Riesgos de erosión en la costa de Cádizgestión actual y perspectivas futuras

Abstract

This work is aimed at analyzing coastal erosion issues along the province of Cádiz (SW Spain), as well as the diverse management strategies that are currently being applied to face this problem and how they could change in the near future. For this purpose, aerial photographs spanning the last 50 years were used, combined with legislative information, urban growth data, information on coastal interventions and climate predictions. Erosion processes in the study area affect both beaches and cliffs, with shoreline retreat rates over 2 m/yr at some points. The high degree of development of the coastal strip, together with the major economic importance of tourism activities related to the coast, has led to massive investments to mitigate the effects of shoreline erosion. Future projections of shoreline position reveal that management of coastal erosion in this area will face new challenges over the next two decades. Even if climate predictions are not particularly negative in the study zone, growing concentration of population and human activities on the coast, together with recent changes in the legal framework, could significantly increase risks related to shoreline recession at certain sectors of Cadiz coast.