Climate Change and Tourism in Spain. The Case of the Canary Islands and the Costa Blanca (Alicante)

Tourism and climate change are closely related elements of geographical space. Tourism is one of the causal agents of climate change, as it generates transformations in land use and favors CO2 emissions, especially due to the importance of external and internal travel in the destinations. For its part, the current process of climate change is causing alterations in climatic elements that are a key aspect in determining the influx in destinations and the establishment of tourist seasons. The paper analyses the importance of tourism activity, with a scalar approach, in the Spanish territory, with special attention to two main tourist destinations: the Canary Islands and the Costa Blanca (Alicante). It assesses the impact that both have as CO2 emitters and the magnitude of the land transformation that they have caused in recent decades. On the other hand, the effect that climate change is already having on the alteration of important climatic elements for the sun and beach tourism activity in both destinations is studied through the use of comfort indicators. The actions for mitigating and adapting to climate change that public administrations and private agents are implementing to reduce its impact are studied. The future trends of the climate change process in the tourism activity of these two main destinations in Spain are assessed.