Download - Nerja Field Report
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
1/31
GG1032/3: ReportGroup 9: 0901969
Alasdair Pinkerton
Investigating the Possibility of Social and Economic TensionsBetween British Expatriate and theIndigenous Population of Nerja,
1
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
2/31
Contents Page :
Acknowledgements. Page 3
Chapter 1
Introduction
Background Information. Page 4
Aims. Page 6
Objectives
Chapter 2
Methodology
Interviews. Page 7
Land Use Maps. Page 8
Targeting private clubs. Page 8
Media. Page 8
Chapter 3
Results and analysis
British Expatriates. Page 9
Spanish Locals. Page 12
International Club. Page 14
Land Use Maps. Page 15
Chapter 4
Conclusion. Page 18
Appendixes. Page 20
Reference List. Page 29
2
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
3/31
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the members of my group for their contribution to
this project, as well as Alasdair Pinkerton for overseeing the project.
I would also like to give my thanks to all the people that gave up their
time to speak to us and provide us with the information in which this
project is built upon. I would also like to thank the Nerja Municipality
and Mike Doltan for setting up the town council meeting, which gave usthe opportunity to question council representatives and obtain extremely
useful population data.
3
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
4/31
Introduction
Background information
Nerja is situated on the South Coast of Spain on the Costa del Sol 50km from Malaga.Originally Nerja was a traditional fishing town, but it also relied on growing sugar
cane and silk making. Tourism has now become the main economic industry for Nerja
as well as many other areas of the Costa del Sol, this is mainly due to the increase in
cheaper air travel since the 1970s. Figure 1.1 shows that the British expatriate
community is the largest in Nerja (contributing to 30% of Nerjas 22000 expatriate)
but that there are also many other nationality expatriates, for example there is a large
population of Argentines as many Argentines are eligible to claim Spanish
Nationality. (Data Sheet). Nerja now solely relies on the tourism industry to support
its economy, and so any fluctuations in the numbers of people visiting Nerja will have
a direct affect on its economy. The population of Nerja varies seasonally and in the
high season the population reaches between 15000 45000. Roughly an extra 30000
people visit Nerja each year, proving that it is increasingly popular with foreign
tourists. (Data Sheet). The pull factors for people to live in this part of Spain are the
climate as the Costa del Sol has a warmer sunnier climate, but also the way of life is
less hectic than in England and people really feel part of a community. People are also
attracted by cheap property prices; leisure activities and peoples tastes are catered
for. There is a large retirement community who have migrated to the Mediterranean
sun belt to live a better life with their savings. (OReilly, Anthony, Rodriguez)
With such a high and rising percentage of expatriates living in Nerja (Figure 1.2) this
lead us to want to investigate the possibility of social and economic tension between
the indigenous and expatriate population.
4
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
5/31
Figure 1.1
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Population
UK
A r g en t i n a
G er m an
y
S w e d en
M or o c c o
F r an c e
I t al y
B el gi um
N or w a y
I r el an d
Nationality
Top 10 Nationalities Living in Nerja
Figure 1.2
5
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
6/31
AIMSWe had to be specific with our aims, but we had to make sure that we did not jump to
conclusions before we had even started. Some draft ideas were, to find the social
tension in Nerja, or to investigate the economic tension in Nerja, however we realised
that by phrasing our aims this way we were stating that tension definitely exists. It
was important for us not to start the research project being biased as this could have
affected the way in which we interpreted the results. We felt that with such a large
proportion of the British expatriate population in Nerja unable to speak Spanish, that
this would possibly cause offence, or cause social and economic tensions, so we
moulded our aims to be able to answer that underlying theme. We decided that our
aims would be;
To investigate whether or not tension exists between British expatriates and
the indigenous community of Nerja.
To observe, if any, what the tensions are and understand why they occur.
To see if there is a social divide is evident in the economic distribution of
businesses.
By phrasing our aims in this specific way we felt that we eliminated any biasness and
that if we found our predictions were not correct then there our aims allow for that.
6
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
7/31
MethodologyWe decided to use a range of techniques to obtain the information we needed to
successfully be able to answer our aims.
Interviews
We decided to conduct a number or informal unstructured interviews (Flowerdew,
Martin) in English with British Bar Owners, British Residents, British Magazine
Editors, Swedish Estate Agents, British Children and British Teenagers. We also
interviewed Spanish Bar/Restaurant/Shop Owners, Local Spanish Residents, Council
Members and Sports Organisers in Spanish. It was important for us to obtaininformation about the Spanish and Expatriate communities, so that we were able to
make comparisons between them. We felt that informal interviews were feasible
considering our limitations, but from previous interviewing experience in the area we
found that people were more honest and talked a lot more openly when they thought
they were only having a conversation rather then answering questions to a formal
interview. We would have liked to have conducted an organised focus group with
members of both communities, however a focus group takes a lot of pre organisation
and would not have been feasible for us in the time we had. We had Spanish and
English speakers in our group which meant that we could interview Spanish and
British people in an informal way rather then having to rely on a set questionnaire.
We did not feel the need to use questionnaires as informal interviews gave us the
flexibility to question any answers we were given, and to ask any other questions that
we thought relevant. We chose to rely heavily on interviews as much of our project is
down to the way people feel, however we had to be careful not to believe everything
we are told as people tend to be untruthful or exaggerate their opinions at times. This
meant that we could not guarantee the accuracy of our work but that we had to obtain
as much information as we could to be able to verify the information we had been
given.
7
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
8/31
Land Use Maps
One way to determine if there was a social divide in the economic distribution of
businesses in Nerja was to create land use maps. We did this by looking at a map of
Nerja and deciding which streets were the most important to focus on, as due again tothe time limitation we could not map all of Nerja. We chose to map the area around
the Balcon De Europa and along Burriana Beach as these were the main tourist sites.
By using general observational and conversational skills we were able to look at the
economic use of each building and document the nationality of the owners and the
nationality of the clientele. With this information we were then able to create a map
showing the distribution of British owned properties in relation to the Spanish owned
properties and also whom they were catering for. We felt knowing who businesseswere targeting was important as it could indicate how well they are performing in the
current economic downturn.
Targeting private expatriate clubs
We also went to the International Club of Nerja to find out more about the
expatriate community and to find out about social integration. To gain access to
members of the club we had to phone the International Club to ask permission fromthe organisers or gatekeepers (Flowerdew, Martin), as we felt that it would have
been rude to just turn up and expect people to talk to us. It was extremely convenient
for us that the Clubs monthly raffle was being held on one of our research days and so
we were able to attend and talk many members at once. We were overt about why we
wanted to interview members of the club, however we were passive in the fact that we
did not become members ourselves.
Media
We thought it was important to make use of local media like the free daily
newspapers and magazines as there were a number of newspapers produced for
British Expatriates that gave us an idea of services available to British people. The
Internet was a key resource in helping us to compare the situation in Nerja to other
areas where social segregation has been an issue. It meant we could look at other case
studies and make comparisons and predictions.
8
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
9/31
Results and AnalysisBritish Expatriates
We started out by approaching British people on the street and asking them a few
questions about their situation in Nerja. We then moved on to shop and bar owners to
make sure that we were targeting people who lived and worked in the area rather then
just tourists or part time residents. From our interviews we found to our surprise very
little evidence of tension towards Spanish people. We decided that it was important to
stay open minded and not to critisise the responses we had been given even if we did
not necessarily agree with what we were being told. When we asked questions about
the ability to speak Spanish, we found that very few people we interviewed spoke
Spanish. We were also surprised to see that the length of time people have lived in
Spain bared no correlation to how well or how little they spoke Spanish. We could not
predict who would and would not be able to speak Spanish, but we found the majority
of bar and restaurant owners we interviewed had a very low level of Spanish. We
assumed the language barrier would be an issue for most people, however we found a
common response to our question about it was that Spanish people like speaking
English. With this mind set it was clear to see why some people simply chose not to
learn Spanish, or used this as an excuse not to do so.
After interviewing more bar and restaurant owners it became more obvious to us that
the main tension was not between the British people and Spanish people, but between
British Business Owners.
We interviewed the editors of the British Sentinella Magazine, which is a magazine
aimed purely at British expatriates living in the Costa Del Sol. It is a monthly
magazine that caters for British humor, contains horoscope and gossip pages and it
also advertises British services and businesses in the Costa del Sol. The ownersSharon and Darren Taylor had recently moved to Nerja full time and told us, that to
their surprise after setting up their own magazine they are no longer welcome in
certain establishments and some people chose to boycott their magazine. Speaking to
especially new bars owners we found that becoming unwelcome in bars (especially
after people had been visiting Nerja for years and decided to set up their own bars)
very common. We spoke to the owner of Maxwells bar who told us that she was no
longer welcome at any of the bars across the street from Maxwells and the hostilitytowards her only started once she had set up her own bar. The owners of the
9
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
10/31
Sentinella Magazine told us that competition is extremely high in Nerja and the
economic down turn is really affecting British expatriates and their businesses causing
a lot of economic and also social tension. We found that the majority of people we
interviewed openly told us about the local gossip, and were happy to give us their
opinions about other people or establishments. We saw very little evidence of people
trying to resolve these feuds, rather it seemed that people were encouraging them.
We then decided to interview children and teenagers to research the possibility of
tension between different generations. The owners of the Sentinella magazine were
extremely kind and let us interview their two sons Lee aged 7 and Dean aged 9
(Figure 1.3). The boys had been attending a private Spanish school in Malaga for
almost a year, yet both boys had completely different experiences to tell us. Lee had
learnt a lot of Spanish in one year and had made friends with mainly Spanish children
at school, this meant he socialised with Spanish children on the weekends and felt
completely integrated. Lees older brother Dean however had not integrated as well.
Dean could not speak any Spanish; he only had British friends and did not perform
well at school. He told us that the Spanish children bully him at school and that he is
not happy living in Spain. We asked the boys parents whether they felt the fact Dean
had not integrated was because he could not speak Spanish as well as his brother, and
they felt that this was the reason. The Taylors told us that the parents of the Spanish
children at the boys school do not speak to them or make an effort to make them feel
welcome. We then asked what efforts they were doing to integrate themselves with
the Spanish families and they simply laughed and said why would we want to
socialise with them? We found many adults we interviewed shared this level of
ignorance towards the need to integrate, however the children seemed to understand
why it was important.
(Figure 1.3)
We interviewed a number of British teens at the local bar street Tutti Frutti where
we found the level of tension to be the most significant. The main problems were
10
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
11/31
between British and Spanish teens and could be a cause for future concern. One
sixteen year old girl we spoke to had lived in Spain for six years but could not speak
more then a few sentences in Spanish. She told us that there are certain bars in Tutti
Frutti that she will not go into as they are Spanish bars and if she goes in there she
will get beaten up by local Spanish teens. We then spoke to Alex a seventeen year old
boy who had lived in Spain all his life and was completely fluent in English and
Spanish. He was totally integrated into both the Spanish and British communities, but
he told us that on numerous occasions he has witnessed his British friends being
attacked often with bats by Spanish youths. We asked him why he does not
experience this level of violence himself and he said that he had been accepted
because people treated him like he was Spanish. We then asked why there is so much
tension between this age group and he told us that Nerja has a big gang problem, and
that racial violence is extremely common. A number of other teenagers we spoke to
told us that they spend a lot of their free time drinking as they find they get very bored
and that as soon as they can they want to return back to England, or to drop out of
school and work. This then raised the issue that jobs for young people could be
another source of tension. One young British man who had lived in Spain for 15 years
and now runs his dads restaurant said that he constantly gets verbally abused by
Spanish people because they feel that they cant get jobs, and because all the jobs are
going to British people. He also mentioned that with more and more British bars and
restaurants opening, it is increasing the level of competition and so many Spanish
people feel that they are losing money due to this.
Despite all of the responses we had been given we decided that it was important to
gain the opinions of Spanish people to be able to find out if what we had heard from
the British teens was true, or whether it was just their point of view.
11
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
12/31
Spanish Locals
We already had a clear idea about the way British expatriates felt towards the
Spanish, and towards the relations between the two communities, but we needed the
views and opinions from Spanish people. We started by interviewing Spanishrestaurant, bar and shop owners to find out about competition with the British
businesses, however we found that everywhere we went we were getting the same
answers. The common response to our questions about competition was that there is
no competition and that Spanish businesses do not suffer from there being so many
foreign businesses in Nerja. We found this hard to believe as competition, whether it
be from British businesses or not would be an issue for any business, as it is quite
logical that the more restaurants and bars there are the more competition there is.
Everyone we questioned told us that they love English people living and visiting
Nerja and that they hope the exchange rate gets better so that more people will come.
We thought one reason no tensions or dislikes were mentioned to us was because so
many businesses rely on tourism and without British tourists many businesses would
fail. When we interviewed the owner of the Mena Market (a Spanish man who had
himself lived in England for a few years) the first thing we asked him was about
competition and again we were given the same answer about there being no
competition in Nerja. We decided to then change the topic of conversation to find out
how Spanish people feel about the lack of effort the majority of British people seem
to put into learning Spanish. When we brought this issue up with him, he simply
smiled at us and said, This is not an area of conflict, Spanish people have a culture of
service, and if this means helping someone who cannot speak the language then we
are willing to help. We like to speak English as it improves our communication skills
and means that we can attract more British customers by being friendly to them. It is a
shame that more British people do not try to learn the language like many other
foreigners have done, but this is the way it is and we rely on British tourists and
expatriates for the survival of our businesses and so we are not going to be unfriendly
in any way. He then made a comment that we found quite interesting because he
reversed the situation and said, however if a group of Spanish people went to
England and only spoke Spanish to everyone and refused to speak any English then
they would have a very hard time. When he first moved to England he told us that
he could not speak English very well, but he remembers that one man said to him
12
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
13/31
You fucking foreigner learn English or get out of my country. He said that this is
just the English way, they know that everyone can speak English and so there is no
need for them to try another language. Although he had told us that the language
barrier was not a problem, he certainly sounded quite bitter about his experiences in
England, and that the English way was one of ignorance. He then continued to tell us
that he and none of his friends have any British friends, which we found was the same
for all Spanish people we interviewed.
We then decided that it was important to look more into social integration from
the views of Spanish people rather then just economic integration. We attended a
meeting at the Local Municipality and asked the representatives from the council
whether they believe that there are two separate social communities in Nerja, the
British and everyone else. They told us that this certainly was not the case and that a
lot was being done to integrate the communities through sport. We were told that
sport is extremely important in Nerja and that the council has put a lot of money into
promoting Nerjas sporting activities. We decided that it was important to visit the
local municipal sports centre and interview the managers to find out about the success
of the councils sport policy. We arranged a meeting with the Spanish manager who
told us that the British expatriates do not integrate at all! They have their own clubs,
teams and leagues and so do not take part in local sport. When we told them about
what we had been told at the council meeting, the manager told us this is not true, no
effort is being made to integrate the Spanish and British community through sport,
more effort is being done to develop the private sports clubs then to encourage social
integration. Other nationality expatriates socialize with Spanish people and attend our
sports programs so it is a pity that the Brits do not. We then e-mailed the council
with the question we had asked them, and the response we had been given from the
sports center, asking about the success of the sports integration policy, but we
received no reply. From this we could clearly see that the two communities have not
integrated at all socially but purely economically. However the majority of people
seemed to be content living with this level of separation and did not see it as a source
of tension.
13
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
14/31
International Club
We wanted to gain access to a large number of British expatriates at a social event
and so we decided to contact the International Club of Nerja (Figure 1.4), where 99%
of members are British (of which 82% are of retirement age), to see if it was possibleto interview the organizers and some members. We were overt about our intentions
and the organizers and were extremely willing to participate in our research. They
showed us around the library that only contains English books, the main hall, the bar,
the social areas and the offices. Already by just looking at displays on the walls of
social trips and events, seeing only English books in the library and the membership
forms and leaflets all being in English we could see that they were catering for
English speakers. When we interviewed some of the members they all confirmed our
theory that they only socialized with other British expatriates and not one person we
interviewed had Spanish friends. With so little incentive to integrate it is easy to see
why so many people find moving and settling in an area like Nerja very easy. 75% of
members at the international club are over the age of 60 and so an environment where
they are surrounded by a close community of English speaking friends and activities
could be the reason so many of them chose this segregated way of life. When we
asked people if they would ever consider going back to England the usual answer we
got was, no this is like England, but with better weather and a better way of life. We
felt that clubs like this one are one of the main reasons the British community has not
integrated, purely because they do not need to.
(Figure 1.4)
14
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
15/31
Land Use Maps
We wanted to produce land use maps to see whether British businesses are focused in
one particular area, which could indicate a social divide. We mapped Burriana Beach
and the Balcon de Europa and found a very distinct divide in economic land use. Wefound that on and around the Balcon de Europa the buildings and businesses are
nearly all owned by Spanish people (Figure 1.7) catering for mainly tourists and
locals (Figure 1.8). The majority of businesses in this area were restaurants, gift shops
and cafes, which is consistent with most areas targeting tourists. Along Burriana
Beach the Spanish mainly own the properties on the beachfront promenade (Figure
1.5) but the properties along the main street, set back from the beach, were mainly run
by British people (Figure 1.5). The Spanish owned businesses along the beach
promenade were again catering for tourists and locals (Figure 1.6), as all of the
businesses were either restaurants or cafes. The signs outside the restaurants were in
many different languages and the menus were all in at least three different languages.
When we went into the British run businesses, the majority of advertising was in
English and the services were predominantly aimed at British tourists and expatriates.
We felt that this was a rather closed outlook in terms of a target market, especially
considering the current economic climate. Many of the businesses were struggling as
you could see from all the reduction and sale signs in the majority of shop windows,
so by limiting their customer base to only British people they were already excluding
a large proportion of potential customers. Tourist levels are predicted to drop this
summer after an extremely poor winter season, which is going to affect all businesses,
especially business only catering to British people. With the Euro/Pound exchange
rate being so low, the tourism market will be the first hit in areas like the Costa del
Sol and so people relying on British tourists might struggle if tourist numbers remain
low.
15
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
16/31
(Figure 1.5 shows nationality of properties along Burriana Beach)
(Figure 1.6 shows whom the businesses along Burriana Beach are targeting)
16
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
17/31
(Figure 1.7 shows the nationality of properties at The Balcon de Europa)
(Figure 1.8 shows whom the businesses at The Balcon de Europa are targeting)
17
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
18/31
ConclusionWe found this project extremely interesting to research, as the outcomes of the
research were not necessarily what we would have predicted. Overall there was less
tension then we had anticipated, but the tension we noticed was mainly between
British expatriates for economic reasons and the younger generations for lack of
integration. We felt that the tension between British business owners was not caused
by the current economic downturn, but that it is contributing strongly to the tensions.
From interviewing a number of different British expatriates we found out that many
tensions are long standing ones between the old generation expatriates who
remember Nerja as a small fishing village, and the new generation expatriates who
have moved to set up businesses. We often heard people say the people that have
moved to the area in the past 10 years are not the same quality of person as the people
who moved 20 years ago. They have moved for different reasons and are causing all
the problems with their businesses. Branding people with the names Old generation
and New generation is also a way of creating social divide. We also found that a lot
of the economic tension was between previous friends and that people were fighting
over customers, or for petty reasons such as setting up bars in the same street as a
friends bar. This sort of tension is not based upon racial reasons or social integration, but purely competitive reasons. The other area that we saw significant tension was
between the younger generations. This tension was based upon racial and social
reasons and is a more serious one for the future. If the young generation are growing
up with the views that we witnessed, then there is the potential for the currently
peaceful communities to in the future become laden with problems.
We saw definite evidence of two parallel communities in Nerja and saw little
evidence of anything being done to merge the communities. Currently people seemcontent with this way of life, by ignoring issues like racial tension and integration, but
how long can this contentment remain? We looked at cases of social segregation in
the UK and were interested to see that in Bradford 2001 there were extremely violent
race riots caused by social segregation, racial tensions and local authorities failing to
address that there were any issues. These were extremely similar to the issues we
found in Nerja. This quote found on the BBC website is extremely powerful in its
message, Segregation, albeit self-segregation, is an unacceptable basis for a
harmonious community and it will lead to more serious problems if it is not tackled.
18
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
19/31
(BBC race). The Problem is that these fucking people are rubbish in their own
country and they come over here; they bring nothing except problems; they have no
interest in learning about our ways; they just live among own. (Guardian 2004) It is
already being recognised by Spanish people and maybe it is time the authorities took
notice as well. If tensions are left un-dealt with then there is the potential that a
situation like the one in Bradford could be repeated in the future. I feel that if the
deep segregation between the two communities continues and the local authorities fail
to address the causes of racial and social tension then there will be a threat of more
serious trouble in the future unless action is taken. Yet with migrant numbers rising
the problems start to occur sooner then later.
19
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
20/31
Appendices
Restabal Channel Site
Evidence of Flood Flow
There is a range of evidence to suggest that the flood level within the section of river
examined is quite high. From data collated before the 2007 flood it is clear to see that
the channel is wider and deeper then it was before the flood, indicating that the flood
dramatically changed the profile of the channel. Sediment has since built up and there
is evidence of braiding, showing that erratic flow during the flood occurred, causing
the transportation and deposition of a large amount of sediment. The size of the
sediment set down was also seen to be far larger than that which would be found
before the flood occurred, showing that due to a high volume of water and a larger
velocity, larger sediments/rocks could be transported. We measured that the average
b-axis of the five largest clasts found in our section on the bed of the channel was
7.2cm; this shows that large pebbles and small boulders were moved by the flood.
The high flow raised the ground water, thus vegetation re-established itself. This
links to the deposition of sediment as the dense flora slows down the flow of the river
which reduces the ability of the river to transport sediment; therefore the process of
channel recovery means that the re-deposition of sediment occurs rapidly accounting
for the varying size of clasts now found in the stream. The reduction in flow also
leads to a reduction in erosion, which contributes to the channel regenerating itself.
There was also evidence of high flow in the vegetation present along the banks. The
area was once sparsely vegetated, however, since the flooding occurred new species
have been recognised, and these are much denser than the previous vegetation
recorded. Therefore, the high flow disturbed the preceding plant life. Further
evidence of the flood flow in relation to foliage and shrubbery is the draped debris
that can be used as an indicator for the flood level at the peak of the event. This was
seen on either side of the bank and gave an approximation of where the water rose to;
however, this is not an accurate way of measuring the peak flood flow so figures
should be treated with caution.
Other paleostage data indicating maximum depth of the river during the flood is a
water level line that can be clearly seen on the terrace by the river. Although the bank has been built up considerably since the flood, the nature of the ephemeral flash flood
20
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
21/31
meant that soil from the slopes behind the river were transported as suspended
sediment, leaving an obvious indicator of the flood flow levels.
Overall the methods used to determine the flood flow discharge must be treated with
vigilance as results recorded are of an individuals judgement and estimation, thus are
not always accurate.
The channel cross-section diagram contains the
information for questions 1, 3, 4, and 5 .
21
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
22/31
22
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
23/31
23
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
24/31
Restabal Slope Erosion SiteHydrological and erosion conditions
There is a range of evidence to suggest that there are hydrological and
erosional processes occurring at the site. The results from the infiltration
measurement of the soil show that the site had a low infiltration capacity, which
encourages high rates and frequencies of Hortonian overland flow. This occurs when
the precipitation rate exceeds the infiltration rate of the ground's surface, resulting in
the removal of topsoil, leaving the land vulnerable to rain and wind erosion. However,
rainfall could be intercepted by vegetation but the site had a relatively low vegetation
density; therefore the runoff could not be intercepted, increasing the effects of
erosion.
There was also evidence of rill and gully erosion. Gullies and rills are both
forms created by processes of hill slope erosion. Gully erosion occurs when water
accumulates in narrow channels and removes large quantities of soil. A rill is a
narrow and shallow incision into soil resulting from erosion by overland flow that has
been focused into a thin thread by soil surface roughness. Therefore, as the soil has a
low infiltration capacity with low vegetation density it encourages Hortonian overland
flow, resulting in rill and gully erosion occurring at the site.
One control of gully erosion is soil type. The soil at the site was compacted,
with a hard baked surface that can increase gully erosion. The soil texture was
classified as silt loam, therefore having poor cohesion. There was also presence of soil
crusting. Soil crusting arises from the rain breaking down the soil aggregates into
particles that cement into hard layers at the soil surface when drying occurs. This is
likely to occur due to the Mediterranean climate. The pentrometer readings of the soil
showed penetration resistance of the soil surface, most likely occurring from the soilcrusting.
The site was uncultivated suggesting that the hydrological and erosional
processes are occurring naturally. However, the site has concave topography, which
concentrates runoff, increasing the erosional effects. Nevertheless, hydrological and
erosional processes are likely to occur due to the climate of Spain. Summer drought
results in relatively low vegetation densities, exposing soils to rain splash erosion,
compaction and high runoff rates. Soils are therefore subject to potentially higherosion rates in the autumn under intense rainstorms, resulting in poor quality soils.
24
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
25/31
Infiltration Data
Level Time Elapsed(Min/Sec)
Difference(sec)
Infiltration rate(mm/min)
0 01 2m 17' 137 4.380 2m 29'1 5m 57' 208 2.880 6m 02'1 9m 53' 231 2.590 9m 58'
14m 17' 255 2.350 14m 28' 11 18m 58' 270 2.220 19m 07'1 24m 14' 307 1.950 24m 24'1 29m 45' 321 1.870 29m 51'1 35m 10' 319 1.880 35m 19'1 41m 35' 376 1.60 41m 42'1 47m 00' 358 1.690 47m 06'1 52m 23' 317 1.890 52m 29'1 57m 46' 317 1.89
Environmental Change Day
25
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
26/31
Facies Log Sheet
Our site of study was site C at the top of the cliff
From looking at the Facies log sheet we could identify three different sediment layers.
The deposits range in size from Pebbles to clay and each layer was moderately sorted.The larger clasts were in the first layer, which measured 0.75 meters. The clasts got
smaller in size in the middle layer, which measured 0.6 meters, and continued to get
smaller in the top later, which measured 0.3 meters. We measured to a height of 1.75
meters however we were limited to the height in which we could reach. From
measuring the direction of the deposits we were able to see which direction they were
layed down in. This gave us an idea about the movement or flow of sediment in the
past. The types of rock that we found were mainly Shist, Quartz with a number of bi-valve marine shells typically found in shallow seawaters in the top layer. The majority
of the rocks we found were Sub-Angular, Sub-Rounded and Rounded by looking the
average clast readings we made at the beach there is a strong comparison between the
rocks at our site and the rocks on the beach. This indicates that our site was once
affected by marine processes like abrasion and corrosion. However the exposed clasts
are now affected by weathering processes like physical, chemical and biological
weathering. The majority of erosion at our site is by root growth into cracks, and
oxidation as this weakens the rock. Over the past 125,000 years the land at our site
has risen by roughly 55 meters, and that the sea level used to be 6 meters higher then
the present day. This means that the site we were studying used to be a low-lying
beach, which would explain why we found marine fossils and rocks that have been
eroded by marine processes at the top of the cliff.
26
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
27/31
Rural Day AppendixSustainable Community Strategy
27
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
28/31
The crop harvest this year was particularly poor for the local farmers with the colder
than average winter affecting the amount of crop, as well as the production and timing
of the harvesting of the crops. The local fruit factories provide jobs for the local
people, especially the local women, as they are preferred to men in the factories as
they are more delicate with the fruit. The poor harvest means that less people will be
needed to work in the factories and therefore unemployment will rise in the rural
areas. Therefore, I would suggest a diversification of industry in the rural areas would
ensure that the communities remain sustainable. Firstly diversification of the crops
that are produced in the area, perhaps introducing more hardy crops that could
survive in an increasingly variable climate due to the impacts of global warming. Also
education is important to the rural communities as if they are unable to make a living
from the crops they may be able to get other work. Good transport links and
infrastructure are also crucial allowing farmers to move their produce around easily
and for rural communities to access markets, jobs and education. In addition, the
introduction of rural tourism to the area will boost the local economy. The area is very
picturesque with good weather so would be attractive as an eco-tourist retreat for
people looking to experience the real Spain. It is important however if the tourism
industry is developed that sustainable strategies are adopted in regard to aspects such
as the provision of water, a highly contested issue in the area. In addition, renewable
energy resources such as solar power and hydraulic power (from the local damn)
could be used in rural communities. Also recycling facilities would aid the waste
management of the area in order not to pollute the local area.
28
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
29/31
29
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
30/31
30
-
8/8/2019 Nerja Field Report
31/31
Reference List
BBC race report, 2001
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1702799.stm , visited February 2009,
[Reference in text (BBC race) no date)
BBC report, 2001
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1703432.stm , visited February 2009,
[Reference in text (BBC), no date]
J.Parfitt, 2005, Methods in Human Geography; Questionnaire Design and Sampling, p100-101, Pearson Education Limited.
Nerja Tourist Office,
http://www.nerja.org/turismo_ing/index.php , visited March 2009,
[Reference in text (Nerja Tourist office), no date]
K.OReilly, Anthony, Champion, King, Rodriguez, 2000, The British on the Costa delSol, Routeledge
R.Flowerdew, D.Martin, 2005, Methods in Human Geography; Individuals that have
power to grant access, Pearson Prentice Hall, p116
Sentinella Magazine, http://www.thesentinella.com/ , visited February 2009,
Town Council Expatriate Population Data Sheet, [Reference in text (Data Sheet)]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1702799.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1703432.stmhttp://www.nerja.org/turismo_ing/index.phphttp://www.thesentinella.com/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1702799.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1703432.stmhttp://www.nerja.org/turismo_ing/index.phphttp://www.thesentinella.com/