Last summer, and while Spain declared war to the sector, vacation rental reached heights that until recently would have seemed more typical of a dystopia. In fact, the platforms began to do business by pool rental for hours. Meanwhile, in places like New York, those who turned off Airbnb in 2023, had discovered that two years later only The hotels are happy.
With this scenario, the Galapagos Islands have found the problem at home.
The arrival of Airbnb. I told it the new york times. In the Galapagos Islands, one of the most delicate natural environments on the planet, the rise of Airbnb after the pandemic has transformed the tourism landscape. Alicia Ayalaknown as “the queen of Airbnb”, symbolizes This twist: rents apartments at affordable prices that attract backpackers and middle-class families, in contrast to the elitist tourism that dominated for decades.
Figures? There is more than 1,300 accommodations of this type compared to some 300 regulated hotels, which has generated an explosion of low-budget visitors who spend less and, according to critics, contribute to environmental deterioration and the trivialization of a declared place World Heritage.
Impact and tensions. Criticism focused on the inability of short-term rentals to meet the strict environmental standards that do apply to hotels, forced to pay permits, provide funds for conservation and manage waste in a territory without drinking water or sustainable energy.
The proliferation of uninformed visitors multiplies harmful behaviors: garbage on beaches, harassment of protected fauna or consumption of threatened species. In fact, researchers warn that uncontrolled tourism threatens to turn the islands into a “Venice of nature”, where the immediate economy takes precedence over the preservation of unique ecosystems.
Mass tourism and local economy. The archipelago went from receiving 6,000 visitors annually in the seventies to a forecast of 300,000 by 2025driven by commercial flights, social networks and the appearance of cheap excursions replacing traditional luxury cruises.
What is happening is a stage that repeats in the whole planet. This overcrowding has left family hotels with empty rooms, while they compete against Airbnbs that operate with lower costs and little supervision. At the same time, the tourism sector holds at 80% of 30,000 inhabitants, so the dilemma between immediate income and sustainability becomes more acute in an isolated environment that depends on expensive imports and limited services.
The legal (and political) battle. Although the Ecuadorian Constitution and the special legislation of the Galapagos recognize the rights of nature and limit hotel development, the absence of specific regulation for Airbnb creates a vacuum (the problem is not only regulatory but also effective application of an already existing prohibition) that hosts have taken advantage of.
The Ministry of Tourism has declared illegal many of these accommodations and has ordered closures, but lacks effective control mechanisms, while platforms such as Airbnb claim to comply with current regulations and ask for clear rules. UNESCO has urged Ecuador to slow growth and regulate digital tourism, although attempts by hoteliers to achieve changes have remained without an official response.
Threats and uncertain future. To the tensions over tourism problems add up of illegal fishing, drug trafficking and, in August 2025, the merger of the Ministry of the Environment with that of Energy and Mines, interpreted by experts as a turn towards the exploitation of resources above conservation.
In this context, the dispute between regulated hotels and Airbnb hosts reflects a deeper conflict: to what extent Ecuador is willing to sacrifice ecological integrity of the Galapagos to sustain their economy. Between the pressure of tourism growth, the lack of effective regulation and political signals that prioritize extraction over preservation, the future of the archipelago as a natural sanctuary remains, more than ever, in question.
A version of this article was published in September 2025
Image | Diego Delso
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