In the last 15 years the Canary Islands has undergone a very important economic expansion. Economic welfare and the standard of living have reached levels that were unimaginable thirty or forty years ago. One should remember that the Canary Islands suffered difficult economic moments when the only economic way out was emigration, mainly to the American continent and most commonly to Venezuela.

The economic problem was so important due to a number of reasons: a water shortage, the rugged landscape that made large scale agriculture difficult, little industrialisation, distance of european markets, fragmented territory of the Canary Islands, the populations lack of qualifications, etc.

However, in the sixties a strong development in the Tourism sector began to take place, areas such as Playa del Ingles, Maspalomas, Puerto de la Cruz, Playa de las Americas, etc…all began to grow with the tourist industry. This development was slightly slower in Lanzarote but the help of an important artist, César Manrique, gave the island its own unique personality.

Tourism has been without a doubt the economic driving force of the Canary Islands. For this very reason the Government and the Canarian Authorities are aware that they must look after the tourist industry. The natural resources in the Canary Islands are our main source of wealth and where the Government wants to make an effort with the conservation of the area and its landscape. Nevertheless, in order to make sure that the economic and social development is lasting and that the conservation of natural resources is compatible with this development, the intervention of politicians and the creation of laws is necessary in order to slow down the expansion of those sectors which may have a harmful effect on the territory.

In the last few years there has been an acceleration in the growth of tourism (construction of apartments, hotels, houses and other types of building work) and also in the increase of outside population attracted by the good economic conditions. Therefore the laws that the Government are applying are aimed at slowing down the construction of apartments and to make us think about what kind of development we want for the future generation. In short, what the Government wants is more quality and less quantity. All in all the Government wants to stop the further construction of apartments and allow only the construction of high quality hotels in relation to specific health and leisure facilities and luxury hotels.

For example, a five star hotel which apart from accommodation also offers spa, sea-water therapy, health treatments etc.

Another option that is now possible is the renovation of hotels, apartments and tourist complexes but without increasing their capacity.

In this way they hope to reduce the number of beds or stop the number growing and also to draw up a plan for the construction licenses that are granted from now on. However every island is very different and for this reason the least developed tourist sectors such as La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, must be treated differently as the pressure has not been as strong as in the other islands. There again, there is a desire to promote alternative forms of tourism such as rural tourism. This different form of tourism is allowed and in some cases helped to develop.

The conservation of formally declared historic and artistic buildings or buildings of architectural interest that are listed in the urban development plan may also be aided.

The development of hotels connected to golf courses, marinas, theme parks, sports and health centres, preventative medicine, spas, etc will also be allowed.

In short the aim is for the Canary Islands not to make the same mistakes that have occurred in other parts of Spain such as the Costa del Sol, where the construction of the tourist industry has in many cases provoked a deterioration of the landscape and where mass tourism is the only thing that has been thought about. For this very reason what the Government wants is more quality and less quantity.