Against the background of economic crisis Spain is ready to sacrifice the most picturesque coastal areas in favor of tourist business. Tarifa is a city in the province of Cadiz famous for unemployment, which here is one of the highest in the country - 33%. Local authorities say that their decision to allocate large areas on one of the Valdevaqueros beach, one of the most picturesque in Andalusia, for the hotel building is an attempt to cope with unemployment.
Locals call Valdevakeros the Paradise beach. It is located at a considerable distance from residential areas. The beach is 4 kilometers in length and 120 meters in width. One of the main beauties of the beach is high dunes in its western part. Wildness and high waves made Valdevakeros beach popular among surfers from around the world.
Of course, such a picturesque place, which has already become popular among a certain category of tourists, didn’t hide from the eyes of developers. Tarifa city council intends to allocate the area near the beach for villas and hotels. In total it is planned to build 350 villas and several hotels for 1400 numbers. According to authorities, large-scale construction will allow the region to improve the unemployment situation.
Plans of the city council caused a wave of protest from environmentalists and local residents after the development project was approved by the municipality. Situation with the beach was covered by such major Spanish newspaper as El Pais.
In 2008 "real estate bubble" in Spain burst and prices for resort accommodations were sharply reduced. Hotel construction boom before the price fall cost Spain a significant part of the sea coast. According to Greenpeace, during the past 20 years in Spain each day was built up a territory equal to eight football fields.
Locals consider that the new building project will never be repaid. The main attraction of Tarifa is wild beach. So, if you Valdevakeros will be built on it can loose its tourist charm.
Ilya Kalachev
Date: 17/06/2012
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