21/01/2026
I would like to preface this by saying that we mainly use Facebook to advertise our holiday rentals and that, more and more often, our ads receive three different types of responses:
1. replies from people who are genuinely interested in the listing;
2. replies from people who rant against us over the current rental prices, blaming us for the excessive increases and rooting for increasingly restrictive laws and/or for the failure of the business;
3. replies from people who rant against us because Tenerife is no longer what it once was, as mass tourism has supposedly destroyed it.
In light of this, I would like to clarify my thoughts on the matter, as I often don’t have the time or the desire to reply directly under the ads—also in order not to distract people from the real purpose of the advertisement, namely the possibility of renting the apartment.
To those friends who lash out over rising rents, I would like to say that we are not their problem. The moment one obtains a vivienda vacacional license, one effectively becomes a commercial activity, with all the related benefits and risks. Certainly, if the business is run well, the profits can be good, but all that glitters is not gold, because from the revenue one must deduct many expenses, such as platform commissions, higher accountant fees, check-in costs, cleaning costs, laundry costs, community fees, utility costs, as well as frequent maintenance needed to keep the apartment in perfect condition. Those same complainers also forget that anyone holding a license is FORBIDDEN from renting long-term (larga temporada).
Now, no one wants to deny that there is a problem to be solved regarding rising rents, but I don’t believe this problem can be solved at the expense of those who rent short-term with a valid license. The problem must be addressed at its root by building apartments that are exclusively for residential use, banning short-term rentals in those properties, and above all by solving the problem of okupas. If there were laws protecting property owners—such as the possibility of immediately evicting illegal occupants—many would probably prefer to rent their properties long-term. Unfortunately, however, protests are directed against property owners rather than against these freeloaders who, thanks to such laws, take over houses and live in them for years without paying anything before eventually being evicted.
Then there are those who say, “Tenerife is no longer what it used to be.” To these friends, I would also like to point out that no city in the world is what it was 20 years ago. Just think of major cities such as London, Paris, Milan, Rome, etc. All of them are very different from 20 years ago, and I don’t understand why Tenerife should be the same. People complain about excessive tourism, but I remind them that, unlike the cities mentioned above, Tenerife lives solely and exclusively off tourism, as it has no major industrial plants. This means that without the tourism you complain so much about (see the COVID period), there would be a huge economic crisis, with the consequent closure of businesses and loss of jobs.
To those friends who love a “wild” lifestyle—“let’s live eating bananas with flower crowns around our necks, dancing to Bob Marley on the beach”—I would like to remind them that today, unlike 20 years ago, they keep their iPhones in their wetsuits or swimsuits: the very phones they use to rant against holiday-rental ads. So do we want this progress or not? Once again, it is politics that must do its part, by building wastewater treatment plants, creating alternative roads to the perpetually congested TF-1, developing infrastructure. We, the owners of holiday rentals, are certainly not the problem.
In any case, I’m sure you’ll continue posting comments under the ads—and that’s fine, because I really enjoy reading them. For now, I bid you a cordial farewell.
Pierfrancesco Rizzo
