Canary Island tourism crisis to worsen with 'Brits leading the way'

The Canary Islands are bracing for a busy summer of tourism, according to the Canary Islands Statistics Institute - with most visitors expected to come from the UK.

It comes after thousands of tourits have taken to the streets to protest against over-tourism in popular holiday hotspots.

The tourist influx is predicted to continue until September's end, with a notable uptick in visitors from other European countries, the statistics show.

There's expected growth from Irish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Dutch holidaymakers.

However, most tourists are expected to be British and other Spaniards.

The substantial increase in tourists is expected to be create a positive impact on Spain's tourism sector and economy.

The popular holiday destinations include Tenerife, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria.

However, many Spanish residents are unhappy with the number of tourists swarming their streets during the summer months, leading to demonstrations in major cities.

Organisers insisted they were not against visitors coming to Tenerife but wanted to make life more affordable for local people as rents and the cost of living spiraled out of control.

Unaffordable housing rents, too many rental cars, packed beaches, over-flowing beauty spots, clogged up roads and damage to the environment are some of the oissues locals say are caused by mass tourism.

Demonstrations have also been held in the Balearics, which include Mallorca and Ibiza, and on the Spanish mainland.

Spain's tourism minister Jordi Hereu previously said that the tourism sector needed to be regulated and diversified to make it more sustainable for residents, including redistributing the sector's profits and improving the quality of jobs in tourism.