Residential Tourism, Swimming Pools, and Water Demand in the Western Mediterranean

Abstract

Many Mediterranean areas have recently witnessed a proliferation of new urban and tourist-related features following low-density residential patterns that contrast with the traditional high-density urban typologies of Mediterranean cities. The aim of this research is to investigate the links between residential tourism and water consumption through swimming pools, which constitute one key element of the new urban landscapes in the coast of Alicante (southeastern Spain). We have digitized pools in nine municipalities of coastal Alicante and calculated the average depth and estimated water losses due to evaporation. Results show that swimming pools are widely available in tourist residential enclaves but that they tend to display different characteristics according to factors such as the history of the urbanization process and relative wealth of the different areas. We have detected a clear contrast between the large individual pools of the richer northern municipalities and the smaller individual pools and community pools in the newly developed but less well-off urban enclaves of the southern coast.

晚近诸多地中海地区, 随着地中海城市的低密度住宅模式对比传统高密度城市的模型, 见证了新兴城市与观光相关的特徵之扩散。本研究的目的, 便是透过游泳池, 探讨旅居观光与水资源消费之间的连结, 而游泳池则是构成阿利坎特 (西班牙东南方) 沿海的新兴城市地景的一项主要元素。我们将阿利坎特沿海九座行政区中的游泳池进行数码化, 并计算平均深度, 以及估计因蒸发所导致的水资源损失。研究结果显示, 游泳池在观光客居住的飞地中广泛可及, 但它们根据诸如城市化过程的历史, 以及不同地区的相对财富等因素, 倾向呈现不同的特徵。我们侦测到较富裕的北方行政区的大型个人游泳池, 及其与新开发但较不富裕的南方沿海城市飞地的小型个人泳池和社区游泳池之间的明显对比。

Recientemente, muchas áreas mediterráneas han presenciado la proliferación de nuevos rasgos urbanos y aquellos que se relacionan con turistas, siguiendo los patrones residenciales de baja densidad que contrastan con las tipologías tradicionales urbanas de alta densidad de las ciudades mediterráneas. El objeto de este estudio es investigar los vínculos que existen entre el turismo residencial y el consumo de agua para piscinas de natación, que constituyen un elemento clave de los nuevos paisajes urbanos de la costa de Alicante (sudeste de España). Hemos digitalizado las piscinas de nueve municipalidades del Alicante costero y calculado la profundidad promedia y pérdidas estimadas de agua por evaporación. Los resultados muestran que las piscinas de natación proliferan en los enclaves turísticos residenciales pero que aquellas tienden a desplegar diferentes características de acuerdo con factores tales como la historia del proceso de urbanización y la riqueza relativa de las diferentes áreas. Hemos detectado un claro contraste entre las grandes piscinas de natación individuales de las municipalidades ricas del norte y las más pequeñas piscinas individuales y piscinas de natación comunitaria de los recientemente desarrollados, si bien menos afluentes, enclaves urbanos de la costa sudeste.

Key Words:

• consumption
• Mediterranean
• swimming pools
• tourism
• water

关键词:

• 消费
• 地中海
• 游泳池
• 观光
• 水资源。

Palabras clave:

• consumo
• Mediterráneo
• piscinas de natación
• turismo
• agua

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the editor and the referees for their very helpful comments and criticisms on previous versions of the article. The authors are also thankful for the data provided for the companies Hidraqua, Gestión Integral de Aguas de Levante S.A., and Aguas de Alicante, E.M.

Funding

The results presented in this article are part of two research studies. The first, entitled “Urbanisation and water metabolism in the coast of Alicante: Analysis of trends for the 2000–2010 period,” was funded by the Spanish MINECO under grant number CSO2012–36997-C02–02. The second is part of a PhD research grant funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Álvaro-Francisco Morote

ÁLVARO-FRANCISCO MOROTE is a researcher in the Interuniversity Institute of Geography at University of Alicante, Carretera de Sant Vicent del Raspeig, Alicante, 03080 Spain. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include studies about water consumption, the urbanization process, and natural hazards.

David Saurí

DAVID SAURÍ is Full Professor of Geography at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Department of Geography, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain. E-mail: [email protected]. His research has focused on environmental hazards, water resources management (particularly in urban and tourist environments), and nature–society theories. He has authored or coauthored more than seventy papers in international journals. He is a member of the Academia Europea.

María Hernández

MARÍA HERNÁNDEZ is Full Professor of Geography in the Interuniversity Institute of Geography at University of Alicante, Alicante, 03080 Spain. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests, initiated in 1994, are focused on studies on analysis and evolution of rural and cultural landscapes, agriculture and rural development, tourism and local development, land management, demand and water uses, and natural hazards.