Faculty Sponsor(s)
Peter Richardson
Location
Jereld R. Nicholson Library
Subject Area
Modern Languages
Description
In this study, I looked into the cultural effects of the newly termed "residential tourism" on the Spanish coast, specifically looking into the Costa Blanca. In it, I argue that as a result of globalization and post-modernism, the coast of Spain has transformed Spanish culture into a highly commoditized object, radically transforming the coast from close-knit fishing communities to towns with barely any resemblance to the fishing villages they were, full of Northern Europeans and their cultural customs, but maintaining just enough of the "exotic" appeal that the Spanish Mediterranean offers them. Through this process, I argue that the culture transforms from one that is largely collectivistic in nature to one much more individualistic and commoditized. Furthermore, I argue that this process is one of gentrification, in which lower class and traditional fishers of the villages are pushed out by northern Europeans and fellow Spaniards with more money as the property values rise.
Recommended Citation
Trousdale, Joel, "How to Change a Culture: Residential Tourism, Postmodernism, and Radical Transformation on the Iberian Peninsula" (2015). Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement. Event. Submission 26.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/symposium/2015/all/26
How to Change a Culture: Residential Tourism, Postmodernism, and Radical Transformation on the Iberian Peninsula
Jereld R. Nicholson Library
In this study, I looked into the cultural effects of the newly termed "residential tourism" on the Spanish coast, specifically looking into the Costa Blanca. In it, I argue that as a result of globalization and post-modernism, the coast of Spain has transformed Spanish culture into a highly commoditized object, radically transforming the coast from close-knit fishing communities to towns with barely any resemblance to the fishing villages they were, full of Northern Europeans and their cultural customs, but maintaining just enough of the "exotic" appeal that the Spanish Mediterranean offers them. Through this process, I argue that the culture transforms from one that is largely collectivistic in nature to one much more individualistic and commoditized. Furthermore, I argue that this process is one of gentrification, in which lower class and traditional fishers of the villages are pushed out by northern Europeans and fellow Spaniards with more money as the property values rise.
