Canaries Officials say African Migrants Scare Off Tourists

TENERIFE, Spain (Reuters) - Canary Islands tourism officials are worried a flood of illegal migrants will scare away the sun-seeking visitors who directly and indirectly provide half the Spanish region's jobs.

The Canaries welcomed almost 10 million tourists in 2005 and so far, the package tours keep rolling in to the haven of luxury hotels and golden beaches.

But the islands, off northwest Africa, are no longer merely a magnet for stressed Europeans.

Nearly 9,500 migrants seeking a better life in Europe braved the perilous sea journey from Africa to land on the Canaries from January to May, around twice the number that arrived in the same period last year.

And while few tourists actually see them wash ashore in rickety boats, parched and exhausted, Jose Manuel Bermudez, the Tenerife local government's head of tourism, says he fears international media coverage will scare off holidaymakers.