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Date Published: 29/08/2023

Climate crisis threatens tourism in the Region of Murcia

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Murcia is the second most likely region in Spain to lose visitors if the temperatures keep climbing

Climate crisis threatens tourism in the Region of Murcia

The boast of ‘300 days of sunshine’ used by the Region of Murcia government as a tourist pull for decades is beginning to look more than a little ironic in the face of climate change, since the experts widely believe that coastal destinations in particular will likely lose a mainstay that drives the economy if temperatures continue to rise: tourism.

With global heat on the up and up, the Mediterranean will be in the cross hairs of a change in travel trends that sees visitors move away from the baking south of Spain in search of more temperate weather.

A report prepared by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has placed the Region of Murcia as the community in Spain most likely to lose out on tourism thanks to increasing temperatures, second only to the Balearic Islands. Specifically, researchers believe that Murcia’s overnight stays will drop by a significant 6.8% in the worst case scenario, which would see temperatures rise by four degrees by 2100.

"The central and northern European regions are expected to become more attractive for tourist activities throughout the year, to the detriment of the southern and Mediterranean areas," according to the European experts.

The study proposes four possible scenarios that could occur with climate change: two optimistic (with a global temperature increase of 1.5 and 2 degrees) and two more pessimistic (increases of 3 and 4 degrees).

However, in every case, the Region of Murcia remains at the head of the worst forecasts for a reduction in tourism. In Spain, the EC has highlighted six other at-risk communities, aside from the Balearics and Murcia: the Valencian Community, Extremadura, Andalucia, Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha and Catalonia.

In total, 52 European regions in Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, France, Italy, Portugal, Romania and Spain are expected to lose tourist flows.

In pre-pandemic 2019, the Region welcomed 1.7 million tourists on overnight stays who, combined, left 5.4 million euros in the area. But these figures could soon be a distant memory due to the extreme temperatures in the Spanish southeast and the forecasts predict that Murcia will lose more than 350,000 hotel stays per year if the worst outcome is realised.

"Coastal and island regions are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change," the report notes.

Find all the latest weather and climate change news here or join our Murcia Weather Watch Facebook group for regular updates

Image: Felipe Ortega via Wikimedia Commons

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