Tourism in Spain: Evolution, Factors, and Impacts
Evolution and Current Importance of Tourism in Spain
Spain has become a major international tourist destination. In 1950, Spain received about 800,000 tourists from other countries, occupying the eighth position among the countries of the world and the eleventh by income received. In the last year, 59 million tourist arrivals by air have generated revenues of 50 billion euros. Tourism is an activity that causes very important and diverse effects in the country:
- Economic: It directly generates 2.7 million jobs, compounded by indirect employment.
- Demographic: Tourist areas of the country are centers of attraction for both stable and seasonal populations. Some rural areas have managed to halt depopulation through tourism, and coastal areas have seen settlements of retired people.
- Sociocultural: Population flows have led to the diffusion of customs and lifestyles from other cultures.
- Environmental: Intensive land occupation, especially on the Mediterranean coastline and the two archipelagos.
Factors of Tourism Development
External Factors:
- Economic growth has led to an increase in earnings of the population, the generalization of paid annual leave, and retirement pensions.
- Improvement and cheaper transport, especially air travel.
- Emergence of large international companies that capture tourists in their countries of origin and organize their vacations.
Internal Factors:
- The country’s situation in the Mediterranean region, with favorable weather and a short distance to the countries of origin of tourists.
- Cultural heritage, especially important in many Spanish regions and highly valued by tourists.
- Social and political stability of the country in recent decades, generating a feeling of security against the major risks in other competing Mediterranean countries.
- Improvement of transport infrastructure and development of accommodation supply.
- Growing domestic demand due to improved living standards of the Spanish population.
The Hegemony of Coastal Tourism
Coastal tourist resorts have a high number of all types of accommodation along the coastline or nearby, declining rapidly towards the interior. The highest densities are in some cities such as Benidorm, Torremolinos, etc., and other areas that have focused on making up structures to maximize the environment of these beach nuclei. Among these, large low-density residential areas appear, which occupy large areas and respond to important real estate transactions with a growing presence of second homes owned by domestic or foreign tourists.
The Growth of Urban Tourism
There are two types of tourism in cities:
- Cultural tourism, associated with existing historical heritage in some urban centers.
- Business and conference tourism, associated with business meetings and professional groups, usually high-level.
Diffusion of Rural Tourism
This involves the displacement of urban residents towards accommodations that have emerged in recent years in many villages. The aim is to use the natural and cultural heritage of these areas to diversify local economies and generate new jobs to avoid depopulation.
Problems Related to Tourism
Common Problems:
- Tourism is an activity affected by some instability associated with the evolution of the international economy.
- There is increasing competition from other tourist destinations, especially in the case of low-cost sun and beach tourism.
- The sector is subject to a seasonal source during the year. As a consequence, it is difficult to create stable employment versus seasonal employment, and there is a lack of certain services.
Problems Identified in Areas of Higher Tourist Density:
- There has been an intense occupation of the coastline with developments, hotels, and apartments, which has been creating a series of legal restrictions.
- The coastal dynamic has changed due to the proliferation of jetties, wharves, and docks in marinas.
- Frequent conflicts over land and water use, as well as other marine activities, have been generated.
- Pollution problems in some places have led to the destruction of unique landscapes and their replacement by other banal and standardized ones.