Mario Cabrera calls for assessing the Canary Islands' carrying capacity to gauge tourism growth limits

The current Canary Islands Government is “planning, designing and debating a new model.”

Mario Cabrera González, deputy of the Canarian Nationalist Group (CCa), addressed the Parliament’s plenary session to discuss the archipelago’s tourism situation and the need for a shift in the tourism model—“something this Government of the Canary Islands has already started,” he noted. He also called for a study of the islands’ carrying capacity as a tool to gauge the limits of tourism growth.

“Tourism is the main industry of the archipelago and continues to be the engine that generates economy and employment in our islands,” Cabrera said.
“It is not only about counting tourists; the regional executive is tasked with planning, designing and debating a new tourism model.”

“We are listening to social discontent and saying that action is needed,” he added, urging the Minister of Tourism to evaluate the islands’ carrying capacity—a topic omitted in the previous legislature.

Carrying Capacity as a Limit to Tourism Growth

Cabrera argued that setting limits on the islands’ expansion must underpin any future strategy. This approach would:

• Reinforce the territorial identity of the islands.
• Ensure a balance between human well‑being and ecological sustainability.
• Promote a diversified economy that respects the territory’s limits.

“The economy must adapt to ecological boundaries, projecting internationally an image of innovation, environmental responsibility and conscious development,” he insisted.

He emphasized the need for more measures to curb growth, ensuring wealth distribution that aligns with preserving the islands’ identity. Cabrera highlighted recent advances included in the Canary Decree, such as:

• Salary improvements for tourism workers.
• A 2026‑2027 employer‑contribution bonus for companies that grant wage increases above collective agreements.
• Fiscal and labor‑cost commitments that, through incentives, can support higher-than‑contractual pay rises.

  “This is the path we must follow,” he said.

Additional reforms aim to tackle the housing crisis:

• Streamlined regulations to accelerate residential construction.
• Re‑allocation of land originally earmarked for non‑residential or tourism uses to residential purposes.

These actions form part of the 51 measures outlined in the strategy for the Canary Islands Demographic Challenge.

The Current Government Has Addressed Pending Tasks from the “Pact of the Flowers”

Cabrera noted that developing a sustainable tourism model was a “pending task” left by the previous administration (the Pact of the Flowers). The former legislature made little progress, merely boasting about:

• Annual tourist growth.
• New market connections with the Canary Islands.
• Economic diversification.
• Uncontrolled expansion of vacation rentals.
• Megaprojects marketed as tourist attractions.

He also criticized the lack of implementation of the tourist tax and the failure to update the Tourism Planning Law.

In contrast, the present Government is:

• Updating tourism regulations and steering the sector toward regenerative and more sustainable tourism.
• Initiating regulation of vacation rentals and revising the Tourism Planning Law, which now mandates the inclusion of fold‑away beds in hotel establishments—a demand from “the KELLYs” that had been ignored previously.

Furthermore, the administration has:

• Raised sector wages by roughly 10 %.
• Achieved historic IGIC (regional tax) revenues.
• Increased disposable income above the national average.
• Advanced the so‑called “Residence Law,” a measure once contested by opposition parties but now supported by the central government.