Sunlight but no beach? How Spain’s beaches are disappearing due to coastal erosion
Spain suffers from an overtourism crisis, but how long will it persist when its beaches gradually disappear?
Spain suffers from an overtourism crisis, but how long will it persist when its beaches gradually disappear?
Heat waves, protracted droughts, and torrential downpours: Spain’s unpredictable weather has put travelers off traveling to the Mediterranean nation in 2024.
The allure of sunshine is beginning to work against it, with temperatures reaching as high as 40°C in many areas.
Putting the other half of the “sol y playa” tourism model in jeopardy.
“We saw that many beaches in Spain are already impacted by erosion, especially during winter storms when there are large waves.
Explains Markus Donat co-head of the Climate Variability and Change Group in the Earth Sciences Department of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC).
Some Barcelona beaches experienced exceptional sand loss of up to 25 meters in width during the storms that occurred around Easter.
Why are the beaches in Spain disappearing?
Future storm frequency and intensity are predicted to increase due to climate change.
Whose waves hit the first line of coast and inflict considerable damage to beaches and coastal amenities, including marinas and promenades.
This can cause the beaches to get smaller and lose some of the sand that is suitable for tourists to use.
According to Jorge, “this issue requires major financial investments every three or four years to rebuild the beaches and promenades.”
The Spanish government has spent millions of euros rebuilding sand on deteriorated beaches.
Claiming for decades that the nation’s coastline is subject to a generalized trend of coastal regression.
However, it cautions that in the long run.It will not be able to meet all of the towns’ demands for this kind of assistance.
It is also far from finished according to Markus some cautious forecasts assume that by the end of the century, the sea level will rise from half a meter to one meter.
Nevertheless, these approximations fail to account for certain poorly understood processes, such as the effects of Antarctic ice melting. Thus, this might significantly raise the anticipated rises.
Which beaches in Spain are most susceptible to erosion from the coast?
Certain parts of Spain, like Catalonia, are more vulnerable than others.
Winter storms and increasing sea levels have been eroding the shoreline throughout northern Spain.
According to a 2017 report by the regional government, 164 km of the 218 km of coastline.
In the region are under high or extremely high risk of erosion.It is anticipated that half of the beaches will deteriorate.
In Barcelona, whose artificial beaches were installed 30 years ago when the city was hosting the 1992 Olympic Games, the situation is even more critical.
Sea storms pose a serious threat to eight of the nine beaches. The city has already issued a warning that some may completely vanish.
According to Barcelona City Hall’s 2018–2030 Climate Plan.Sant Sebastià could almost disappear in the worst-case scenarios.
While the others could suffer decreases of between 30 per cent and 46 per cent.
Seventy percent of the 700,000 cubic meters of sand that the Spanish government gave to the province of Barcelona’s seashore in 2010 have since vanished. Thirty thousand cubic meters of sand are thought to be washed away annually by the metropolis.
Barcelona has assembled a team of specialists to research beach development prospects. Meanwhile, replenishing sand is becoming less and less of a cost-effective and environmentally harmful process.
How will Spain’s tourism be affected by coastal erosion?
Coastal erosion may have dire ramifications for Spain’s tourism industry, which is primarily reliant on beaches and currently contributes around 13% of the country’s GDP and jobs.
Due to climate change and extreme weather events.
The European Travel Commission (ETC) has already estimated a 10% decline in the number of tourists visiting the Mediterranean in 2023 compared to the previous year.
Furthermore, a report on the “Regional impact of climate change on European tourism demand”.
Released by the European Commission last year indicates that Spain will likely be among the EU nations most negatively impacted going forward.
According to the research visitor demand might decrease by about 10% in a scenario of a 3°C rise above preindustrial levels
Or by more than 15% in a scenario of a 4°C rise.
Which is much higher than the 1.5°C safe threshold established in the Paris Climate Agreement.
However, as seen by recent protests against overtourism from Barcelona to Malaga. Visitor numbers are not a concern at this time.
According to Jorge, “rising sea levels have no hard effect right now.” “On the contrary, the number of visitors arriving is surging.”
Up to July 31, Spain has welcomed a record 53.4 million foreign visitors, a 12% rise over the previous year. This injected €71.1 billion into the Spanish economy, as reported by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) in Spain.
“It is getting too hot to bear.”However, climate change poses a threat to Spain’s tourism sector on multiple fronts.
The primary issue still stands to be the ongoing reduction in thermal comfort brought on by the rise. In tropical nights with temperatures exceeding 20ºC thus the heat is getting intolerable,” Jorge remarks.
According to experts, this could compel tourist places to invest in urban design.Such as putting in more public fountains and trees.
Meanwhile, long-ignored northern regions of the country are beginning to see an influx of tourists.
According to research released in January by Spanish financial services business.CaixaBank whether the tendency continues is still to be seen.
