Watch out for these new tourist rules in Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Visitors can be fined up to 3000 euros if they are caught violating the regulations

Santa Cruz de Tenerife, one of the two capitals of the Canary Islands, and a popular gateway and destination in the Atlantic archipelago, has unveiled new rules regulating the behaviour of residents and visitors in the urban environment. The aim is to preserve a better and cleaner cityscape that will be a pleasure to experience for everyone.

The new rules are in effect as of Tuesday, 17 January, and concern different spheres of the city, such as the beaches, its walls and waste bins. Read on to get more details on the rules and the accompanying fines for infracting them.

Here are the new rules

The new legislation, as cited by Express, states: “In order to avoid the presence of cigarette butts in the sand and the potential subsequent contamination of the coast, smoking is prohibited on beaches and bathing areas of the municipality, except in areas specially authorised and designated by the Council.”

Apart from the ban on lighting up at the sand strip, it is also forbidden to leave any trash behind, though the latter should go without saying by now.

Beach bars, kiosks, restaurants and any other business operating on the beaches could be fined for not providing a bin. Likewise, they can suffer penalties for using single-use plastics.

Feeding stray and wild animals, such as pigeons, cats and dogs is also considered as contributing to the littering factor and thus it is also prohibited.

Making any kind of graffiti, writing or scratches on any area in public space could see tourists fined. This includes public transport, scratching trees or any piece of public furniture such as a bench or sign.

Minor breaches will incur a 750 euro fine while serious incidents will see residents and tourists fined up to a whopping 3,000 euros.