourism, which they claim is damaging the popular holiday destination.

Five members of Canarias Se Agota (Canary Islands Sellout) have begun an indefinite strike, with updates scheduled for April 20 in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and La Palma Many demonstrations, with the slogan: “The Canary Islands have limits”.

Victor Martin of Canaries Sold Out insists activists were forced to take part in the protest after all efforts for a solution were rejected.

“Five people will join the hunger strike today, waiting for medical tests to see if they can do so,” he told I.

“We are doing this to create a more sustainable tourism industry. Our island has limited infrastructure and cannot support mass tourism.”

Mr Martin said protesters planned to form a human chain around hunger strikers at a church in Laguna, Tenerife. The group asked the authorities to halt construction on two hotel developments, Hotel La Tejita and Cuna del Alma, in Porto Adeje, Tenerife.

Both projects were ordered halted by the local government of the Canary Islands due to environmental violations and violations, but construction work has recently resumed.

Janet Anscombe, a retired British university lecturer who has lived in Tenerife for 20 years, runs a consulting website.

“I’ve watched this process evolve over the past 20 years to the point where tourism growth is completely unsustainable,” she told us. I.

“No one is having fun here. Visitors overlook shantytowns in places like South Oasis in Los Cristianos, one of our main destinations.

“These environmentalists are angry about being called tourist phobic by politicians and business people, but we have a real problem. We need tourism but there is too much of it.”

Dr Anscombe said locals were struggling to afford local accommodation, with some being forced to live in cars or tents.

Spain attracted 173 million British tourists last year, with the Canary Islands leading the pack at 31%, followed by the Balearic Islands at 21%, according to the National Institute of Statistics.

According to statistics from the Canary Islands government, tourism accounted for more than one-third of the Canary Islands’ GDP last year and brought employment opportunities to 400,000 islanders. The total active population of the islands is one million.

José Miguel González, an economist specializing in tourism at the University of La Laguna in Tenerife, said greater planning is needed to address tourism in the Canary Islands.

“We have traffic congestion and housing problems that need to be solved by public authorities, not tourism,” he told us I.

Rosa Davila, president of Tenerife’s parliament, said the Canary Islands’ economic model is based on tourism, which helps improve the quality of life on the island and provides most of the employment opportunities.