I live in a van in a Tenerife car park because tourists have sent rents sky high | World | News
In a car park in the Playa de las Americas resort on Tenerife is a row of vans and cars. Inside these live a group of people, a mix of locals and individuals from other countries, who say they are living “free” lives next to the sea, although their surfing is sometimes blighted by sewage outflows. Giulia Pizzi, 32, from Pisa in Italy, has been in Tenerife for three years.
She quit her job as a dental cleaning receptionist the day before speaking to the Express because of the travel distance. “If you want to find a job here, it’s full of them. But the salary is not that good. Sometimes conditions are also pretty bad. Over the past few years it’s got worse. It’s full of hotels here in the south, it’s full. The island is not prepared, I think, for a lot of people and construction.”
Protesters took to the streets of Tenerife’s capital Santa Cruz this month to voice their discontent at overtourism and the island government’s handling of the issue. During a visit to the Spanish island, locals told the Express that rents have “skyrocketted” to as much as €1,200 (around £1,007) per month in the south, where most tourists stay. Salaries, meanwhile, tend to be around €1,300 (around £1,091) in this part of Tenerife.
In and around Santa Cruz, however, rents are around €800 (£672). for jobs, such as roles at hotels and bars, are too low. They add that tourist lets and holiday homes are making it harder for people born on the island to live in their own place.
Another issue is sewage outflows into the sea, which campaigners suggest are execerbated by the amount of effluent produced by visitors to the island.
“I surf,” Giulia said. “And sometimes we can see sewage, we can smell it. So many people felt bad in the water with vomit, and get diarrhea.”
She added: “I cannot find a house for me, it’s very expensive. A lot of people are living in cars, not just vans. We can have a shower for free on the beach. It’s cold water, but that’s why they stay here. At least they can have a shower.”
Vincent Colmenares Cañellas, 56, who was born in Venezuala, prefers living in a van as he can drive and stay wherever he likes. “I feel great,” he said. “I feel free. My passion is the surfing. We have wonderful weather, and we have marvellous waves.” He added: “The salaries are so poor, they’re not enough for anybody.”
Albert Serra, 32, has been living in a van for two and a half years. From Girona on mainland Spain, he came to Tenerife for a change of scenery.
He said: “The tourists don’t mind about the [higher] prices here. The salaries around Europe are higher than here. People who come here for holidays, they will pay. It’s not a problem for them. For us it wasn’t that expensive before.”
Moises Chueca Larque, 41, was born in Tenerife and now lives in his camper van, which he describes as his “villa”, on his home island after moving to Germany when he was 29 to work with disabled people.
“It’s super,” he added. “Before, I had a small house [a car]. I prefer to live with my house, it’s amazing. I don’t need too many things.”
