The Canary Islands have been slapped on a prominent ‘don’t travel’ list following years of outcry over excessive tourism.

The Spanish archipelago, located off the North West coast of Africa, has found itself on Fodor’s ‘No List’ for 2026. The American publication releases this list annually.

“Fodor’s No List is the rare travel list that encourages both desire and restraint in the same breath. It’s a reality check wrapped in responsible wanderlust. We say it year after year–the No List is not a call for boycott. Its purpose is to highlight destinations where tourism is placing unsustainable pressures on the land and local communities,” the publication clarifies.

Fodor’s highlights that “pressure is mounting” in the Canaries. In the first half of 2025, the island chain welcomed a staggering 7.8 million visitors and processed more than 27 million airport passengers, marking a 5% increase from the previous year.

In May, locals who had had enough of the relentless influx of tourists took to the streets in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, and Lanzarote under the banner “Canarias tiene un límite ” (The Canaries have a limit). They argue that the booming tourism market, coupled with skyrocketing housing costs and increasing environmental strain, is jeopardising the very foundations of island life.

It’s a tricky issue to tackle, as tourism contributes to over a third of the Canary Islands’ GDP and provides employment for roughly 40% of its population.

John Dale Beckley, founder of the sustainability platform CanaryGreen.org, told Fodor’s: “Residents have started protesting because they’re genuinely fed up. Traffic is one of the biggest issues. What used to be a 40-minute drive from the north can now take well over an hour each way. The government previously changed regulations that allowed residents to rent out their properties on Airbnb and Booking.com. This has driven up both rental prices and property values. Many young people now find it almost impossible to rent or buy a home.”

Asociación Tinerfeña de Amigos de la Naturaleza, one of Tenerife’s longest-established environmental campaign groups, has cautioned that securing accommodation on the island has become “virtually impossible” due to a proliferation of holiday lets. The organisation contends that the combination of excessive visitor numbers and overcrowding means “no truly local spaces are left”.

Across six locations in the Canaries, tourist accommodation now outnumbers residential beds. According to Raúl Hernández, there are approximately eight holiday rental spaces per 100 residents when averaged across the archipelago.

Out of the roughly 200,000 holiday flats available, over half belong to single-property owners – indicating that islanders are transforming their own homes into tourist rentals to capitalise on the region’s position as the EU’s most popular holiday destination. Many locals have raised concerns about overtourism in the Canary Islands, warning that the biodiverse archipelago cannot cope with the approximately 90 million visitors it welcomed in 2019.

Among them is Felicitas Brodtrager, a resident and academic who has written extensively about the urgent need to transform tourism practices across the region.

“When I set foot out of my home my heart bleeds. My beloved land is in pain. I can see and feel the pain with every step I take in whatever direction. And it hurts. It hurts because it could be different,” he writes of Tenerife. “It could be prosperous, full of hope and marvellously beautiful. It could be thriving, healthy and welcoming. You can’t choose what you call home, your heart decides. Sometimes I wish it would have never chosen this place. It is complicated.”

Beyond housing issues, another significant challenge facing Tenerife – along with the other Canary Islands – is the minimal local production. Only 10% of the predominantly arid terrain is farmed, and the dry conditions mean cultivation is largely restricted to potatoes and grapes.

Farmer Natalia Diaz highlights that 90% of all food consumed on the island arrives from overseas. This presents not only a climate concern regarding transport emissions, but a local waste problem too.

“So, all those hotels and all those tourist hotspots are consuming products from abroad. And the only thing they are leaving us in the Canary Islands is their s**t that ends up in our ocean. Because we haven’t even produced that food here,” she said.

ATAN presents an even bleaker assessment: “The continuous arrival of new residents–mainly Europeans–worsens overpopulation, environmental degradation, and land occupation, given the islands’ very limited space. Essential resources like water are also being pushed to their limits.”

The regional government is now implementing measures. It has brought in legislation preventing newly constructed properties from being utilised as short-term rentals, mandating landlords to secure permits, and enabling neighbours to block tourist flats in their buildings.

National reforms quickly followed, granting communities the ultimate decision on whether apartments can be employed for tourism.