Rising temperatures threaten the Mediterranean’s tourism industry
Rising temperatures threaten the Mediterranean’s tourism industry
Tourism generates around $635 billion per year in the European Union. But there are concerns that the increasing impact of climate change is affecting the tourism industry, particularly in some of the Mediterranean countries.
Temperatures are increasing in the Mediterranean 20% faster than the global average. Last summer, Spain had four heat waves, during which temperatures exceeded 40º Celsius, or 104º Fahrenheit, in many parts of the country. Such conditions are likely to have an impact on tourism.
By the swimming pool of the Belroy Hotel in Benidorm, the hotel’s owner and president of the local hotel association, Federico Fuster, said he has noticed the change in the climate here.
“We used to have way smoother nights. The temperature used to go down a little bit and we have a little rest at night, right?” he said. “But this summer for 20, 25 days, that didn’t happen.”
Fuster is worried about the climate crisis. But he does see a possible upside for the tourism industry in the way that seasonal behavior is changing.
“We have like a never-ending spring. It’s very good temperature, a lot of tourism, so the business is going really well also on the lowest season,” he said. “So maybe in the future, maybe we will have way more people coming to our destination in winter and autumn, and not that much of summer.”
Of course, other countries in southern Europe are seeing similar phenomena. Spain, the South of France, Italy and Greece have all seen extremely high temperatures in recent summers — along with devastating wildfires. And the science suggests these are not freak events.
![Young people lay on a pier next to blue water.]()
Young people lay on a pier on July 13 in Barcelona, Spain. (Zowy Voeten/Getty Images) ![Tourists shield themselves from the sun using an umbrella walking down a narrow Spanish street.]()
Tourists shield themselves from the sun during a heatwave in Cordoba, southern Spain on Aug. 8. (Jorge Guerrero/AFP via Getty Images) ![A woman in a long dress stands near a fabric overhang that cools tables of diners underneath.]()
A woman stands next to a bar cooled by water vapor during a heatwave on Aug. 21, in Seville, Spain. (Marcelo del Pozo/Getty Images) ![People walk past a giant thermometer reading 45º Celsius.]()
People walk past a thermometer reading 45º Celsius, or 113º Fahrenheit, during a heatwave on Aug. 21, in Seville, Spain. (Marcelo del Pozo/Getty Images)
“The tendency over the coming years will be longer summers starting earlier and finishing later on we will have longer more intense heat waves,” said Marta Almarcha, a meteorologist at the company Eltiempo.es, in Spanish. The possibility of extreme heat now seems to be influencing where many holidayers go. Since the pandemic, cooler destinations like Denmark and Iceland have been particularly popular.
“We are seeing a gradual but sustained trend that suggests more and more people are traveling to the north of Spain and to the north of Europe, and that this is something that is going to continue over time,” said Miguel Mirones, president of the Institute for Spanish Tourism Quality, in Spanish.
Mirones expects a shift away from pure sun-and-sand holidays in southern Europe toward vacations based on activities like wellness or gastronomy.
It’s still too soon to know the full impact of climate change on tourism. But it could be that Mediterranean resorts like Benidorm will face competition from places not known for their sunshine.
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