This is the sad story of a work of art full of romanticism and good vibes that condemned an entire town. It happened in Bocacangrejo, a small fishing town in Tenerife that, overnight, became the center of massive overtourism that it could not absorb. The fault was with a creative neighbor who filled the town with hearts and made it viral.
It all started with Rafa, a local resident who wanted to see his town much more beautiful and full of joy. To achieve this, he filled all the facades and alleys with colored hearts. Walls, stairs, windows, dock, absolutely everything. The result was so amazing and visual that it immediately went viral, attracting thousands of tourists to a place with barely 400 inhabitants.
Tourism devoured the town which, with its narrow and traditional streets, was completely saturated and clogged with the avalanche of visitors, cars, noise and photos on every corner. Magic was the only one that was not in Bocacangrejo, it flew away taking tranquility and authenticity with it.
The neighbors held on as long as they could, but their exhaustion took its toll and, finally, one night they vandalized the hearts, full of graffiti and phrases like “enough is enough.” Rafa, the artist responsible, decided to go further and tackle the problem at its roots. In a couple of nights he covered his work of art with white and gray paint to eliminate the tourist attraction. He only left a few hearts at the door of his house.
Now, Bocangrejo has regained peace and tranquility. However, many regret that they had to resort to such drastic measures to disperse tourists. It is clear that, today, you cannot have something beautiful without laws and measures that put order in the massive and excessive tourism that destroys towns and cities, turning them into theme parks and destroying authenticity.
