This is the shocking moment an enraged Tenerife surfer hurled rocks at tourists after accusing one of them of stealing his waves while out in the sea.
Footage shared to social media shows the surfer punching a Venezuelan man as they were both in the water.
It then cut to the wetsuit clad man running back and forth at the tourist and his partner, screaming at them while trying to hit them with rocks from the side of a seaside path.
Local media reported that the scrap began after the Venezuelan tourists, identified as Alexandra Caraballo and Cristian Mederos, were preparing to surf in a small part of Punta Blanca, a small beach on the western side of the island.
The local surfer reportedly began shouting at them, demanding they leave.
Mr Mederos is said to have offered to move to another area, but the surfer allegedly began to punch him in the water with no warning.
The confrontation then spilled onto the shores of Punta Blanca, where the surfer hurled stones at the couple.
Local media reported that the man partially apologised in a video, in which he stated: ‘I want to apologise for picking up stones during the incident and to the surfing community. I am not proud of what happened in Punta Blanca. Nobody wants to witness fights in the water.’
This is the shocking moment an enraged Tenerife surfer hurled rocks at tourists after accusing one of them of stealing his waves while out in the sea
Footage shared to social media shows the as-yet-unidentified surfer punching a Venezuelan man as they were both in the water
But he claimed that the tourists had agitated him, saying: ‘The main responsibility does not rest with the locals, but with those who did not respect the spot.
‘They attempted to impose their way of surfing and disrupted an equilibrium maintained by generations of surfers who care for their waves.’
Tenerife has seen huge anti-tourist protests over the past few years, and as a result Brits are starting to turn their backs on the Canary Islands.
Earlier this year, Santiago Sese, president of the Tenerife’s Chamber of Commerce, expressed concern after he revealed that the number of British reservations for this summer have fallen by eight per cent year-on-year.
He said competing countries like Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and neighbouring Morocco have all seen their bookings increase.
Sese also regretted that the advertising campaigns specifically targeting the UK are not having an impact.
Tourism minister for Tenerife Lope Afonso said he wants to ‘discuss the future of the islands,’ with local demonstrators.
The president of Tenerife’s federation of hotel owners Pedro Alfonso chimed in, warning that ‘every small collapse has an echo in trust’, noting that ‘when confidence falls, investment comes to a halt.’
Calling for a return to ‘dialogue, trust, and common sense,’ Alfonso expressed the importance of safeguarding jobs and restoring stability on the island that is heavily dependent on British tourism during the summer months.
