“LAND PLANNING AND TOURISM IN SPAIN”

Bellvehí Legal Link19th IFTTA Conference

Portugal

LAND AND TOURISM PLANNING

• Originally, land planning was understood as a state public function. Spanish Land Law of 1956.

• The 1978 Constitution suppressed the legislative competence in land planning from the central government and transferred it to the Autonomous Regions.

• This distribution has generated a huge number of different regulations in this topic that are impossible to match.

• However, the Central Government is still competent in some cases (general interest, roads, etc…).

RELATION BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT COMPETENTIAL LEVELS

• Due to this different level of competences, there are 3 situations that can arise:– General competences that affect to the whole territory

autonomous regions decisions are conditioned to the general interest. Ex: public domain titular.

– Both competences have to coexist basic environmental legislation.

– Specific state activities with a territorial dimension hydraulic works, roads that cross more than one autonomous region…

• This situation generates collisions between the competences that have to be solved “ad casum” by the Constitutional Tribunal taking into consideration many facts, such as the general interest.

• In any case, the best solution is COORDINATION between the different levels of the administration.

RELATION BETWEEN TOURISM AND LAND PLANNING

• The different territories in Spain are attractive for tourists. Our territory is our most important product.

• Tourist products: goods and services that cannot be commercialized (air quality, clean beaches, landscapes…).

• Tourist products are related to the territory, and the territory is transformed by the administration (local, state…) The produced territory is the offered product.

• The regulation of tourism and territory have to be connected in order to safeguard this asset.

TERRITORY = TOURIST PRODUCT

• Territorial planning of tourism has a double aspect:– Physical planning of the sector.– Creation of new products (ex: parks, nature

reserves…)• This shows us that tourism, as a product, has to

be territorially organized.• The problem in Spain has been that the different

competent authorities have defined very different territorial models (disjointed territorial policies due to the “Sol y Playa” model local planification).

TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION

• Originally, in Spain we find 2 types of tourist spaces:– Spaces that appear juxtaposed to a traditional

city center (e.g.: coastal towns, historical or artistic towns).

– Spaces that appear “ex novo” (e.g.: urbanizaciones):

• High density model coastal zones (apartments)• Extensive model interior zones (isolated

houses)

• The first offer of tourism in Spain was based in the first model (“Turismo de Sol y Playa” Before 1980’s).

• This phenomenon caused an increase in the demand of “second residences” in this towns and the massive concentration of buildings in the coast creating a non-desirable landscape.

• This is the heritage we have and what we need to avoid in future land plannings.

• Nowadays the state, autonomous regions and local administrations are more concerned with conservation of our tourist product and for this reason the model has changed to a sustainable model.

• Let’s see the different models of relation between land and tourism planning in Spain.

• FULL INSERTION MODEL: – Balearic Islands.

• COORDINATED MODEL:– Canary Islands and Valencia.

• INDEPENDENCY OF LAND AND TOURISM PLANNING:– Madrid.

THE CASE OF CATALONIA

TOURISM LAW (13/2002)

URBAN PLANNING LAW (1/2005)

-Based on the “sustainable development principle”.-Catalonia Tourism Plan is a territorial plan and applies to all Cat.

-“Sustainable urban planning development”. -Connection between this law and the Catalan Territorial Policy Law.

DUE BOTH LAWS ARE BASED ON THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLE,

CATALONIA DOES NOT HAVE A UNITED REGULATION BETWEEN THE TWO REGULATIONS

CONCLUSIONS:

• Against the referred model (“SyP”), the growth of tourism in Spain has to be sustainable in order to maintain a good quality level of the tourist product for many years.

• Some Autonomous Regions have already established a connected model of tourist and land planning. The different competent authorities have to tend to a global planning of the territory, avoiding old errors (local plans).

• In any case, in order to achieve the referred goal, tourism has to be extensive and punctual and look for quality and impulse of the natural heritage.

• Agenda 21 recommendations.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION