Use and transformation of beaches as a tourism resource by promoters and managers in oceanic islands. A conflict for geoheritage conservation and social preferences in the canary islands

Abstract

In the case of the Canary Islands (Spain), human occupation on beaches has generated environmental and landscape transformations and a loss of their geoheritage values. In this sense, this archipelago could be a good example to demonstrate the paradigm at the regional scale at first and island scale at second, that the colour and composition of the beaches are determinant for urban-tourist development. The beaches with the colour and composition that managers and promoters prefer most are those that have withstood the greatest anthropogenic pressure, and may lead to socio-environmental conflicts. For this, the aim of this work is to characterize and identify beach typologies according to their sedimentological characteristics, the degree of urban-tourist occupation, and the environmental changes and artificialisation that have taken place over the last sixty years in the beaches of La Palma, Tenerife and Fuerteventura. For this purpose, the General Catalogue of Beaches and Maritime Bathing Areas (the latter were excluded from the study) issued by the Canary Islands Government was used. This source was spatially and statistically analysed using a Geographic Information System (GIS) and related to socio-environmental variables extracted from geo-referenced sources. Orthophotos from 1957 and more recent years were also used for the historical characterization. Finally, this information was contrasted with social preferences, obtained from online surveys, about the physical configuration of Canarian beaches. Results show that the quantity and distribution of beach types (grain size and beach colour) differ for each island, and that beach use depends on its typology, with sandy beaches being the most used as an urban-tourist resource and pebble-cobble beaches the most transformed to respond to sand beach user demand. These and other factors that have affected the evolution of these beaches and the degree of conservation of their natural functions and geoheritage values are discussed. The responses to the survey show significant patterns related to user profile and preferences regarding the beach environment and recreational services. The importance of social preferences and beach transformation is discussed to understand the evolution of beach management in the Canary Islands and the identified conflicts.