Landscape Preservation on the Mediterranean Coast; Do Social Movements Play a Decisive Role? The Case of the Costa Brava (Spain)

Abstract

Social movements are at the origin of environmental protection of the coastline in tourist destinations. Consequently, it is crucial that this role will continue in the future, if urbanisation pressures persist and in a context of energy transition. The various reasons for this starting hypothesis are historical, sociological, political, economic and cultural, so that the geographical variable is relevant, as it is related to the specific conditions of the territory. The analysis of these social resistances must be complemented with the more environmentalist evolution of transversal policies that affect the tourist coastline, such as urban planning strategies or laws for the protection and management of the coast. This chapter analyses the social mobilisations for territorial protection of the Costa Brava coastline over the last fifty years, mapping more than 230 mobilisations. The results are relevant maps regarding the actors and their motivations and, of particular interest, the negative impacts