Popular Lanzarote beach loved by British tourists closed after sewage spill

By Max Parry, News Reporter

Playa Blanca was shut due to a sewage spillage (Image: Getty)

A major beach at a popular holiday destination for Brits was shut on Saturday due to a sewage spillage.

The Playa Blanca beach in Lanzarote was closed on May 4 due to contamination, reportedly caused by a technical issues at a Canal Gestion sewage pumping station.

According to Canarian Weekly, the Security and Emergencies Consortium of Lanzarote announced the closure of the Playa Blanca in a statement. It said that staff from Canal Gestion were working to repair the damage.

Residents and tourists were advised to avoid the area until the beach was re-opened due to possible health risks.

The Canary Islands has been rocked by recent protests (Image: Getty)

It is unclear whether or not the beach remains closed.

Tourists planning to visit the beach over the weekend were surely left disappointed, as Playa Blanca is one of the best-known beaches on the islands.

This is not the first time in recent weeks that tourists visiting the Canary Islands have been left with a less than ideal experience.

On April 20, thousands of locals across the archipelago took to the streets to demonstrate against overtourism.

In Tenerife, 120,000 protesters marched calling for tighter controls on the industry. An Express.co.uk reporter spoke to demonstrators, carrying banners with slogans such as “tourism is killing out lands”, to ask them what the protests were all about.

One protester explained: “It’s about mass tourism and the corruption of our government. there is a limit.”

Another banner on the march read: “The Canary Islands are no longer a paradise. For a change of the [tourism] model.”

While a third said: “My grandfather's home won't become an Airbnb”.

Ivan Cerdena Molina, member of the local environmental organisation ATAN, said it is time for the leaders of the Canary Islands to change the tourism model.

He told Express.co.uk: "The model is over according to the population it has been discredited. It is time to start a new model. It is obvious from the number of people who came [to the protest that] people want change."