Spanish Mediterranean Coastline Research Articles

Mapping cumulative compound hydrometeorological and marine-induced risks on the NW Mediterranean coast

Coastal risks in the Mediterranean are a result of the complex interplay between hydrometeorological and marine hazards. The region encompasses areas with varying degrees of vulnerability to these hazards, as well as spatial variations in exposure values, making it essential to adopt a comprehensive and nuanced approach to risk assessment and management. It is worth noting that hydrometeorological hazards, such as flash floods, can often have a greater impact than strictly coastal hazards, highlighting the need to consider the full range of potential risks. Therefore, coastal managers must adopt a multi-hazard approach to make sound risk management decisions. This study addresses this need using an index-based framework that assesses the integrated risk in time and space (hereafter referred to as cumulative compound risk) in coastal zones by aggregating the main hydrometeorological and marine hazards, the vulnerability of the territory to both types of hazards, and values at exposure. The framework is designed for use at large spatial scales (applied to a 1100 km coastline in this study), with the basic spatial unit being relevant for management (here set as the municipality in this study). Its application enables the assessment of spatial variations in integrated risk as well as individual hydrometeorological and marine contributions. The combined use of the indices and cluster analysis helps identify similarities and differences in the risk profile of spatial units, and thus, define homogeneous areas from a risk management perspective. In this study, the framework was applied to the Spanish Mediterranean coastline, an area representative of the climatic, geomorphological, and socioeconomic conditions of the Mediterranean coast.

Use of “Glass Curtain” Systems to Improve the Energy Efficiency and Thermal Comfort of Dwellings in a Warm Semi-Arid Mediterranean Climate

The dry Mediterranean climate (BShs) within a warm semi-arid climate (BSh) is the zone in Europe with the most annual hours of sunlight, and it has a smaller annual temperature variation than most climates. This allows the greenhouse effect caused by windows to be used to heat dwellings in winter. Balcony frameless retractable glazing systems known as “glass curtain” systems offer the highest proportion of glass and maximum openness in the façade, allowing for maximum sunlight and ventilation. This work studies a glazed terrace with a “glass curtain” in a dwelling on the Spanish Mediterranean coastline. The objective is to quantitatively determine the enhancement of the thermal comfort and energy efficiency of a dwelling using “glass curtain” systems. The modification of several design parameters of the glazed terrace is also analysed. The novelty of this study lies in demonstrating that the use and optimised design of “glass curtain” systems allows us to obtain nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEBs) and thermally comfortable dwellings all year round. The research methods include a comparison of the current thermal performance of the dwelling with and without a “glass curtain” system via on-site measurements. The study also evaluates the influence of modifying design parameters using computer simulations. The results show that “glass curtain” systems increase the indoor temperatures inside the dwelling by about 4 °C in winter and reduce the annual indoor thermal oscillation from more than 16 °C to only 10 °C. Consequently, such systems reduce heating energy needs by almost 60%. Glazed terraces using the proposed design parameters show further improvement regarding thermal comfort and practically eliminate heating and cooling needs.

Are preserved coastal water bodies in Spanish Mediterranean basin impacted by human activity? Water quality evaluation using chemical and biological analyses.

The Spanish Mediterranean basin is particularly susceptible to climate change and human activities, making it vulnerable to the influence of anthropogenic contaminants. Therefore, conducting comprehensive and exhaustive water quality assessment in relevant water bodies of this basin is pivotal. In this work, surface water samples from coastal lagoons or estuaries were collected across the Spanish Mediterranean coastline and subjected to target and suspect screening of 1,585 organic micropollutants by liquid chromatography coupled to ion mobility separation and high resolution mass spectrometry. In total, 91 organic micropollutants could be confirmed and 5 were tentatively identified, with pharmaceuticals and pesticides being the most prevalent groups of chemicals. Chemical analysis data was compared with data on bioanalysis of those samples (recurrent aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) activation, and estrogenic receptor (ER) inhibition in wetland samples affected by wastewater streams). The number of identified organic contaminants containing aromatic rings could explain the AhR activation observed. For the ER antagonistic effects, predictions on estrogenic inhibition potency for the detected compounds were used to explain the activities observed. The integration of chemical analysis with bioanalytical observations allowed a comprehensive overview of the quality of the water bodies under study.

Vulnerability of Coastal Areas Due to Infrastructure: The Case of Valencia Port (Spain)

The vulnerability of coastal areas is related to the existence and functionality of infrastructure. Ports have had increased activity in the last few decades due to growing needs of the market. At the same time, there have been huge changes in maritime traffic, and some ports are specialized in container traffic. The port in Valencia developed notably in the last expansions, in the 1980s and in the recent northern expansion. Valencia’s port specializes in container traffic, and has become a Mediterranean leader and the metropolitan area is an important logistics center. Ports can create coastal erosion by altering wave patterns. The environmental effects of the port of Valencia were analyzed. The Spanish Mediterranean coastline as well as morpho-dynamic units were monitored. The solid transport capacity to the north and south of the Valencia port was estimated, and the effects of other infrastructure on sedimentary sources of beaches were also studied. The port of Valencia’s barrier effect is responsible for the situation at the beaches to the north and south. This effect is total and impedes net sediment transport, predominantly to the south along the stretch of coastline. However, the port is not the only factor responsible for this situation, and the lack of continental sediments must also be considered. In addition, climate change has an influence on the behavior of the coastline. The vulnerability of the coast has increased due to changes in coastal morphology, variations in littoral transport rates, and coastal erosion. To promote sustainable port management, some correction measures, such as sand bypassing, dune rehabilitation, and dune vegetation, are proposed.

In vitro bioanalytical assessment of toxicity of wetland samples from Spanish Mediterranean coastline

BackgroundFresh water bodies represent less than 1% of overall amount of water on earth and ensuring their quality and sustainability is pivotal. Although several campaigns have been performed to monitor the occurrence of micropollutants by means of chemical analysis, this might not cover the whole set of chemicals present in the sample nor the potential toxic effects of mixtures of natural and anthropogenic chemicals. In this sense, by selecting relevant toxicity endpoints when performing in vitro bioanalysis, effect-based methodologies can be of help to perform a comprehensive assessment of water quality and reveal biological activities relevant to adverse health effects. However, no prior bioanalytical study was performed in wetland water samples from the Spanish Mediterranean coastline.MethodsEleven samples from relevant water bodies from the Spanish Mediterranean coastline were collected to monitor water quality on 8 toxicity endpoints. Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), androgenicity (AR+ and AR−), estrogenicity (ER+ and ER−), oxidative stress response (Nrf2) and vitamin D receptor (VDR+ and VDR−) reporter gene assays were evaluated.ResultsAhR was the reporter gene assay showing a more frequent response over the set of samples (activated by 9 out of 11 samples), with TCDD-eq in the range 7.7–22.2 pM. For AR, ER and VDR assays sporadic activations were observed. Moreover, no activity was observed on the Nrf2 reporter gene assay. Wastewater and street runaway streams from Valencia could be responsible for enhanced activities in one of the water inputs in the Natural Park ‘L’Albufera’.ConclusionsWater quality of relevant wetlands from the Spanish Mediterranean coastline has been evaluated. The utilization of a panel of 5 different bioassays to cover for different toxicity endpoints has demonstrated to be a good tool to assess water quality.

Satisfaction, seasonality and tourist expenditure in consolidated tourist destinations

ABSTRACT In recent years, tourism literature has been incorporating tourist satisfaction as a determinant of competitiveness and expenditure in destinations. It was expected a direct relationship between the variables: the better the experience, the greater the expenditure. However, previous literature has not found a strong relationship between them. This study attempts to address this gap by analysing a data survey from Calp, a consolidated destination on the Spanish Mediterranean coastline, using a static comparative exercise between different tourism seasons. As a novel theoretical contribution, seasonality and the different items of expenditure are included in the analysis. In accordance with the previous literature, the result obtained does not confirm a close relationship between satisfaction and expenditure. Some managerial implications are also suggested.

The relationship between satisfaction and tourism expenditure in ‘sun and beach’ destinations: a structural equation modelling approach

ABSTRACT Researchers generally accept that satisfaction is a determinant of tourist expenditure in destinations. This article explores the relationship between satisfaction and tourist expenditure in Calp, a consolidated ‘sun and beach’ tourist destination located on the Spanish Mediterranean coastline. Using survey data and structural equation modelling, the main result indicates that, in general, after controlling for relevant (socio-economic, socio-demographic and trip characteristics) variables, there is a weak relationship between satisfaction and expenditure.

Are local administrations really in charge of flood risk management governance? The Spanish Mediterranean coastline and its institutional vulnerability issues

Over recent decades, the number of people and the capital invested in flood-prone areas has undergone a significant increase worldwide, particularly in coastal areas. There are several studies that show how the influence of socio-economic factors over local planning authorities seems to be the main reason for exposure increase. This paper explores the causes and consequences of inefficient flood risk governance along the Spanish Mediterranean coastal municipalities. For that purpose, national and regional flood management policies were contrasted with the outcomes of a spatial intersection between cadastral data at local level and floodable areas, for different return periods (10, 50, 100 and 500 years). The results demonstrate a significant growth in exposure due to inefficient spatial planning and flood reduction strategies.

Assessment of the impact of heavy metals in sediments along the Spanish Mediterranean coastline: pollution indices.

A comprehensive study was carried out to evaluate the occurrence, significance of concentrations and spatial distribution of heavy metals (Cr, Cd, Ni, Cu, Pb, Hg, Zn and As) in sediments along the Valencia coastline (Spain). The sampling campaign covered 476km of the coastline in a 4-year period. The highest concentrations of metals in the sediments were mainly Cr, Ni, Zn and Cd (up to 28.93mg Crkg-1 dw, 15.80mg Ni kg-1 dw, 57.13mg Zn kg-1 dw and 0.293mg Cd kg-1 dw), obtained in the northern areas, some central areas and in an isolated area on the southern coastline. The Sediment Quality Guidelines applied reveal that for all metals studied, none of them reached, or exceed, the "effects of median range" or the "probable effect level". The pollution index reveals that 75% of the stretch coastline has a low priority risk level and the rest "medium-low priority risk level". And, lastly, Potential Ecological Risk Index shows that all but one zone have low ecological risk.

Factors Affecting Domestic Water Consumption on the Spanish Mediterranean Coastline

During the last decades on the Spanish Mediterranean coastline there has been a great development of low-density urban areas, as well as a change in the sociodemographic structures, especially in the municipalities that have developed a residential tourism model. Likewise, urban and tourist development have stressed the balance between the availability of water resources and urban water demands, generating situations of scarcity that might be aggravated by climate change. This study identifies the determinants of water consumption on the Spanish Mediterranean coastline, focusing on the variables related to urban land uses and socioeconomic and sociodemographic variables at the municipal level using an ordinary least square (OLS) and a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model. The GWR model results substantially improved the results of the OLS model, explaining 88.27 percent of the variance in domestic water consumption and solving the spatial autocorrelation problem of some independent variables. The most influential variables include the percentage of second homes or the percentage of residential properties with swimming pools at the municipal level. These characteristics must be considered to develop demand management policies and an updated hydrological planning to ensure urban supply in a future with less available water resources.

Does institutional knowledge attract new firms in tourist districts?

This article focuses on the tourism sector, analysing the extent to which the degree of firm concentration in industry is higher or lower among the tourist districts located along the Spanish Mediterranean coastline depending on the knowledge resources generated by the institutions located at each destination (universities, vocational training centres (VTCs) and technological centres). Certain factors, such as the technical characteristics of the generated knowledge and the absorptive capacity of firms, influence the power of attraction that such institutions may exert for new firms to join the tourist district. For that reason, a U-shaped relationship between agglomeration and institutional knowledge is proposed. The empirical evidence supports this hypothesis for the knowledge generated by universities and higher-level VTCs, though not for the knowledge generated by medium-level VTCs and technological centres.

Unemployment effects of economic crises on hotel and residential tourism destinations: The case of Spain

This paper analyses the effects of economic crises on tourism destinations from a city and regional point of view. The objective is to determine which kind of Spanish “Sun and Beach” tourism destinations, residential or hotel, has better weathered the most recent economic crisis in Spain, linked to the Global Financial Crisis of 2007/8. For this purpose, the authors have analysed the increases in the unemployment rates of a pool of 138 tourist destinations located on the Spanish Mediterranean coastline. The main finding of the paper is that during the crisis, residential destinations experienced a greater destruction of employment than hotel destinations. This result is consistent with previous literature that indicates a better economic performance of the hotel tourism development model.

Habitat use of an endangered cyprinodontid fish in a saline wetland of the Iberian Peninsula (SW Mediterranean Sea)

Aphanius iberus is an endemic fish restricted to a few populations along the Spanish Mediterranean coastline and included in international red lists. Information on its ecological requirements is needed to implement effective recovery and conservation measures. This two-year study aimed to analyse the effect of habitat changes, mainly in water salinity and refuge availability, on the life-history traits and microhabitat use of an A. iberus population inhabiting a littoral wetland managed for salt exploitation. The species was more abundant at the intake pond, which was characterised by lower water conductivity values and higher cover of the submerged macrophyte Ruppia cirrhosa. The pond with the highest values of water conductivity showed no presence of newborn individuals (< 10 mm), which probably indicates the reproduction failure of A. iberus or high mortality rates for younger individuals. Overall, the species’ selection of microhabitats was related to refuge presence (submerged vegetation and pond dykes). Juvenile individuals showed a strong dependence on sheltered microhabitats through the studied ponds, with R. cirrhosa meadows as important refuge areas for this age group. Results highlighted the importance of developing traditional maintenance and management measures for the conservation of such endangered fish species.

Functional and Environmental Design of Detached, Low Crest Level Breakwaters

Abstract In this article we research the design of detached breakwaters, a type of coastal defence work designed to combat erosion on beaches in a stable, sustainable fashion. Our aim is to formulate a functional and environmental (nonstructural) method of design that defines the fundamental characteristics of a detached breakwater as a function of the desired effect on the coast whilst meeting social demands and preserving or improving the quality of the littoral environment. We aim to make this method generally applicable by considering relations between variables of different natures (climatic, geomorphologic, and geometric) influencing the changes experienced on the coast after the detached breakwater has been built. We carried out the study of the relations between the different variables on the data from 19 actual, existing detached breakwaters on the Spanish Mediterranean coastline, and we followed a methodology based on the implementation of nondimensional monomials and on a search for relations o...

Accumulation and tissue distribution of heavy metals and essential elements in loggerhead turtles ( Caretta caretta) from Spanish Mediterranean coastline of Murcia

Sea turtles are of increasing interest as potential bioindicators of the heavy metal pollution in marine ecosystems. In the present work, concentrations of heavy metals and essential elements (As, Cd, Hg, Pb, Se, Zn) in different organs and tissues (liver, kidney, muscle, bone, blood, central nervous system and skin) of loggerhead sea turtles ( Caretta caretta) were determined from stranded animals found along the Spanish Mediterranean coastlines of Murcia. Relatively high average levels of As (skin: 52.13 μg g −1 dry weight; muscle: 40.95 μg g −1 dry weight), and especially high individual levels of Zn in muscle tissue (1002.4 μg g −1 dry weight) were detected. Furthermore, a significant degree of organotrophism of Cd was observed in kidney tissue. The concentrations detected, the distribution among the tissues and the differences observed between juvenile and adult specimens are generally compatible with chronic exposure to the elements studied, whilst levels produced by acute exposure were ruled out.

Heavy metals in tissues from loggerhead turtles ( Caretta caretta) from the southwestern Mediterranean (Spain)

Cadmium, lead, copper, and zinc were measured in tissues of 21 loggerhead turtles ( Caretta caretta) from the southwestern Mediterranean coastline. Mean concentrations (dry weight) of essential elements (Zn and Cu) were 107 and 21.6 μg/g in liver, 27.9 and 3.8 μg/g in kidney, 65.4 and 5.0 μg/g in pectoral muscle, 11.1 and 3.45 μg/g in brain, and finally 19.2 μg/g and undetected in bone, respectively. Mean concentrations of heavy metals (Cd and Pb) were 23.4 and 2.8 μg/g in liver, 31.5 and 0.5 μg/g in kidney, 0.2 and 0.3 μg/g in pectoral muscle, 0.2 and 0.7 μg/g in brain, and undetected and 1.2 μg/g in bone, respectively. Metal concentrations were similar to other studies conducted on Mediterranean turtles. However, cadmium concentrations varied widely among individuals, which has been associated with potential sources of cadmium in Mediterranean Sea. This is the first study into metal accumulation in tissues of loggerhead turtle from Spanish Mediterranean coastline.

La imagen de la enfermería española en cuidados críticos vista por pacientes centroeuropeos : una aproximación hacia la identidad de los profesionales de los cuidados españoles en el contexto de la Unión Europea

During the last few years, there has been an increase of citizens from central and northern Europe along the Spanish Mediterranean coastline, either as residents or as tourists (who can also be admitted to hospital). Specifically in the Alicante province, a growing number of Scandinavians can be found in the Marina Alta County, and English people in Torrevieja. The chosen group for our study comprises mostly Dutch people. They are retired and mean age is older than 60. For age and health reasons, they tend to make a frequent use of the Spanish health care system (mostly private); that is why it is interesting to find out their opinion on health care professionals in Spain, in order to establish a comparison with other European countries (in this case, their own) within the professional context of the European union. In general, Spanish nurses excelled most of these patients’ expectancies. A nursing professional profile could be therefore established as: reliable, empathic and communicative –in spite of the language barrier-; self-confident towards their job and transmitting security to patients accordingly; capable of a quick response, of giving an opinion and problem-solving; respectful with intimacy although somewhat distant when carrying out procedures affecting privacy.

Mesoscale geographical patterns in the distribution of pandalid shrimps Plesionika spp. in the Western Mediterranean

Six bottom-trawl cruises, undertaken in spring 1994 to 1999 along the Spanish Mediter- ranean coastline, sampled pandalid shrimps from 30 to 800 m depth. Data analysis yielded a descrip- tion of the distribution patterns of the 4 most common species (Plesionika heterocarpus, P. martia, P. gigliolii, P. edwardsi) over an area of 45 331 km 2 . We analysed abundance of juveniles and adults by partial correspondence analysis (pCCA) in order to determine the effect on distribution of depth (as an overall estimate of temperature, salinity, turbidity and other variables), time (among-survey vari- ability) and space (geographical location). The main null hypothesis we explicitly evaluated is that species composition remains constant along the Spanish Mediterranean coastline after controlling for depth and time. A significant (8.2%) effect of geographical location was found. Hauls located in the central zone of the sampling cruises (Valencia: Ibiza Channel) showed an intermediate relative abun- dance of all species. By contrast, the samples from northern and southern zones showed a large rela- tive abundance of P. martia and P. heterocarpus, respectively. This pattern may be related to envi- ronmental specificity of the hydrodynamic conditions in the Ibiza Channel, dynamic topography characteristics linked to the canyons in the North Catalan zone, and surface production inputs, as found in the North Alboran zone (southern zone), where the main species (P. heterocarpus) exhibited the shallowest bathymetric distribution. Although discrimination between depth preferences of juve- niles and adults (with adults being located deeper) is already known on a local scale, our results extend this pattern to the entire Spanish Mediterranean coastline and across all the species studied.

Calcium carbonate saturation in Spanish coastal lagoons

The saturation index for calcium carbonate in water bodies located on the Spanish Mediterranean coastline has been calculated. Waters were supersaturated with respect to calcium carbonate, the satu...

Patrones de consumo de agua en usos turístico-residenciales en la costa de Alicante (España) (2005-2015). Una tendencia desigual influida por la tipología urbana y grado de ocupación

El litoral mediterráneo español ha vivido un importante crecimiento urbano relacionado con la actividad turística desde 1960. El objetivo de esta investigación es analizar y caracterizar la tendencia del gasto de agua en la costa de Alicante (2005-2015), teniendo en cuenta la repercusión del aumento de viviendas y usuarios conectados a la red durante el último boom inmobiliario (1997-2008). Para ello, se han analizado datos de facturación de agua potable por vivienda en función de las diferentes tipologías urbano-residenciales y tipo de ocupación, y un análisis del consumo en hoteles. Entre las conclusiones cabe mencionar que se ha producido un cambio de tendencia a partir de mediados de la década del 2000 con una reducción del consumo y la verificación de pautas distintas en los módulos de gasto de agua. Se detecta, asimismo, que en determinadas tipologías de marcada función turístico-residencial se ha producido una moderada recuperación del consumo de agua desde 2010.