CLIMATE CHANGE BAD FOR COSTA DEL SOL TOURISM
The Costa Del Sol is well known and well loved as a tourist haven for sun seeking Britons and other Northern Europeans. However, things are apparently hotting up more than is wanted. As a follow up to our previous post entitled: COSTA DEL SOL ECOLOGICAL FARMING ENCOURAGED, we now report on climate change on the Costa Del Sol.
The 2007 Sustainability Report which was prepared by a cooperation between Malaga University and the provincial government gives a stark warning that hotter summers which are caused by climate change could well have an adverse effect on essential tourism to the province.
There are several obvious signs of climate change, the main ones being decreased rainfall, which an expanding population and its resultant increase in water consumption has not helped and higher summer temperatures. Added to that are colder winters which have raised electricity consumption by around 32% since the year 2000.
The growing population has also resulted in a similar increase in petrol consumption in the same period which has raised CO2 emissions. To add to the problems, the amount of rubbish produced in the last seven years has increased by just over 50%.
None of this is good news for residents here in the Costa Del Sol and with the recent massive increase in building projects in the region the potential for an even greater permanent population increase in the next decade could add to the already strained water stores.
Picture by G J Allen
4 Responses to “CLIMATE CHANGE BAD FOR COSTA DEL SOL TOURISM”
By zig on Jan 24, 2008 | Reply
Hi Terry,
Good site but have you looked at the official statistics in terms of temperature and rainfalls for the costa del sol, or did i miss something ?
http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/medioambiente/
Zig
By Terry on Jan 24, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for the heads up Zig.
No you didn’t miss anything as there was nothing to miss. This short report is only meant as an overview and not a detailed statistical review on climate or meteorological data.
That’s not really what this blog is meant for. I’ll leave the at to lovers of data and statistics. By the way, I anchored your link as it was too long for the page.
Terry
By April - Of Scotland on Jan 25, 2008 | Reply
There are so many golf courses and housing being built in Spain despite lack of rainfall. It really seems to be affecting the country a lot worse than what you see in glossy brochures.
By Terry on Jan 25, 2008 | Reply
Hi April,
You’re right and there doesn’t seem to be any end to the construction of new ones either. What exacerbates the problem is that for each new golf course that is built here, an urbanization of apartment blocks that can total anything up to a hundred or so individual dwellings is nearly always built alongside to make the developers even more money!
That’s more strain on the already over-extended infrastructure and more water that will be used by the residents of those dwellings.
Of course, local politicians and the developers don’t see that side of things, only the fat cheques they’ll be banking…