A Welsh ex-pat living in Tenerife accused of hypocrisy for leading an anti-tourism campaign only started moaning about holidaymakers because he was fed up with a hotel being built on his doorstep, say his neighbours.
Brian Harrison, 57, is secretary general of Salvar La Tejita, a group calling for curbs on the number of visitors to the Canaries.
It started in 2016 in protest against the 883-bed La Tejita Beach Club Resort which is being built yards from the apartment where Mr Harrison has called home for the last 30 years.
Yet neighbours of Mr Harrison in the gated compound, where properties are worth around £430,000 (€500,000), told MailOnline the campaigner just fears it will see property prices plummet ‘because it will block a lovely view of the mountain.’
The hotel, once complete, will also see large swathes of the beach packed with tourists for much of the year.
Brian Harrison is a Welsh ex-pat who moved to Majorca more than 30 years ago. Mr Harrison (left) is campaigning against tourists visiting the island – and has been accused of hypocrisy
Neighbours of Mr Harrison in Majorca says he only started the movement against tourists visiting island when developers wanted to build this hotel (pictured) close to his apartment
Anti-tourist graffiti has popped up all over Majorca like this one which reads ‘Tourist Go Home’
Mr Harrison, who is secretary general of Salvar La Tejita which is campaigning to limit the number of tourists allowed into Tenerife, is seen here speaking to ITV
Locals Jose Antonio Rodriguez and Jose Luis Rodriguez (pictured) say Mr Harrison has a ‘personal vendetta’ against the hotel, which is why he started the campaign in the first place
Local parking attendant Jose Perrera Herandez (pictured) says the protests against the hotel have delayed the building of it – and he branded the site a ‘terrible eyesore’
Accusing him of being a NIMBY, Mr Harrison’s neighbours say his campaigning against the proposed hotel has led to years-long delays, which have resulted in the plot looking like a building site and an ‘eyesore’.
Isabel Martin, 56, a local teacher, told MailOnline: ‘I hate that it’s been left unfinished.
‘It was literally a rubbish dump before they started building, these activists like Brian only care now because it’s being turned into a hotel, they didn’t protest when trash and dog mess were being left everywhere.’
Local parking attendant Jose Perrera Herandez, 52, branded the site a ‘terrible eyesore’, adding: ‘Now that it’s half built they should at least finish it, it’s been like that for too long and it really bothers me having to look at it every day.’
The bottom flat in Mr Harrison’s home which has the blinds down (pictured)
The hotel, once complete, will also see large swathes of the beach packed with tourists for much of the year
Anti-tourist graffiti which reads ‘this site must be destroyed’
The outside gate to Mr Harrison’s home which is near to the site where the hotel is being built
Manolo Regalado, one of Mr Harrison’s neighbours, pictured next to the site
A shot of Mr Harrison’s home which is near to the beach and next to the site where a hotel is being built
La Tejita is in the south of the island and around 20km east of the popular Playa de los Cristianos.
The controversial hotel site is little over five metres across the road from Mr Harrison’s gated community, called Sotavento.
Despite Mr Harrison’s protests, locals support the hotel, saying it will bring jobs and money to the area.
They accused Mr Harrison and other residents of only becoming upset by the plans due to ‘economic interests.’
Local Jose Antonio Rodriguez, 33, said: ‘He clearly has a vested interest, it doesn’t make any sense to block the hotel, it’s stupid when it’s already half built.’
Mr Harrison’s neighbour, Robert Hasslöver, 59, suggested expats shouldn’t concern themselves with local planning rows, telling MailOnline: ‘I don’t feel like it’s right for me to protest because I’m a foreigner, even though I’ve been here for 25 years.’
Local Jose Luis Rodriguez, 65, who owns a driving school, suggested Mr Harrison was acting on a personal vendetta, saying he ‘woke up one day and decided the hotel was bad news’ and decided to rally against it.
He added: ‘It’s all run by well-organised left wingers, and they’re only using him because he’s foreign and he’s a character.
The hotel (right) which is being built close to Mr Harrison’s home (left) and a stone’s throw away from the beach
‘He only cares now and can kick up a fuss because he’s already moved here.’
He added: ‘If we stopped tourism for three months they would be on their knees begging to bring it back, even those protesting, there’s no other industry here.’
The hotel, a project by Grupo Viqueira, was granted building licences in 2018 and work began one year later.
It was soon stopped in May 2021 after protests from Mr Harrison’s group cast doubts over the legality of the project.
The eco-warriors claimed the La Tejita Beach Club Resort was constructed on the protected Montaña Roja nature reserve.
However, work was restarted in February this year after the Canary Islands’ Supreme Court confirmed everything was above board.
Anti-tourist graffiti can be seen next to the construction site where the hotel is being built
An idea of what the hotel might look like when the work is completed
The pool at Mr Harrison’s home in Tenerife
People march on a street during a demonstration for a change in the tourism model in the Canary Islands, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, April 20, 2024
The court did however order the developers to remove some of the building work which had ‘breached public space’, also imposing a £252 (€300) fine.
Grupo Viqueira has already invested £16million (€20 million) into the project, a third of the total budget.
Despite the Canary Islands’ Parliament affirming the ruling in May this year, when they voted against selling the land to the local authorities, the building work was halted once again in March 2024.
It followed conflict between Salvar La Tejita, local coastal protection authorities and the investment group about the need for new building licences.
While Grupo Viqueira claims no licences are needed, coastal authorities in Madrid disagree, and a legal battle is ongoing.
Grupo Viqueira is behind many of the town’s principal infrastructures, including, ironically, Mr Harrison’s community, which is itself filled with Airbnb-style flats and tourists.
The hotel, a project by Grupo Viqueira, was granted building licences in 2018 and work began one year later
Eco-warriors claimed the La Tejita Beach Club Resort was constructed on the protected Montaña Roja nature reserve, but work was restarted this year after the Canary Islands’ Supreme Court confirmed everything was above board
Another view of the construction site where the hotel is being built
A large pool which is just one of the features of the new hotel currently under construction
‘It’s properties like this that are the real problem,’ local Susana Alfaro told MailOnline.
‘On my street it used to be all Spaniards but now there’s just two of us and the rest are tourist flats or expats. We need to regulate this because rent has become so unaffordable it’s almost a luxury, many locals have had to leave.’
Mr Harrison, a Welsh engineer, has lived on the island for 30-plus years, during which time he has also run multiple jazz music festivals – benefitting from the tourism trade he is now rallying against.
The events, which ran until at least 2019, were sponsored by the Arona Town Hall.
He also runs local radio station Qfm and is a big name in the expat community.
But his recent appearances on UK television calling for tourism restrictions are likely to raise eyebrows among his contacts at the local government.
A road separates Mr Harrison’s home from the hotel
Mr Harrison has denied claims that his group is completely against tourists, saying that instead it is taking issue with the number of people flocking to his adopted home
Figures show that the 11 million international visitors travelled to Spain in July alone, 2.6 million of whom came from the UK – up 4.6 per cent on the year before
Mr Harrison this week told the Telegraph he understands that his involvement seems ironic, but argued that the number of years he has lived in the country entitles him to campaign on the issues.
‘Why wouldn’t anyone want to take care of a place they’ve lived in for over 30 years?’ he said.
A bar owner, 47, who asked not to be named, said without tourism the island ‘wouldn’t even have telephones.’
He added: ‘Sometimes it makes people uncomfortable and they want the beach to themselves, but this is what happens with tourism. Actually, 95-97% of people think well of the tourism industry.’
Manolo Regalado, one of Mr Harrison’s neighbours, pictured next to the site
The 883-bed La Tejita Beach Club Resort is being built yards from the apartment where Mr Harrison has called home for the last 30 years
Mr Harrison said that the number of people coming to Tenerife every year was around two million when he first arrived in 1991, but that the number has since jumped to around six million
Mr Harrison has denied claims that his group is completely against tourists, saying that instead it is taking issue with the number of people flocking to his adopted home.
Figures show that the 11 million international visitors travelled to Spain in July alone, 2.6 million of whom came from the UK – up 4.6 per cent on the year before.
Mr Harrison said that the number of people coming to Tenerife every year was around two million when he first arrived in 1991, but that the number has since jumped to around six million.
‘The problem is not the people who come here, but the huge numbers of people who come, the volume,’ he said.
‘For an island that has limited space, it is unsustainable. This is the problem,’ he said.
Mr Harrison refused to comment when contacted by MailOnline.
