Tourism and human mobility in Spanish Archipelagos

Abstract

Economic development, tourism and demographic changes are closely related. The characteristics that define this relationship are present in the different tourist destinations at both macro and micro-scale, besides their historical evolution and geographic peculiarities. From the perspective of the re-structuring thesis, we can observe the change from fordism to post-fordism in these areas and the human mobility tied to such systems. Based on this framework, our paper analyses the tourist-residential development and the migratory patterns of the Balearic and the Canary Islands. The examination of two areas in both archipelagos (Calvia` and Maspalomas) allows for a recognition of some differences in their tourist specialization and social space. However, tourist-residential processes create common features: a higher social heterogeneity and residential segregation. Keywords: fordism, post-fordism, mobility flows, tourist-residents, labour migrants