Analysis of carrying capacity by environmental units and uses: application to the management of a peri-urban beach (Gran Canaria, Spain)

Carrying capacity studies are increasingly used to guide public use management in natural areas, including peri-urban beaches that combine recreational demand with vulnerable natural values that are vulnerable to human pressure. This study focuses on a semi-urban beach (El Confital, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain) adjacent to a protected area, and pursues two objectives: assessing whether its carrying capacity is exceeded, and applying an adaptation of Cifuentes' methodology to a beach composed of multiple environmental units and diverse recreational uses. The adapted methodology involves three stages: defining diagnostic units through zoning; calculating a optimum land use index and the specific capacity of each unit according to use type (e.g., walking, surfing); and conducting a year-long sampling through manual counts of users in the beach's resting area. A total of 14,334 visitors were recorded over the observation period. Visitor numbers peaked in winter and decreased in summer, with similar patterns on weekdays and weekends. Sports and walking were the predominant activities, and users avoid the hottest periods, as it is a rocky beach where swimming is limited. The study enabled the identification of daily use patterns (entries, exits, and length of stay) and allowed determination of the periods in which carrying capacity thresholds were exceeded. The findings provide managers with valuable information for regulating public use and dimensioning necessary services. They also support modelling how carrying capacity might change under alternative management scenarios. Additionally, the methodological approach, differentiating diagnostic units and associated uses, offers a spatial framework capable of integrating eco-anthropic contrasts and the specific requirements of each use type, thereby improving carrying capacity assessments in heterogeneous coastal environments.