Tourism, Urbanization, and the Evolving Periphery of the European Union

This book explores travel, tourism, and urban development at the edges of Europe from the 1970s until the present. It compares tourism-spurred urban growth in Spain and Bulgaria, showing how development in Southern Europe after the fall of dictatorships provided a model for integrating post-socialist Europe in the 1990s. It analyzes the economic, cultural, and political dimensions of tourist economies, showing how they aligned with major European Union integration goals and were supported with EU development funds. It also chronicles the social and environmental costs of mass tourism where over-development has despoiled beachfronts and promoted low paying service jobs, reinforcing regional divisions in Europe between those who host and those who visit. Ultimately, it argues that while mass tourism is touted as a viable economic solution to EU inequality, it can potentially exacerbate disparities between core and peripheral zones, creating new and troubling forms of regional polarization.-- Provided by publisher Preface 5 Acknowledgments 7 Contents 9 List of Figures 11 Chapter 1: Introduction 12 1.1 Literature on World Systems, EU Studies, and Tourism 16 1.2 Tourism as a Transformative Factor of Peripherality 18 1.3 Methods 20 References 23 Chapter 2: Tourism and Europe’s Shifting Periphery: Post-Franco Spain and Post-Socialist Bulgaria 24 2.1 Europeans Together at Last 27 2.2 The Mediterranean Emerges from Fascism, 30 Years Too Late 30 2.3 Spain’s Triumphant Re-emergence 32 2.4 Going East 38 2.5 From Socialist to Capitalist Tourism in Bulgaria 40 2.6 Reassessing Tourism and Urbanization as a Peripheral Growth Strategy 47 References 51 Chapter 3: Coasts of Aspiration: Climbing the Tourism ‘Ladder’ 55 3.1 Introduction 55 3.2 The Grand Tour No More: Mass Tourism and the European Good Life 58 3.3 Spain Reopens Its Doors at Last 62 3.4 Up Goes Benidorm 66 3.5 The Tourism Ladder 71 3.6 From Visiting to Staying: The Rise of Residential Tourism 74 3.7 The Second Periphery: The Spanish Model Goes East, Bulgaria 1990–2008 77 3.8 Workers’ Paradise: The Black Sea as a ‘Red Riviera’ 79 3.9 Creating Global Beach Culture: Sunny Beach 82 3.10 Leisure and Reimagining the Nation at Europe’s Edges 85 References 88 Chapter 4: Leisure Spaces and the Aesthetics of Europe 92 4.1 Introduction 92 4.2 Other European Urbanisms: Southern and Eastern European Underdevelopment 95 4.3 What Does Modernization Look Like? 100 4.4 Cities of Visitors: Sozopol, Bulgaria 103 4.5 The Town and the Sprawl: Tourist Suburbs in the Costa Blanca 108 4.6 Conclusion 113 References 115 Chapter 5: Conclusion: Returning to Peripherality: The Social Experience of Urban Crisis 118 5.1 The EU Torn Asunder 119 5.2 Post Post-Nationalism 122 5.3 Lessons from the Tourist City 125 References 127 Index 129 "This book explores travel, tourism, and urban development at the edges of Europe from the 1970s until the present. It compares tourism-spurred urban growth in Spain and Bulgaria, showing how development in Southern Europe after the fall of dictatorships provided a model for integrating post-socialist Europe in the 1990s. It analyzes the economic, cultural, and political dimensions of tourist economies, showing how they aligned with major European Union integration goals and were supported with EU development funds. It also chronicles the social and environmental costs of mass tourism where over-development has despoiled beachfronts and promoted low paying service jobs, reinforcing regional divisions in Europe between those who host and those who visit. Ultimately, it argues that while mass tourism is touted as a viable economic solution to EU inequality, it can potentially exacerbate disparities between core and peripheral zones, creating new and troubling forms of regional polarization."--Back cover Front Matter ....Pages i-xi Introduction (Max Holleran)....Pages 1-12 Tourism and Europe’s Shifting Periphery: Post-Franco Spain and Post-Socialist Bulgaria (Max Holleran)....Pages 13-43 Coasts of Aspiration: Climbing the Tourism ‘Ladder’ (Max Holleran)....Pages 45-81 Leisure Spaces and the Aesthetics of Europe (Max Holleran)....Pages 83-108 Conclusion: Returning to Peripherality: The Social Experience of Urban Crisis (Max Holleran)....Pages 109-119 Back Matter ....Pages 121-124