UK holidaymakers who have been regulars in Tenerife are abandoning the island because of a change in the rules. This weekend saw tens of thousands of locals march through Tenerife, the Canary Islands and the Spanish mainland calling for a reduction in tourism.
But rules brought in for UK citizens after Brexit mean people are already leaving the islands, The Express reports. Since Brexit, UK citizens can only spend a maximum of 90 days a time in Spain before returning to the UK.
This means people who used to spend months in the Canary Islands in holiday homes have sold up and stopped returning. Lisa Robertson the manager of Jags Bar, a Scottish pub in Playa de las Americas, said: “I know at least four people who have sold their houses over here because they can't come out as much as they used to be able to.
“There’s one couple in particular who used to do eight months [in the Canaries] and then six months in Scotland. But because they can only stay for 90 days they just sold their holiday home.”
“The younger ones can only come for three months and three months only,” Lisa explained. “I can’t take them on.”
Lisa said the island’s spiralling rental prices, which are one of the major complaints from protesters, had hit Brits living in Tenerife severely too. “I know families of four who’ve moved to one-bedroom flats because it’s cheaper,” she said.
“They’ve been in places for years, but the landlords have put the rent up so much they can’t afford it.”
