Sun but no sand? How coastal erosion is making Spain’s beaches disappear
Blazing heat, prolonged drought and heavy downpours: Spain’s chaotic weather has made tourists think twice about visiting the Mediterranean country in 2024. With temperatures soaring to 40°C in some places, the lure of sunshine has started to become a deterrent.
The other half of the ‘sol y playa’ tourism model is also at risk as the climate changes - Spain’s beaches are starting to disappear due to rising sea levels and extreme weather.
“We observed that there are many beaches in Spain already affected by erosion, particularly when there are strong waves during winter storms,” says Markus Donat, who co-leads the Climate Variability and Change Group within Barcelona Supercomputing Center’s (BSC) Earth Sciences Department.
During storms at Easter, some Barcelona beaches faced unprecedented sand loss of up to 25 metres in width.
Experts warn that this could become a worrying trend - with potentially devastating impacts on Spain’s thriving tourism industry.
Why are Spain’s beaches disappearing?
Climate change is expected to accelerate the frequency and violence of storms in the future. “The biggest problem is the greater frequency of maritime storms, whose waves affect the first line of the coast and cause huge damage to beaches and coastal facilities, such as marinas and promenades,” explains Jorge Olcina, professor of geography at the University of Alicante.
This could lead to the beaches shrinking, with a loss of the usable sand available for holidaymakers.
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“This problem requires significant economic investments every three or four years to repair the beaches and promenades,” says Jorge.
The Spanish government has said for decades that the country’s coastline suffers from the “generalised process of coastal regression”, and has invested millions into replacing sand on degraded beaches. But in the long term, it warns it will not be possible to keep up with requests from all the municipalities that request such help.
And it’s far from over. “Some conservative models assume that the sea level will rise from half a metre to one metre by the end of the century,” says Markus.
“However, these estimates do not include some factors that are not well understood - for example, the impact of the melting ice of the Antarctic. So this could increase predicted increases substantially.”
Which Spanish beaches are most vulnerable to coastal erosion?
Some Spanish regions are more vulnerable than others - among them, Catalonia.
Across northeastern Spain, rising sea levels and winter storms have been eating away at the shoreline. A 2017 report by the regional government suggests that 164 km
of the region’s coastline - out of a total of 218 km s tudied - is at high or very high risk of erosion. Half of the beaches are expected to “deteriorate”.
In Barcelona, whose artificial beaches were installed 30 years ago when the city was hosting the 1992 Olympic Games, the situation is even more critical.
Eight out of nine beaches are at high risk from sea storms. The city already warns that some could disappear entirely.
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“Sant Sebastià could almost disappear in the worst-case scenarios, while the others could suffer reductions of between 30 per cent and 46 per cent,” Barcelona City Hall’s 2018-2030 Climate Plan reads.
Of the 700,000 cubic metres of sand sent by the Spanish government to the coast of Barcelona province in 2010, 70 per cent has since disappeared. The city estimates that 30,000 cubic metres of sand are washed away every year.
Looking ahead, Barcelona has gathered a group of experts to study the future of the beaches. In the meantime, the practice of replacing sand is increasingly being seen as a waste of money and damaging to the environment.
How will coastal erosion impact tourism in Spain?
Coastal erosion could have alarming consequences for Spanish tourism, which today accounts for nearly 13 per cent of both GDP and employment in Spain, and is heavily dependent on beaches.
The European Travel Commission (ETC) already reported a 10 per cent decrease in tourist frequency in the Mediterranean in 2023 compared to the previous year, due to climate change and extreme weather events.
And Spain is set to be one of the most severely impacted EU countries going forward, according to a report on the ‘Regional impact of climate change on European tourism demand’ published by the European Commission last year.
In a scenario of 3°C warming from pre-industrial levels, tourist demand could fall by nearly 10 per cent - or more than 15 per cent in a scenario at 4°C, the report states.
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Last year, the UN warned that the world is on track for nearly 3°C of warming under current climate plans - far beyond the safe threshold of 1.5°C set in the Paris climate agreement.
But for now, visitor numbers aren’t a concern, as recent overtourism protests from Barcelona to Malaga illustrate.
“Rising sea levels, for now, have no hard effect,” says Jorge. “On the contrary, we are experiencing a boom in the arrival of tourists.” Spain welcomed a record 53.4 million international tourists up to 31 July - a 12 per c ent increase on last year. This pumped €71.1 billion into the economy, according to data from Spain's National
Institute of Statistics (INE).
‘The heat is becoming unbearable’
Yet Spain’s tourism industry faces the looming threat of climate change on other fronts.
“The biggest problem remains the constant loss of thermal comfort due to the increase of tropical nights, with temperatures above 20ºC. So the heat is becoming unbearable,” Jorge says.
This could force tourist destinations to make investments in urban design, such as adding more trees and water fountains in the streets, the experts say.
In the meantime, tourists are already starting to turn to the cooler northern regions of the country, long shunned.
Between 2019 and 2023 - a r ecordhot year in Spain - tourism spending increased the most in the least hot regions of Spain, research from Spanish financial services company CaixaBank, published in January, shows.
It remains to be seen whether the trend will continue.
unpleasant place” and others saying it “looks pretty terrible”. Cleanliness is another major complaint at the station, with reviewers bemoaning “a lot of garbage” everywhere, and others calling it “simply disgusting”.
The second worst metro service was found to be, per haps surprisingly, Brussels’.
The Belgian capital, which has 59 stations along 40km of track, scored only 3.20 out of 10 on Bounce’s index.
Home to the European Union, the city has a busy metro that carries more than 86 million passengers a year - making it a vital part of the city's infrastructure while reducing traffic and congestion on the roads.
The busiest metro station, Gare du Midi, happens to be the lowestrated, with a Google review score of just 1.90 out of 5.
Some reviewers have gone so far as to call the station the worst in Belgium and even Europe, saying it is “unsafe” and “dangerous”, with a shocking number of people referencing the strong smell of urine that travellers must contend with.
Rome’s metro system also scored poorly
Coming in just behind Brussels as having the third worst metro system in Europe is Rome.
The Italian capital’s metro may have 64km of track, spread across 73 stations, but it only received an index score of 3.75 out of 10.
While it is no doubt extensive and well-connected to other public transport options in the Eternal City, its metro stations received an average Google review score of just 3.60 out of 5, with only 13.21 per cent of stations receiving a score of four or above.
Additionally, 34 per cent of online reactions to news articles about the Rome Metro are “angry”, in contrast to “love” reactions, which account for just 9 per cent. Quintiliani is the worst-reviewed metro station in Rome, with a score of only 2.40 out of 5.
Many reviews for this station reference the lack of staff and security, which, along with the “desolate” surrounding area, makes many travellers feel unsafe. Station facilities, including elevators and ticket machines, have been referenced multiple times for being out of action, making travel here more difficult for passengers.
Some disgruntled passengers have called Quintiliani “the most useless station ever” and a “perfect example of a poorly looked after place”.
What is Europe’s largest and busiest metro system?
Bounce’s research revealed more than just the best and worst of metro services in Europe.
For instance, it found that the Paris Metro has 320 stations along its 245km of track - more than any other metro system in Europe.
It is also the busiest in the continent - af ter Moscow, not included in Bounce’s research. Paris’ system frequently carries close to 1.5 billion passengers annually, which equates to roughly 4.1 million passengers every day.
As well as being world-famous, London’s tube system covers the greatest distance of all European metro systems.
The London Underground has some 402km of track which is served by 272 stations.
Each of the English capital’s 32 individual boroughs are wellserved by the city’s system, colloquially referred to as ‘the Tube’.
It stretches well beyond the city limits, reaching into the surrounding counties of Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey. Around 1.2 billion people, living in the city centre or in commuter areas, use the Tube every year.
What is Europe’s least busy metro system?
London’s population is pushing 9 million, whereas Helsinki is closer to 600,000. It won’t surprise you, then, that the Finnish capital’s metro system is the least busy in Europe.
It’s also the smallest system in Bounce’s study, with just 30 stations, but it’s a well liked metro, with an average Google review rating of 4.07.
“Public transport in Europe is generally of a very high standard, relatively affordable and is often well-signposted with Englishlanguage directions and instructions, alongside the local language, making it more accessible and easier to use,” Cody Candee, CEO and Founder of Bounce, says.
“Travellers in Europe might go their entire trip without ever getting in a car. Many airports have their own metro or railway station with links directly to the city centre, while buses and metros can often take you to any part of larger cities.” While not all metros are created equal, he adds, they all have something to offer: “Aside from being a quick and practical way of getting around, many metro stations have beautiful designs, and visiting them can be an experience in itself.”