A critical assessment of beach management on the Catalan coast

Abstract

20 páginas, 7 figuras, 5 tablas.The present status of beachmanagement carried out by the lowest level of administration (municipalities) along the Catalancoast (NE Spanish Mediterranean) was analysed to detect the main problems and priorities. This analysis was undertaken by analysing answers to a questionnaire provided by personnel involved in beachmanagement in 38 municipalities covering a coastline of 430 km. As tourism is the main economic activity in the area, current beachmanagement is recreationally oriented. The beach is considered a product/service on offer to users and visitors. The main concern of managers was the appearance of sediment-management related problems. Although municipalities are the main “receivers” of erosion-induced problems, actions to solve or counteract such problems are decided, designed and executed at a different administrative level. This reflects the complex administrative scheme governing the coastal area in Spain, where three different administrations have different jurisdictional powers over a narrow piece of land.This work was carried out within the framework of the MeVaPlaya project, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, under contract REN2003-09029-C03-MAR. The second author would like to thank the government of Catalonia for its support through the University Research Promotion Award for Young Researchers.Peer reviewe