The article “Potential socio-economic impacts of ground movements in the coastal municipalities of Spain: Insights from the supra-regional implementation of the European Ground Motion Service”, conducted within the framework of the SARAI project, has been recently published in open access in the scientific journal “Ocean and Coastal Management”. The article, prepared by researchers from the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME-CSIC) and the Telecommunications Technology Center of Catalonia (CTTC-CERCA), evaluates the exposure of the Spanish coast to ground movements, using data from the European Ground Motion Service (EGMS).
The results provide estimates of the potential socio-economic impact of these phenomena along the Spanish coastline, a territory notable for its importance in global tourism. Specifically, the research provides, for the first time, detailed estimates of the roads, buildings, and population potentially exposed. The main conclusion is that Spain’s southern and eastern coasts (especially the Andalusian and Murcian coasts) present a significantly higher level of exposure to ground movements than the northern coast. Among the leading causes, the exponential growth of tourism in these coastal areas over recent decades stands out, accompanied by significant urban and infrastructure development and less favourable climatic conditions for the availability of water resources. This circumstance has led to the overexploitation of aquifers, triggering, among other phenomena, groundwater-extraction-induced subsidence processes. In addition to these phenomena, landslides also represent a considerable concern in many municipalities on Spain’s southern and eastern coasts, especially near the numerous mountain ranges bordering these coastal areas. The following link provides access to the complete article:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096456912400437X