Islands in trouble: Tenerife e il turismo insostenibile

In recent decades, tourism has been promoted as
a driver of economic growth and development in island territories, often under the banner of enhancing “cultural” and
environmental assets conceived as resources to be capitalised. However, the pressure generated by increasingly intense
tourism flows – characterised by new dynamics compared to the past – is producing negative impacts that frequently
affect local populations, already fragile territorial balances, and ecosystems. This contribution analyses the case of
Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, which today represents one of the most evident examples of overtourism in Europe.
The island, with more than 7 million tourists per year and a resident population of just over 900,000 inhabitants, is
facing a sharp rise in the cost of living, a housing crisis driven by the spread of short-term rentals, pollution, coastal
overdevelopment, and excessive consumption of water and energy resources.