A new "eco-tax" could hamper private search efforts for missing British teenager Jay Slater as visitors to the area he went missing now face a change of ￡24 a day.

       The penalty, which has been planned since before Jay went missing, goes live today (Saturday) as part of efforts by the Tenerife government to limit tourist numbers to beauty spots on the island.

       But the new fees will include the dramatic remote mountains of the Rural de Teno National Park where 19-year-old Jay was last heard from before he disappeared on June 17.

       Jay's family have raised more than ￡52,000 on his GoFundMe page as they privately attempt to fund more missions to find the youngster since the official Spanish search and rescue mission was called off at the end of June.

       The teenager's distraught mum Debbie Duncan said she and her family had been contacted by several mountaineers and search and rescue groups and were seeking permission from Spanish authorities to go ahead.

       Spanish police in Tenerife have said the investigation to find Jay remains open, but it nearly a month now since the young man from Lancashire was last sighted.

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       The Mirror reports the new 28 euro tax will apply to all visitors of the cliff-top village of Masca which had become gridlocked with coaches, cars and holidaymakers and has cost the authorities thousands due to regular rescues.

       Masca is the village where Jay stayed at an Airbnb before he told a friend he was making an 11-hour trek back to the south of the island where he was staying.

       Near to the village is the Masca ravine which was closed three years ago for safety reasons due to the very steep climb down to the coast where there have been several fatalities and serious injuries.

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       The introduction of the eco-tax is expected to slash visitor numbers from 100,000 a year to just 44,450 but will raise a windfall of 2.6 million euros to protect the space and guarantee greater security.

       No more than 275 people per day will be allowed to enter Masca and only by coach or minibus, not in a private car.

       The new ecotax has been planned independently as a result of the uproar over so-called "over-tourism" in Tenerife, a row echoed across the Canary Islands and in other parts of Spain.

       Tenerife's government launched the new pay-to-visit scheme today in conjunction with the Buenavista council.

       The pioneering measure will be expanded to other protected areas such as the rural parks of Anaga, Teno and Mount Teide. Pedro Millán, Tenerife's director of the area of natural environment, sustainability, security and emergencies, said the ecotax "comes to regulate access and control in an orderly manner."