According to Greenpèace, construction on the first 500 metres of coastline in Spain during the period 1987 to 2005 took place at the rate of two acres per day, with Andalucia being the third worst offender.
The organisation says that during the housing bubble, municipalities sold much of their natural heritage and a quarter of all construction took place within the first 500 metres of the shoreline. This, they say, means that 23% of the entire coastline is built upon, increasing to 43% on the Mediterranean area.
In Málaga province, Greenpeace say that 67% of the first 500 metres of coastline has been urbanised.
The figures are part of the Greenpeace document entitled ‘Destruction at all costs 2013’ and is designed as a warning against the new Coastal law which they say encourages further building rather than tackling the problem.
The report cites Calp (Alicante), Calvià (Mallorca), Chiclana de la Frontera (Cádiz), Cubelles (Barcelona), Oliva (Valencia), Oropesa (Castellón), Sant Josep de sa Talaia (Ibiza), San Bartolomé de Tirajana (Gran Canaria), Vera (Almería) and Zierbena (Bizkaia) as the top ten examples of what not to do when it comes to caostal development.