Paper short abstract:

This proposal focuses on conflicts of appropriation like a form of sociocultural and economic effect of tourism in coastal areas of Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain). An island that has experienced significant tourists increased as well as population (173 and 568 per cent respectively) between 1970 and 2010.

Paper long abstract:

The growth in tourist numbers that the island of Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain) has experienced in recent decades has led to major transformations. Between 1970 and 2010, the number of tourists increased almost 173 per cent (reaching a total of 1,467,040). This evolution was accompanied by migratory flows that contributed to the resident population of the island increasing from 18,192 to 103,492 inhabitants over the same period. There are many transformations associated with this development (relating to employment, productive activities, territory uses, environmental aspects, demand for resources...).

Among the set of effects attributable to tourism development on the island, we focus on conflicts of appropriation in coastal areas. From a sample of the three major stakeholder groups (local people, immigrants and tourists), this proponsal explains the most relevant differences regarding their perceptions and use of the coastal areas through a methodological approach that contrasts qualitative (participant observation and in-depth interviews) and quantitative techniques (a survey of a total sample of 2,611 individuals, distinguishing between tourists, locals and immigrants).

The results of the aforementioned analysis were compared with the nature of the major public and private actions along the coastline, showing clearly that the infrastructure developed is aimed at enhancing the way it is perceived and used by tourists, facilitating the effective appropriation of the coastal environment by this group of agents. Consequently, the local population's activities have been displaced to environments less conducive to the development of tourism or to certain interstices in the spaces created for tourist use.