Fishing as a factor promoting sustainable tourist development in Águilas, Murcia (Spain)

Abstract

Among all other municipalities in the coast of Murcia, the town of Aguilas stands out as the one which has been less concerned with the promotion of tourism, mainly because it still relies, economically, on fishing and agriculture. In spite of this, Aguilas, like most other Spanish towns along the Mediterranean seashore, has been affected by the massive urban development accompanying tourism, notwithstanding the failures of some big projects, such as Marina de Cope. In the years 2004-2006 Aguilas was involved, together with other fishing towns along the western Mediterranean, in the project MARIMED: fishing as a factor promoting tourist development (as an initiative from INTERREG III-B). The project aims at promoting new ways for tourist development, in this particular case, based on fishing practices, broadly understood as a socio-economic and cultural system which can grant additional benefits to those already derived from the vicinity of the sea. The project, and the materials initially derived from it, has resulted into a Plan for the Tourist Competitiveness of Aguilas: Fishing and Sea, launched in 1999. In this paper we analyze the development of this novel tourist product and its impact upon a space traditionally connected to fishing activities, as reflected in its landscape and culture.