Rubén VILLAR-NAVASCUÉS, Interuniversity Institute of Geography, University of Alicante, Spain
Carlos BAÑOS, Department of Regional Geographic Analysis and Physical Geography, University of Alicante, Spain
María HERNÁNDEZ-HERNÁNDEZ, Department of Regional Geographic Analysis and Physical Geography, University of Alicante, Spain
Jorge OLCINA, Department of Regional Geographic Analysis and Physical Geography, University of Alicante, Spain
The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed changes in the planning and management of tourism in the coastal municipalities of the Costa Blanca (Alicante, Spain), where tourism has a remarkable footprint from the point of view of land use, land planning, and management of natural resources. This work aims to analyse the responses undertaken by the different destinations in this tourist region regarding tourism planning and management and the dynamics pointed out as a way out of the pandemic. To do this, the following are analysed: 1) the behaviour of the new construction market linked to the creation of places for tourist use; and 2) the philosophy implicit in planning documents at the municipal and regional level to identify the main points that characterize the regulatory framework. The results show that the actions have not been uniform throughout the tourist coastline. In some cases, it has opted for a return to pre-pandemic conditions characterized by the continuous growth of activity. This process has been reflected in an increase in the number of dwellings for tourist-residential use or the increase in the existing hotel capacity. That is, it continues to be following the logic of the Fordist model, either with the maintenance of the extensive territorial model, or with the return to a model of intensive territory exploitation densifying an already saturated space. In other cases, some municipalities have committed to containing the growth of the offer in line with the policies of sustainability and adaptation to climate change as the guiding principle of their urban-tourism actions. Planning on a supra-municipal scale arose in its final approval allow the development of different municipal actions with this guiding principle. In conclusion, this work analyses the different dynamics pointed out as a response to the exit from the pandemic crisis on the Alicante tourist coast at a regional and local scale.
Mots clés : tourism|planning|land use|post-pandemic|Costa Blanca
A103832RV