Tourism's Socioeconomic and Environmental Effects in Spain

Socioeconomic and Environmental Impacts of Tourism

A) Socioeconomic Impacts

Tourism has a significant impact on receiving areas. It increases the population, especially through young adults who come in search of work, as well as adults and older people originating from more developed areas of Spain or abroad who settle for permanent, therapeutic, leisure, or business purposes. Tourism increases the population employed in the tertiary sector and in construction.

Job creation: Tourism requires a significant amount of manual work for tasks that cannot be mechanized, especially unskilled labor, which is often the most affected by unemployment. It exerts a multiplier effect on other economic activities, and contributes about 11% of GDP. The trade balance from tourism can help offset foreign borrowing.

Tourism has influenced transport policy: road networks and transport have been designed or improved to serve tourist cores. Accessibility for tourism has been instrumental in the creation of the Mediterranean highway that connects receiving areas to the rest of Europe. It has helped modernize the network of airports and boost charter flights. Port capacity has been increased or diversified for recreational and sports craft.

Tourism also fosters understanding between states and encourages political contact between different cultures, promoting rapprochement among peoples.

B) Impact on Spatial Planning and Environment

In national planning, tourism often causes high-density construction and land speculation in many tourist areas. Spaces next to tourist cores are organized in function of tourist needs and become recreational peripheries where basic services are installed. These changes introduce economic and environmental shifts to those spaces. At points of tourist interest, historical sites may specialize in serving tourist activities while surrounding areas become second homes or hotels to meet demand.

Environmental impact: Problems arise from the rapid development of the sector in a short time and within small areas, at a time when environmental awareness was not widespread. This led to large blocks of apartments and hotels near beaches, uncontrolled urbanization of valuable natural areas, and pollution of beaches and woodlands.

Today there is concern that tourism should not harm the environment. This concern has influenced the attitudes of foreign tourists, who increasingly value the quality of the surroundings. On the other hand, Spanish public attitudes have also changed, with growing environmental awareness and competition from other Mediterranean tourist areas. Since the 1980s, the tourism industry has tried to respond to these requirements by:

• assessing the environmental impact of projects;
• ensuring aesthetic landscaping and construction integrated into the landscape;
• caring for landscape aesthetics, respecting, and regenerating degraded areas.

Map Showing the Areas and Tourist Areas

a) Provinces (Mediterranean coast and nearby)

Mediterranean coast from the French border and along to Cádiz: Barcelona, Tarragona, Castellón, Valencia, Alicante, Murcia, Almería, Granada, Málaga and Cádiz.

Cantabrian coast (north): Cantabria, Asturias, A Coruña and Pontevedra.

Insular provinces: Balearic Islands; Canary Islands: Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

b) Reasons for the Geographic Location of Tourist Areas

Key reasons include:

• spectacular weather and beaches (Mediterranean);
• in the north: mild temperatures, beautiful landscapes and natural features that stimulate tourism;
• the physical environment that supports rural, sports, and adventure tourism;
• gastronomic, cultural and folk attractions;
• a large hotel supply (mainly in Mediterranean areas);
• important monuments and cultural sites with historical and artistic highlights: Madrid, Toledo, Seville, Granada.

c) Relationship Between High Tourist Density and Towns

High tourist density in towns creates jobs related to the tourism sector and attracts young people of childbearing age, producing demographic effects such as increased birth rates and other population changes.