Capitalism is creeping up on my Beach

Each morning or afternoon I go to the nearby beach for swimming.

Here in Spain the beach zone (100m) is declared public land. However, corrupt local politicians have managed to let in hotel businesses and allowed them to enclose their gardens and pools by fences or walls. After a while the hotel owners think they own the land as well - and put up signs and lock the doors to keep the public out of ’their’ part of the public zone.

On my beach their is a seafront walk (paséo maritímo) seperating the sandy beach itself from the hotel areas behind. This has for many years been a clear and clean borderline between the public and the private. But wait - something is going on!

We have all learned about capitalism’s origins with the ’enclosure process’ in England:¹

An important aspect of this process of change was the enclosure of the common land previously held in the open field system where peasants had traditional rights, such as mowing meadows for hay and grazing livestock. Once enclosed, these uses of the land became restricted to the owner, and it ceased to be land for commons. The process of enclosure began to be a widespread feature of the English agricultural landscape during the 16th century. By the 19th century, unenclosed commons had become largely restricted to rough pasture in mountainous areas and to relatively small parts of the lowlands.

Now, a similar process is taking place on my Spanish beach.

There used to be:

1. The sandy beach proper

2. The paséo maritímo

3. The hotel gardens

But, the hotel guests from time to time were not happy just swimming in their garden pools - they wanted the real thing - saltwater swimming.

Alas, they had to cross the paséo maritímo and enter the crowded beach proper.

At the time the hotels were constructed the developers had tried to get the whole beach closed off completely. But the corrupt politicians were not corrupt enough or capable of providing this.

So now the hotel guests had to mingle with the locals to get their saltwater bath.

The locals put their towels on the beach and jump into the sea. Some come with parasols and foldable chairs to make the stay a bit more comfortable. Some bring the whole family, a lot to eat in freezer bags, and stay for the whole day. When the sun goes down they bring all their gear along back home. In the late evening the beach is again empty, open and free. Next morning the first arrivers can settle wherever they want for the day - it’s public area.

Problem is: hotel guests are not comfortable with laying on a towel straight on the sand. Hotel guests not happy means hotel owners not happy.

Hotel owners call upon municipal authorities to allow rented sunchairs (’tumbonas’) on the public beach. Municipal authorities allow a given number of sunchairs and give a licence to an operator to manage the rentals. Hotel guests now go to the chair depot, pay their fee, get a chair, put it where there is room on the beach and stay happily there for the day.

However, the chair manager is not quite happy. It is a lot of work to collect the chairs and bring them back to the depot in the evening. Chair managers talk with municipal authorities and ask if the chairs could possibly stay in fixed positions instead of being transported back and forth. Municipal authorities think that’s a reasonable demand and say ok, but at a slightly higher commision.

So, now a part of the public beach has been cut off and designated for privately operated chair rental services, although with a public licence. Still anybody can pass through the chair area on the way to her towel next by - trespassing still allowed!

The chair rental is a great success! Hotel guests are happy, some locals also use the service as it is a bit more comfortable than just the towel in the sand. The chair operator is earning a living and paying the commision to the municipality, the mayor is happy as local people are employed and cash is flowing into the municipal coffers. The development of beach chair services is a clear winner!

After a while the chair operator notice that some people are still sitting on their towels - obviously potential new customers if he just were allowed to put up more chairs. He approach the municipal authorities and asks for an extended licence. OK - the beach is still big - a few more chairs should not be a big problem - people can still walk down between the chairs and get their swim. The authorities accept the request and increase their commision proportionally.

Now almost half of the beach has been turned into chair-area and some politicians think it is enough. The chair operator is still a private business on public beach. Pure extension of number of chairs and designated area is no longer an option for expanding his business.

But - there must be other ways! So he thinks - when not quantity, why not quality? If he upgrades some of his chairs to a more comfortable model hotel guests will be willing to pay a higher fee. But his price is regulated, so he again asks the authorities to accept his new two-tier services with a higher fee for the more comfortable model. And - oh - the more comfortable model is a little bigger so he needs just a little more space for this section on the beach. Municipal authorites are happy with such an entrepreneurial operator and the added commision is very welcome - so OK! Never mind 60% of the beach is now chair area - people can still swim in the sea.

The upper strata of hotel guests - those with adequate financial means - thinks the new upper class service is most welcome and the comfortable chairs are easily filled. Operator is happy, municipally is happy - yet again - development is working. However, these finer guests have a small annoyance - public people at large are tresspassing through the chair area, that doesn’t fit with the comfortable class expectations they had - would it be possible to close off the comfortable section - the public can still pass around it. Operator thinks that’s a good idea. He put up some big pots with plants around the wealthy section - clearly an environmental improvement. Between the pots he draws some nice sail-ropes. It works ! The wealthy get their quiet and the public still play and swim a little away. Nobody can complain, this is a clear improvement. What a nice and inviting beach - although not everybody can stay everywhere, the public still have their space.

The operator now has a steady and safe business. There is room for raising the chair fees a little and profit is growing. Now he has just one problem - how to invest his growing funds?

Looking around from his operator kiosk he thinks: “What is missing here?”

Aha - they are just swimming, no more! There must be a latent demand for some water-sports! If he could only get allowance from the municipality for put up shop for that in the corner of the beach. Municipality think: “How clever this man is”. Watersports need labour and a few more people will get a job. Corner of the beach is not the most pleasant and people can still swim. We take a section of the Western end, put out some buoys with lines in the water to let service boats in and out - then water-scooters have access to the open sea directly from the beach - and can land their equipment conveniently. So said so done. Now working ribs with large outboard motors are going in and out in the lined channel - swimmers stay out of this area of the bay. Never mind the exhausts flowing at the water surface - it’s just 10-20m beyond the line where it is unpleasant to breathe - swimmers who don’t like that can go a little more East. Never mind also that now 80% of the beach is chair rental or water-sports - people looks joyfull and playfull and the sun is shining.

So the licenced operator’s entrepreneurial business model is working, - surprise! -surprice! - even on the public beach. The beach may no longer so easily be classified as ‘public’, but who cares - municipality income is also growing in the process.

However, paying chair-renters not only like comfortable chairs, they like good eating to, and the nearby cafes along the paséo maritímo is not the very best. The operator put his eyes on the nearby small island - now only palms and grass and a few flowers - but still a nice place for anybody to get even more closer to the sea than on the beach, and for fishing. If he could only get a small parcel there, he could put up a small restaurant and maybe after a while a chair-area and a chill-out to even upgrade from his comfort-class on the beach. But it was public land and the municipality would have to agree - profits should sufficient to cover a reasonable commision.

So he tried - and it worked and the island business became a great success. Never mind that a few people had to be excluded from their favourite places - there were still ways around for strollers. He put up a nice wall with glass windows on top to shield his guests from the wind and keep the strollers out - they were very welcome if they sat down and bought an expensive meal, but no trespassing, please. But not everybody took the message - some kept coming along the wall for the sea-swim and even put thier towels on his wall. He had to put up posters to educate them - and after some time they learned to stay away from his property!

Years went by and business stabilized. Funds accrued and the operator had to turn his head twice to find an new expansion opportunity. Water sports? There were other sports too! Why not start a rental service for beach-buggies - you know this four-wheel rough sports vehicles with big motors they use in Brazil to drive along the endless beaches there.

Although here were no endless beach - only small streches between cliffs - and motor driving was prohibited there, only allowed in the water with the scooters that he already operated. However these vehicles were perfect for climbing the hills, and a lot of the youth renting his water-scooters would certainly like to try the land version if he could easily give them a good offer. So one day he just put up a few beach-buggies for show aside the water-sports pavillion on the beach and made a poster explaining the new service. The buggies are just parked there for marketing and should not annoy anybody - even if it is a public area on a public beach. When the renters go out with their vehicles they just have to drive carefully among the pedestrian on the paséo maritíma a few hundred meters before they get out on the road to the hills. That should not annoy anybody and the municipality has give him licence and share a bit of his profits through a reasonable commision.

So although the public beach is no longer just that, development is clearly to the better and everybody is happy.

I for my part has found another more quiet small beachlet a distance away where the benefits of progress have not yet arrived.