The recreational use of beaches and consequences for the development of new trends in management: the case of the beaches of the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain)

Equipamentos para a Educação Ambiental na zona costeira da Euroregião do Eixo Atlântico – Das práticas conservacionistas às sociocríticas

“…This represents a lesser economic impact. Another aspect pointed out by Breton et al (1996) was that some allday users eat in the bar or restaurants nearby, but most of them bring their own picnic implying a low impact in local economies. This explains the efforts of the local communities to attract "a better quality tourism" represented by those segments prepared to pay more.…”

“…The need for considering beach user's preferences, opinions, concerns and demands is acknowledged by several authors (Morgan et al, 1996;Morgan, 1999a;Williams et al, 1993;Breton et al, 1996;Villares, 1999;Villares et al, 2006;Nelson et al, 2000;Tunstall et al, 1998;Priskin, 2003). A better understanding of public attitudes, expectations and values of the coasts, e.g.…”

“…In order to estimate the sample as representatively as possible, we based our calculation on the maximum data related to visits in the high season. Unfortunately there are few surveys related to visits in the area: the works of Alemany (1984) and Breton et al (1996) arrived to similar conclusions. According to Alemany (1984) our six beaches have a total peak visitation of 25,790 users.…”

“…Other perspective is given by De Ruyck (1995). In Kings beach in South Africa most important reasons for visiting it were its facilities, human activity and the accessibility of the beach due to its proximity to the city centre.In the Mediterranean Basin, the study of Breton et al (1996) in Metropolitan area of Barcelona is quite relevant. Beaches were seen as places where one can escape from everyday activities, but also have to be functional, comfortable, user-friendly and safe.…”

“…A case study in the Costa Brava 67 through the film of Pandora in the early 1950 it became internationally famous. As a result Tossa remained largely unaltered while Lloret de Mar developed one of the major destinations for mass tourism on the coast (Priestley, 1996).The difference in numbers between year-round and temporary residents is considerable. Malgrat has 17,500 inhabitants rising to 50,000 residents in the peak season.…”