Struggles on the Port of Granadilla: defending the right to nature

Armas-Díaz, Alejandro; Sabaté-Bel, Fernando

doi:10.1080/21622671.2020.1773918

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Given that national and regional policies, thus, show little willingness to provide affordable housing, the hope of critical scholarship rests on the insurgent practices of social movements [113]. In the years following the outbreak of the housing crisis, however, unlike in other Spanish cities, there has been no significant mass movement against housing displacement in the Canary Islands [114]. Regarding the south of Tenerife, the dispersed distribution of peripheral working-class settlements, combined with a migrant population working in the tourism sector but only loosely rooted locally, is likely limiting the possibilities for social mobilization.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Home Dispossession and Commercial Real Estate Dispossession in Tourist Conurbations. Analyzing the Reconfiguration of Displacement Dynamics in Los Cristianos/Las Américas (Tenerife)

Hof

2021

Urban Science

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Since the onset of the global financial crisis, urban dwellers face an increasing number of obstacles in establishing themselves on the housing market. Against this backdrop, this paper addresses the variegated dynamics of real estate dispossession in the tourist conurbation Los Cristianos/Las Américas on an intra-urban scale. First, I will present the spatio-temporal patterns of dispossession for the period 2001–2015 using the ATLANTE database (CGPJ). Specifically, I analyze mortgage foreclosures and tenant evictions, both for residential and commercial spaces. Second, I delve deeper into local experiences of dispossession of the resident population and their housing and income conditions by means of questionnaires that I conducted in 2018. The data shows that mortgage foreclosures and dispossessions of residential spaces predominate the initial years after the crisis, albeit with varied spatial incidence. However, the increase in tenant evictions from 2014 onwards points to a reconfiguration of displacement dynamics. Indeed, as stated by the interviewees, staggeringly high rent burdens have become the main driver for displacement from both living and working spaces in recent years. Given the ongoing global pandemic, further and more nuanced research is necessary to grasp how these prevailing housing insecurities are shaped during and beyond the coronavirus crisis.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Home Dispossession and Commercial Real Estate Dispossession in Tourist Conurbations. Analyzing the Reconfiguration of Displacement Dynamics in Los Cristianos/Las Américas (Tenerife)

Hof

2021

Urban Science

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“…In this way, protests and demands by social movements all revolve around the notion of the right to nature, on a specific island scale. Hence, what they are clamoring for is the right to the island (Armas-Díaz et al, 2020;Armas-Díaz and Sabaté-Bel, 2022;Clark, 2013;Schmelzkopf, 2008); that is, recognition of the singularities inherent in an island and the rights of its inhabitants in order to control urbanization processes (Harvey, 2012) and demand genuine sustainability (Clark 2013;Kallis et al, 2022).…”

Section: Final Remarksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following systemic cycles of accumulation and crisis, the boundaries of tourism commodification have been pushed back (Murray et al, 2017). The exploitation of local nature and the islands’ cultural heritage has led to a serious clash of environmental, labor and migration-related and economic interests, among others (Armas-Díaz and Sabaté-Bel, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental struggles and insularity: The right to nature in Mallorca and Tenerife

Armas-Díaz,

Murray,

Sabaté-Bel

et al. 2023

Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space

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Islands worldwide experience commodification of land and natural resources that is closely related to touristic activity and urbanization. Islands represent the epitome of commodified represented spaces, power, and territorialization, and in this regard, focusing on islands may shed light on how the production of socio-natures shapes the dynamics of capital accumulation, dispossession, and resistance. We explore the contestation of urban-tourist development in Majorca and Tenerife. Both have experienced an intense expansion of artificial land uses since the touristic boom in the mid-20th century, which has intensified with neoliberal capitalism and the commodification of everyday life elements. Environmental struggles in both islands have facilitated greater mobilization than other claims. An empirical survey of the spatio-temporal evolution of these two islands illustrates and helps to deepen the conceptual development of the right to the island and nature. The idea of the right to nature consists of the right to influence and rule the processes by which nature–society relationships are (re)shaped by urbanization and capitalism. The notion of the right to the island relies on the political action to foster a sustainable island future.

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“…The rapid dismantling of the Spanish industry went hand in hand with a boom in civil service and other public sectors as the transition to democracy catapulted the social‐democrat party, PSOE, to power (López and Rodríguez 2010; Murray 2012). At the same time, the shift towards a service‐centred economy further strengthened the importance of tourism, especially in the Mediterranean and Insular regions (Armas‐Díaz and Sabaté‐Bel 2020; Murray 2012).…”

Section: The “New” Middle Class Centred In Str Supply: the Case Of Palmamentioning

confidence: 99%

Why Do Middle‐Class Positions Matter? The Alignment of Short‐Term Rental Suppliers to the Interests of Capital

2022

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Underlying the idea of the middle classes there is a contradictory positionality, the relations of which ultimately enhance capital accumulation. By opening Marxist critique to Weberian approaches to class, we explain how the self-ascription of shortterm rental (STR) suppliers to the middle-class idea boosts exploitation and accumulation. Housing income, and recently that originating in STRs, has been used to maintain the symbolic and material status of the so-called middle classes in Spain, and specifically in Palma. Based on statistical data analysis and interviews with STR suppliers, managers and workers, we analyse the contradictory class positionality of STR suppliers in Palma (Majorca, Spain). First, we argue, that STR suppliers are part of the middle classes since they bear attributes of rent, labour and also capital, as they employ workers to produce a tourism commodity. Second, we contend that STR overnight stays should not only be considered as land rent payments, but also as the sale of a tourism commodity. Third, we claim that the contradictory positionality of the middle classes fuels self-exploitation, for STR suppliers misalign their interests with those of capital.

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Struggles on the Port of Granadilla: defending the right to nature

Cited by 7 publications

References 46 publications

Home Dispossession and Commercial Real Estate Dispossession in Tourist Conurbations. Analyzing the Reconfiguration of Displacement Dynamics in Los Cristianos/Las Américas (Tenerife)

Home Dispossession and Commercial Real Estate Dispossession in Tourist Conurbations. Analyzing the Reconfiguration of Displacement Dynamics in Los Cristianos/Las Américas (Tenerife)

Environmental struggles and insularity: The right to nature in Mallorca and Tenerife

Why Do Middle‐Class Positions Matter? The Alignment of Short‐Term Rental Suppliers to the Interests of Capital

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