On the Beach: The Changing Meaning of the Bulgarian Coast after 1989

Abstract

AbstractThis article examines the physical changes and the shifting symbolic meaning of the Black Sea Coast in Bulgaria after 1989. It explores three stages of development: the coast as a place of refuge and intimacy in the last years of socialism, how new touristic development embodied economic aspirations from 1997 until 2008, and recent years in which over‐building and corruption have become a mark of national embarrassment and anxiety. Beachfront development after socialism was meant to both rejuvenate the flagging national economy and to use improved spaces of tourism to make a visual representation of a “new” Bulgaria. However, for coastal residents, prosperity was not forthcoming and financial stagnation, environmental destruction, and the new aesthetics of the beachfront reoriented their view of the coast. This article explores how changes in the natural landscape became emotionally resonant ways for residents to discuss the aspirations and disenchantments of post‐socialism. It argues that the increasingly‐urbanized beachfront has quickly shifted from a symbol of the post‐socialist good life to a manifestation of the failure of contemporary Bulgarian society to protect even the most basic collective goods.