Contesting the Foreshore: Tourism, Society and Politics on the Coast

This collection of essays examines tourism and the social, political, and economic relations in various, mostly European, coastal locations. The contributors point towards the cross-cutting interests of fishing, tourism and development, and to the conflicting ideas and values of the local communities and the market forces, as well as the powerful images and myths of coast and sea: coasts, both symbolically charged areas between danger seaward and safety landward. From the tensions between Cornish villagers and the visiting ‘Emmets’ to the explosion of resort development in Gran Canaria, the authors highlight the relationships between traditional stakeholders, such as fishermen and local residents, and new ones - second-home owners, tourists, property developers, and fish farm managers, as they vie for status, influence, and ultimately for space.