Touristification in historic cities. Reflections on Malaga

Abstract

This research analyses the consequences in the economy of the city, in the urban environment and in the life of residents affected by the massive arrival of tourists in the historic centre of Malaga in Andalusia, Spain. The research combines a mixed methodology consisting of analysis of urban plans and administrative documents, statistics, direct observation of tourism-related activities, the definition of a list of indicators and verification of their application in the case study. Mass tourism in a historic city is a cause of conflicts between visitors and residents, but there are also positive effects such as job creation, cosmopolitanism or the expansion of the cultural offer. This research shows that it is necessary to act on tourists-residents’ conflicts in order to avoid the transformation of historic centres into places that expel the neighbours to give place to tourists. Planning and urban management, the active participation of citizens, as well as an awareness by the public administration, are key issues to avoid that historic centres become emptied of urban content to be turned into a scene for tourist consumption. This is the first research of the kind developed in the city of Malaga, one of the Spanish cities where tourism is growing faster, thus, the results could be applied to other cases in the same situation in the country and the Mediterranean.

Tourism Impacts, Tourism-Phobia and Gentrification in Historic Centers: The Cases of Málaga (Spain) and Gdansk (Poland)

“…Tourism-phobia is attributed to inappropriate management of tourist activity or, in other words, management that harms residents [40,59]; however, other authors draw attention to the diversity of the origins of the problems that affect residents in tourist spaces and that converge in tourism [89]. In the case of Málaga, some authors point out that over-tourism is the main element that affects the lives of residents and that there are numerous elements that fuel tourism pressure, mainly gentrification that empties the population of the area and public and private collaboration that transforms the urban space for an exclusive tourist activity [86].…”

“…The city of Málaga, especially its historic center, presents numerous problems related to over-tourism (tourist overcrowding, strong concentration of the tourist offer in the area, etc. ), [12,85] in addition to processes related to gentrification (disappearance of traditional shops, increase in house prices, loss of cultural heritage, transformation into an almost exclusively tourist district) [86].…”

Modelling Urban Tourism in Historic Southeast Asian Cities

“…Tourism development in the historic districts of cities also has the potential for negative impacts such as overtourism, gentrification, and host-visitor conflicts [45]. Distortion of the historic value of the place that devalues the indigenous culture through homogenization can also occur [46].…”

Tourism and public insecurity: what are its roots?

“…Part of this massification process occurred alongside state-led and private sector-led urban transformations beginning with the implementation of a series of urban policies favoring tourism-related activities. Together, with the advent of touristification, these factors change urban landscapes (Almeida García, 2012; Fonseca, 2012), like a new face of gentrification, one that is directed toward tourism (García Bujalance, Barrera-Fernández & Scalici, 2019).…”