Spain’s La Manga del Mar Menor (Murcia), a Space Transformed by Tourist Activity—Analysis from the Geography of Perception

Tourist activity has a powerful capacity to transform landscapes, often modifying natural or semi-natural spaces in favour of increasingly dense urban structures. This change is particularly evident in Mediterranean coastal areas, and specifically in Spain’s La Manga del Mar Menor in the Region of Murcia, whose environment and landscape have been altered from the 1960s onwards. During this time, intense urbanisation based on the sun and beach tourism model has been developed, which represents a bad example of urban land-use planning. Speculation and the lack of a sustainable tourist model in those years have created a 22-km linear city along a coastal strip, currently characterised by a densified tourist area. This situation is due to the lack of urban planning and a series of other problems, such as the lack of basic services and facilities, saturation in access to them and environmental pollution. In this spatial context, the geography of perception’s methodology will serve as an analytical tool in aspects related to the lived space and the interaction of residents and tourists. This is combined with a DAFO/SWOT-CAME analysis and the use of photographs and cartographies as key research instruments. The aim of this work is to analyse the intense urbanisation that has taken place in this coastal area and to show the need to carry out urban development actions within the framework of a possible new plan aimed at halting environmental deterioration, organising land use, creating more spaces for public services and protecting, to a greater extent, beaches and other natural and cultural resources. A commitment to sustainable tourism should ensure better urban conditions to meet both visitor and local demands.