Sensational Headlines Misrepresent Tourism Debate in Lanzarote

A recent report in the Daily Mail, entitled “Lanzarote Declares War” actually shows that Lanzarote has done nothing of the sort.

Reporter Laurence Dollimore’s article was subtitled: “’Tourists go home!’ Furious Lanzarote residents glue shut Airbnb key boxes and put fake police tape to cordon off beauty spots as they blame British holidaymakers for sky high rents and overcrowded beaches”.

Laurence had to look extra hard for evidence to support the headline, relying on three Instagram posts by local groups such as Colectivo Tabaiba and Islas de Resistencia. These show activists glueing a couple of key boxes belonging to holiday rental properties or taping off a footpath to the Volcán del Cuervo.

The rest of the article is a much less sensational overview of tourism on the island, featuring informative interviews with locals and residents and highlighting the challenges of the housing crisis on the island. No “furious Lanzarote residents” are featured at all.

But that doesn’t get clicks, and it is the sensational headline has been repeated in the Daily Mirror, as well as German and Dutch tabloids that also rely on scaring and outraging their readers.