Spanish beach turned into "intimate" place for tourists

The Dunas de Maspalomas Special Nature Reserve, on the island of Gran Canaria (Spain), is famous for its pristine sand dunes next to the coast, and is often at the top of the list of places to see when visiting Gran Canaria. The dunes on the coast, which have been legally protected since 1982, are some of the last remaining shifting sand dunes in Europe, and are also a stopover for migratory birds traveling between Africa and Europe.

Nowadays, the beach is increasingly developing in tourism and becoming a destination for fun and sightseeing for tourists. However, sadly, in a recent article published in the Spanish Journal of Environmental Management, researchers counted 298 sex spots on a total area of ​​more than 5 km²of this beach, most of those spots are located between dense vegetation and sand dunes surrounding the vegetation.

Tourists' sexual intercourse on the beach and the movement of cruisers out to sea not only directly impact the species living there, but also affect eight native plant species, three of which are endemic.

Tourists trample vegetation, destroy wildlife and sand dunes, create their own “nests”, and even surround them with trash including cigarettes, condoms, toilet paper, towels and cans. Some even use the dunes as public toilets. Researchers found that the further away the sex location, the more trash is left behind.

Even the "no-go zone" on the dunes - where people are restricted - has been found to have 56 sex spots. Many tourists have completely ignored the environmental protection guidelines at the Dunas de Maspalomas reserve, even though the reserve was established with the main purpose of environmental education.

“Furthermore, giant monitor lizards in Gran Canaria have died after eating condoms left behind by pleasure seekers,” Patrick Hesp, one of the authors of an article published in The Conversation, reported on the dire situation happening on the beach on the island of Gran Canaria.

Coastal dune systems are an important part of the marine landscape, however, tourism development in such places has had devastating consequences. “Their degradation is, for the most part, a direct consequence of tourism development,” the article added.

Khanh Ha