Brits say Tenerife would be 'ghost town' without them - 'we have the same problem'

British holidaymakers have said that would be a "ghost town" and a "third world country" without them after locals took to the streets to protest against overtourism on the island. Campaigners marched through Santa Cruz in the north earlier this month, urging people from the UK to visit other places to lessen the pressure on the environment, infrastructure and supplies. In the Playa de las Americas, an area filled with Scottish and Irish bars, Sharon Hopkins, 55, a retired shoe shop worker and reserve firefighter, said: "That's everywhere, isn't it?

"We get that in Wales, the English come over and buy second homes. We've got children that are wanting to go out and buy property, but they can't. I know how they feel." Tracey Enoch, 53, a hairdresser, told : "If you go to Tenby in Pembrokeshire, they've got exactly the same problem as they have here." It was reported earlier this month that extra council tax paid by owners of second homes in the Welsh town is estimated to have been worth £ 12.5million over the past year.

Earlier this year, President Pedro Sanchez announced a plan for an "unprecedented" 100% tax on properties purchased by non-residents to try and shore up housing for locals.

Tracey added that Tenerife would be "like a ghost town" without visitors, and locals who worked in hotels would not have jobs. Sharon said that locals "depend on tourists".

The group did show some sympathy for the activists, however, with Mrs Hopkins saying they are caught in "a vicious circle".

Her husband, Colin, 57, a warehouse operative, added: "Unfortunately, that's how the world works. I do see their. Point they've got the right to protest."

But he added: "It's their own fault allowing people to come here and buy properties."

When asked what he thinks draws people to the island, Mr Hopkins said the weather is obviously better, and generally the cost of living is cheaper.

"I do feel the locals, but, if they took the tourists away, it would crumble," he said.

Enid Enoch, 82, who has been coming to Tenerife for around 10 years, said simply: "If people can't come to Tenerife, they'd be struggling."

Emyr Enoch, Tracey's husband, a plasterer, added: "If it wasn't for the likes of us, they wouldn't survive."

Also enjoying a holiday were Scots George, 67, a retired HGV driver, and Margaret, a retired administrator, who was only prepared to say that she is in her sixties, from Stranraer.

George said: "If there weren't tourists, they would be back to a third would country, wouldn't they?"

Margaret said: "I think they definitely need the holidaymakers. They maybe don't need people coming over and buying up the houses, but they definitely need tourists."

It was not just Brits who had a view, as Irish couple Vincent and Mary Blake, both aged 70 and from Galway, have been coming to the island for 10 years, and theyclaimed rents have doubled in that time.

"Everything's gone up," Vincent, a retired computer engineer, said. "You can see the locals they can't live in here anymore - they have to live way out."

The Express also spoke with a waiter at the English Rose, Eneas Augustus, 27. He travelled to Tenerife from Buenos Aires two years ago.

He said that local people ask questions during job interviews about how many holidays they can have. Mr Augustus added: "When I have interviews here, I'm just asking, 'What day am I starting?'"

He has enjoyed working with British customers. Eneas said: "We have the same customers every year. This is my first time with English people - you are so friendly. The customers are better than Spanish people."

In the English Rose, , 78, a retired insulation engineer from West Derby, said ordinary tourists like him provide for Tenerife's economy.

He added that protesters have "shot themselves in the foot", as many people are employed in hotels.

His wife, Georgina, also 78, said: "We can understand where they come from. But we help them."