The Provincial Coastal Service of the Central Government (Costas) in collaboration with Arona town hall, have taken the first steps to enforce the law against the ‘illegal’ excursion outlets in the south of Tenerife, by sending inspectors to make a report about the alleged ‘pop-up’ desks and kiosks that are in public spaces without the correct documentation.
They were in Las Americas and Los Cristianos on Thursday and have sent a report to the Canarian Agency for the Protection of the Natural Environment outlining the location and activity of these desks, accompanied with photographs.
The association of legal excursion sales companies, ADETURI, presented their case in the plenary session of the Arona Council two weeks ago which sparked this action.
Arona City Council announced yesterday that it is working so that, in the near future, illegal kiosks will have to comply with the legislation, within the framework allowed by the ordinance, and will take immediate steps to enforce this.
ADETURI claims that 8 or 9 of these desks have ‘popped up’ since June on public walkways in Adeje and Arona, which do not have the license required by the Government of the Canary Islands, selling up to 3,000 euros of tickets a day without paying the correct taxes or rent for premises as the legal ones do, costing them between 50% and 90% of their business in the peak season.
In May, just before the elections, several of these outlets were closed by the Local Police of Arona, but once they finished, they reopened. ADETURI says they have been dealing with this problem for months and feel "helpless when they verify that there are laws, but there is no one in the Canary Islands who makes them comply with them. This generates enormous legal uncertainty for us, who pay taxes, pay social security, and pay rent for our premises. The Administrations only seem to ‘pass the ball’ to each other without achieving anything”.
They also say that the illegal kiosks play ‘cat and mouse’ with the police by changing their location to evade the law, going from pitching on municipal land to coastal walkways and vice versa, and haven’t been shy to take to the streets in protest.
