Last January, Teide celebrated the 70th anniversary of its declaration as a national park between lights and shadows. It remains the most visited protected area in Spain and is estimated to be seventh among the most popular in the world, just one below the Serengeti (Tanzania). But that success is also a threat to its conservation. Scientists and environmental groups regret the growing decline of the area, motivated by the great demographic pressure and tourist activity in the place.
Spain’s highest peak attracts millions of visitors from around the world every year and is leaving an environmental impact in the form of smoke, waste and soil degradation. Fortunately, there is still hope for 80% of its surface, formed by a geological structure where walking is not allowed.
Even so, the control of tourist activity in the park is of great concern. According to botanist Wilfredo Wildpret, the urban impact on the area is “brutal”, and is evident in three specific points: the area of ????Cable Car activity, the access to the Pilón de Azúcar and the road that runs through the national park. The scientist warns that Teide supports the arrival of approximately 500,000 cars each year, which leave an ecological impact in the form of smoke, grease and other waste.
For environmentalists like Jaime Coello, the Teide National Park “is dying of success” while the “natural heritage is subordinated to the economic interests” marked by tourism. Environmental organizations are working on a dossier that denounces a wide range of illegal activities carried out in the park: advertising and film filming, use of drones and paragliders and even the access of horses.
Environmental organizations defend the need to apply sanctions to tourists who park outside the limited spaces or who travel off the trails, activities that damage the ecosystems of the fauna and flora of the area. Other voices question the real effectiveness of these possible sanctions on tourists. Jaime Coello, director of the Telesforo Bravo Foundation and Guzmán Abreu, an environmental lawyer, agree that the tourist tax would be a quite reasonable measure to improve conservation, services and awareness.
The environmental education platform Desfortunatae Insulae points out on its Instagram profile that the illicit activities carried out in this natural space have multiple consequences: the degradation of the soil and geological formations, flora and fauna; forest fires; noise and light pollution, etc. In addition, they exhibit all types of exclusive high mountain species, such as the Teide broom, which are threatened not only by the consequences of the climate crisis, but also by a lack of public awareness.
A recent publication in the Official State Gazette emphasized the imperative of protecting the landscape of the Teide National Park, its flora, its fauna and its geological particularities. However, these peculiarities could be at risk. The impact of the introduction of mouflons and domestic bees in this area has been – and still is – an unresolved danger for the conservation of a large number of endemic species on the island. Before its declaration as a national park, the “threats” were different and less worrying: grazing and carbonation.
