OPINION Joves PV – La Marina
Yes, the Marina Alta, our region, s'ofega. As everyone knows, since the 60s, the Marina Alta has been transformed into a tourism model that has generated, finally, many jobs and has also achieved the recognition that our towns have.
But from now on, the other side of the coin has revealed some big problems that cause people to see the tourist model that is outdated, unsustainable and predatory. It is that the Marina Alta, like Bilbao, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, also have a limit.
The biggest habitat problem of the last decade
The rise in tourism has provoked, among others, a generalized bid in the prices of vacationers and home sales. We have seen that in recent years, the drivers have made nonsense, making it difficult to access housing and, therefore, impossible for the young and not so young to become independent.
The proliferation of tourist accommodation has reduced the supply of housing available for long-term travelers, even increasing the purchase price by 30% in some towns in our region. This speculation benefits a few, but harms the majority.
Young people and families with middle and low incomes are the most affected, forced to allocate a large part of their income to housing, reducing the quality of life and the quality of health.
Now, we will not be afraid that it is the right of a person to use his or her property as a matter of course – according to the law's mark -, but if the market is not self-regulating, as it seems to be the case, the administrations must be those who implement the necessary measures to mitigate this problem.
Ja ho said the phrase: from abroad they will come, and from home they will pull. I quanta raó.
The depredation of our territory
This is one of the most worrying aspects of the current tourism model. The uncontrolled urban expansion has transformed the landscapes of our region into seas of formigó and rajoles. They cannot turn back, but they can look towards a more sustainable future. It is imperative to protect our natural sites, and local and autonomous administrations play an important role in urban planning and environmental protection.
It is essential that strict policies be implemented to control the expansion of buildings and urbanizations and to preserve natural resources. The creation of new protected areas and the promotion of urban development plans must be absolute priorities, based on quality and not quantity.
Platges that are a paradise are found surrounded by luxury pools and infinite swimming pools. They cannot exchange the passat, but they can exchange the future future.
On the other hand, but on the bottom line, the pressure on the natural resources of the Marina Alta is unsustainable. The overexploitation of water resources, the loss of biodiversity and the erosion of the coast are just some of the consequences of excessive and unplanned growth. The annoyances of the saturation of services in the nostrils, the water restrictions – in one of the driest years – the nostrils and the destruction of the natural spaces, beaches and cales, the nostrils. All this affects a large majority regardless of ideologies and political symbols.
A poor and precarious region
The Marina Alta continues to lead poverty taxes and social exclusion. The majority of working conditions in the tourism sector must be a priority. It is that the work generated by tourism is precarious. Workers in the hotel, restaurant and tourism sector often face unstable working conditions, low salaries and temporary contracts.
The current tourism model, which relies largely on seasonality, exacerbates this situation, leaving workers uncertain during the winter months. The pressure to maintain competitiveness and low prices leads to many companies failing to comply with basic labor regulations and, in some cases, labor exploitation of their workers.
Administrations and companies must work together with unions and worker associations to identify the current problem: the lack of workers in the hospitality sector due to inadequate working conditions.
The Canary Islands, Bilbao and the Balearic Islands have given rise to this model that deteriorates their towns, their neighborhoods and their countries, and that negatively affects the quality of life of their residents. The Marina Alta must consider what future version will be for the generations of others: an impoverished region at the service of the stranger or a region with the quality of life and commitment to sustainability remaining a reference?
It is that while other cities such as Barcelona or Mallorca propose alternatives to fight against gentrification, it seems that the Marina Alta looks like an other coast. Amsterdam has announced measures that limit tourist activity, including limiting vocational travel, restricting visits in some countries, prohibiting our hotel complexes and reducing the number of airline operations.
Many aspects of the current tourism model must be reviewed. We are poorer than these two decades, even though the streets of our towns and our beaches are full.
We have to work – and it remains to be done – to improve the quality of our region, the most sustainable and generating service linked to culture, gastronomy and the environment. Urban planning must preserve natural spaces and limit uncontrolled expansion.
Volem que todo el món puga conéixer y gaudir d'a region rich in culture, history, heritage, gastronomy and landscapes. But no ho volem a qualsevol preu.
The diversity is needed. Tell me in what other branch, not connected with tourists, can young people work? It is necessary to extend touristic season throughout the whole year.
There is a lack of a valid policy that solves the problems of converting, of stability of
Feina youth of sous dignes… The generations that are already active have no future cap