Tourists flock to up-and-coming Spanish hotspot to find the beaches are gone
All across northern Spain, beaches are disappearing.
In Asturias - a once famously unpopular part of the country among outsiders that is becoming a bigger and bigger draw - large sections of its coast are vanishing. As more and more people swap the scorching hot summer temperatures of the south for its lush, humid climate, they're arriving to find one of its most beautiful assets gone.
Ana Rodríguez García has lived in the area her entire life. She has noticed that in recent years, many of the beaches she visited as a child are no longer there. Where once there were small coves that she would run around and play on, there is now just sea.
Unlike the placid Mediterranean waters off the east and south coasts of Spain, Asturias and many coastal regions in the north and west have to contend with the fearsome swell of the Atlantic. In recent years, the surf has been washing higher and higher up the beaches. As it creeps further into the land the water combines with increasingly powerful storms that drag pebbles, sand and anything else on the beaches with them.
The north coast of Spain has suffered droughts in recent summers (ASSOCIATED PRESS)Once the stormy winter seasons have gone the damage can be assessed. Many beaches lose so much that they completely disappear at high tide. Local councils step in before the summer season, shifting huge amounts of sand from the banks of estuaries in the north onto the coast.
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"One of the beaches near me, my local, most years it has to be refilled with sand because the sea takes it away in the winter. The sea is rising at a rate of 3.3mm a year here. In terms of distance, we lose a metre every 37 years," Ana, who runs language school Peak Me Languages in Asturias, told the Mirror.
"That is a whole cove gone. When the tide is low you can lie on the sand but it is wet now. When the tide is high you have to go."
A recent study found an area housing 210,000 people in Asturias will soon be at high risk of flooding. Among the many beaches that are forecast to disappear complete or partially by 2050 are Barayo, Bañugues, Cuevas, San Pedro, La Concha de Artedo, San Antolín, Torimbia, Borizo, La Isla, Andrín, Bañugues and Ballota.
Luke Massey moved from the UK to Asturias with his wife and two kids five years ago to start an re-wilding project called Wild Finca. The climate in the south was "too hot and dry" so they opted for the north. He is one of increasingly numbers of Brits moving there as annual tourist numbers double in a decade to over 200,000 now.
"Being Brits rain didn't bother us much so we came and had a look and never went back. The incredible coastline, rugged wild mountains and wildlife had us hooked. And the weather really isn't as bad as people made out," he explained.
La Ñora is one of the many beautiful beaches in northern Spain (Getty Images)"Yes we get some mighty storms rolling in off the Atlantic, and a few weeks of heavy rain, but to us, that is what makes Asturias. And unfortunately, with the changing climate Asturias isn't as wet as it once was."
Over the summer water supplies in mountain villages dried up, something people living there had never seen. An area which once kept outsiders away because of its reputation for being cold and wet is quickly drying out.
In the meadows, ponds, woodlands and scrubs Luke re-wilds he has started to add mulch to try and keep moisture in the soil while opting for more drought tolerant vegetables that can survive the harsh summer spells. Having enough water to keep the Asturcon ponies and Casina cattle hydrated is now a worry.
Ana remembers how the sea water of her youth was bitterly cold for much of the year, like that found around the English coast, she previously told Responsible Travel. Jump in outside of the summer months and you'll end up gasping for breath and covered in goosebumps.
"The sea water used to be a lot colder than it is now, you'd swim in the summer and it'd be a bit like Cornwall, now it's a few degrees warmer. Now sometimes you get in and you don't need to scream or anything. Before it'd take your breath away," the 47-year-old said.
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"It's really sad. Local rivers carry less water. Trout, salmon, otters. We worry about how long they will be there for."
The slow death of local farming practices amid rising house prices mean fewer people are on hand to graze the fields. When they go, what appear to be naturally formed fields and meadows will be replaced by woodland and scrub. At the some time, the winds have begun to blow Saharan sands up from the south, temporarily jaundicing what is usually known as 'green Spain'.
It is a reminder of what faces the country. A fifth of Spain is already affected by desertification and almost three quarters of the country is at risk. As the rate of climate change increases, the sand is hard to sand is harder to keep away from the fields and meadows, and harder to keep on the beaches.
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