Coastal Scenic Beauty and Sensitivity at the Balearic Islands, Spain: Implication of Natural and Human Factors

Alexis Mooser, Giorgio Anfuso, Lluís Gómez-Pujol, Angela Rizzo, Allan T. Williams and Pietro P. C. Aucelli
Additional contact information
Alexis Mooser: Department of Science and Technology (DiST), Parthenope University, 80143 Naples, Italy
Giorgio Anfuso: Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of Cádiz, Polígono Río San Pedro s/n, Puerto Real, 11510 Cádiz, Spain
Lluís Gómez-Pujol: Earth Sciences Research Group, Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Ctra. Valldemossa km 7.5, 07122 Palma, Spain
Angela Rizzo: Department of Earth Sciences and Geo-Environmental, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70122 Bari, Italy
Allan T. Williams: Department of Architecture, Computing and Engineering, University of Wales: Trinity Saint David (Swansea), Mount Pleasant, Swansea SA1 6ED, UK
Pietro P. C. Aucelli: Department of Science and Technology (DiST), Parthenope University, 80143 Naples, Italy

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 5, 1-36

Abstract: Coastal areas globally are facing a significant range of environmental stresses, enhanced by climate change-related processes and a continuous increase of human activities. The economic benefits of tourism are well-known for coastal regions, but, very often, conflicts arise between short-term benefits and long-term conservation goals. Among beach user preferences, five parameters of greater importance stand out from the rest, i.e., safety, facilities, water quality, litter and scenery; the latter is the main concern of this study. A coastal scenic evaluation was carried out in the Balearic Islands and focused on two major issues: coastal scenic beauty together with sensitivity to natural processes and human pressure. The archipelago is renowned as a top international coastal tourist destination that receives more than 13.5 million visitors (2019). Impressive landscape diversity makes the Balearics Islands an ideal field for this research. In total, 52 sites, respectively located in Ibiza (11), Formentera (5), Mallorca (18) and Menorca (18), were field-tested. In a first step, coastal scenic beauty was quantified using the coastal scenic evaluation system (CSES) method, based on the evaluation of 26 physical and human parameters, and using weighting matrices parameters and fuzzy logic mathematics. An evaluation index (“D”) was obtained for each site, allowing one to classify them in one of the five scenic classes established by the method. Twenty-nine sites were included in class I, corresponding to extremely attractive sites (CSES), which were mainly observed in Menorca. Several sound measures were proposed to maintain and/or enhance sites’ scenic value. In a second step, scenic sensitivity was evaluated using a novel methodological approach that makes possible the assessment of three different coastal scenic sensitivity indexes (CSSI), i.e., the natural sensitivity index NSI , the human sensitivity index HSI and the total sensitivity index TSI. Future climate change trends and projection of tourism development, studied at municipality scale, were considered as correction factors. All the islands showed places highly sensitive to environmental processes, while sensitivity to human pressure was essentially observed at Ibiza and Mallorca. Thereafter, sites were categorized into one of three sensitive groups established by the methodology. Results obtained are useful in pointing out very sensitive sceneries as well as limiting, preventing and/or anticipating future scenic degradation linked to natural and human issues.

Keywords: beach; landscape; scenic assessment; coastal management; climate change; tourism pressure; sustainability; Ibiza; Formentera; Mallorca; Menorca (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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