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August 2025 | Gazette Life | 17market. followed by Germany, France, The Netherlands and Italy.Many of these tourists are repeat visitors. Lanzarote has a hugely faithful clientele, but many of them will be paying much more for their accommodation this year as prices have risen by around 10% on average.What clearly does not seem to have had any effect on the popularity of Lanzarote and the Canaries is the recent wave of protests against the effects of mass tourism. Hysterical articles in the British press and social media have tried their best to depict the protests as a threat to the safety of tourists, but the demonstrations have been completely peaceful and, it seems, most tourists are intelligent enough to realise that they are at no risk.Meanwhile, the Canarian Tourist Minister has stated that she %u201cshared the concerns%u201d of the protestors, while Canarian President Fernando Clavijo has said that if he were younger, he would probably have joined the demonstrations.However, the regional government has flatly refused to even consider the main demands of the protests, which include a moratorium on tourism that would forbid the creation of any new tourist accommodation and a %u201cgreen tax%u201d on tourists.Instead, it seems that, while the model of higher prices in the tourist centres also acts as a disincentive to many visitors, no such thing is happening on the larger scale. Prices may be higher all round, but visitors keep on paying to come here.And while authorities are happy to pay lip service to the idea of quality tourism, they also seem to be determined to keep packing as many tourists onto the islands as possible.Another aspect of quality tourism that Lanzarote is keen to attract is the luxury sector, aimed at wealthy, high-spending visitors.This has been reinforced by the arrival of hotel brands such as Grand Hyatt and Radisson, as well as ambitious renovation plans by established hotels.Shopping-wise, the luxury market tends to focus on the island's marinas and tourist resorts, where you%u2019ll find upmarket jewellers such as Joyer%u00eda Santos, as well as fine dining and designer clothes shops. LAP OF LUXURY