Thousands protest in Spain's Canary Islands against mass tourism

Maspalomas, Spain: Thousands of flag waving demonstrators hit the streets across Spain s Canary Islands on Sunday to demand restrictions to the mass t...

Maspalomas, Spain: Thousands of flag-waving demonstrators hit the streets across Spain's Canary Islands on Sunday to demand restrictions to the mass tourism they say is overwhelming their Atlantic archipelago.

Rallying under the slogan "The Canary Islands have a limit", demonstrators began marching at midday in tourist hotspots across all of the archipelago's seven main islands.

Protesters gathered outside a convention centre in Maspalomas on the island of Gran Canaria, the only water park on the island of Fuerteventura, and the nightlife district in Playa de las America in Tenerife's southwestern tip.

Waving white, blue and yellow flags of the Canary Islands, chanting and whistling protesters slow-marched by tourists sitting in outdoor terraces in Playa de las America before they rallied on the beach.

"This beach is ours," they chanted as tourists sitting on sunbeds under parasol shades looked on.