Tourism as solution to capitalism’s contradictions
A.Capital accumulation through
tourism
B. Capitalism’s contradictions
C. Tourism’s solution
D.Conflicts and resistances
Macià Blázquez Salom, [email protected]
Hypothesis
• The blessings of tourism is a
smokescreen
• Tourism contributes to capital
accumulation
• Tourism solves capitalism’s
contradictions
• Conflicts and resistances prove
tourism’s contributions
Tourism: industry without chimneys, neutral and pleasure activity...
http://es.paperblog.com
But, tourism participates of the flow of capital accumulation (A), through the primary and secondary cycles, such as
resorts construction (Harvey, 1978)
Fadesa Saidia
or residential housing bubble
Cala Llamp, Macià Blázquez, 7/3/2009
Tourism contributes to the uneven geographical development
El Hoyo de Friusa,
Macià Blázquez,
23/7/2010
Ruled by the international
capitalist class
E.g. exporting “balearization”
Especially to the Global South, at
the new peripheries of
pleasure
Buades, 2006, 2009Morales & Ruíz, 2008
Evolució dels fluxos de IED de l'Estat espanyol (1970-2004)
(milions dòlars)
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
40000
45000
50000
55000
600001970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
Milio
ns d
òla
rs
Flux IED (entrada) Flux IED (sortida)
Estat espanyol
entra a la CEE
Sortides
superiors a
entrades
1985-1995:
Període de les
Privatitzacions
Spain became
EU member
Murray,
2012
Based on global rent gap and World-Capitalist System
geopolitical dominium (Wallerstein,1974)
Spanish TransNationalCorporations Recolonising
Latin America
Observatori del Deute en la
Globalització
Evolució dels moviments de passatgers als aeroports de les
Illes Balears, 1940-2007 (milers de passatgers)
0
2.000
4.000
6.000
8.000
10.000
12.000
14.000
16.000
18.000
20.000
22.000
24.000
26.000
28.000
30.000
32.000
34.000
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
1er Boom Turístic (Règim
d'acumulació fordista).
2on Boom Turístic
(Transició-
Adaptació).
3er Boom Turístic
Globalització
neoliberal.
1ª Crisis Energètica (1973)
Ruptura del Sistema Bretton Woods.
Mort del Dictador F. Franco (20/11/1975)
Pactes de la Moncloa (1977)
2ª Crisis Energètica (1979)
RDWS (Règim Dòlar-Wall Street)
Revolució neoliberal: R. Reagan
(1981-1989) - M. Thatcher
(1979-1990).
Entrada a la CEE i OTAN (1986)
Caigua del Mur de Berlin (1989)
Guerra del Golf (1991) i NOEI
(Nou Ordre Econòmic
Internacional)
Crisi financera
11-S (2001)
Guerra Global i final
del petroli barat
Globalització financera
de "domini dolç": feliços
1990.
Maastricht (1992)Reconeixement internacional del règim
feixista (1951)
Pla d'Estabilització (1959)
Murray,
2012
Spanish Hotel Chains
• Neoliberal strategies (1993 onwards):
oligopoly, merge and acquisitions, license,
REIT, use of tax heavens, safe destinations
(11S), AECI…
• Balearic Islands’ HC, control 60% of the
Spanish HC rooms, 68% of the offer at the
BI, but just have their 18%
• Have 666 hotels worldwide, 31% at The
CaribbeanBlázquez, Cañada & Murray, 2011
Main Transnational Hotel Chains based in the Balearic Islands (2007)
Murray, 2012
Hotel
Chain
Spain Abroad
Nº hotels Nº rooms Nº hotels Nº rooms
Sol Meliá 163 36.248 138 76.756
Barceló 56 41.057 99 25.565
Riu 28 13.356 63 23.397
Iberostar 34 10.044 64 21.312
Fiesta 26 18.749 12 4.758
Oasis 9 3.998 25 8.348
B. Principe 8 2068 13 7.749
Blázquez, Artigues & Murray, 2011
Balearic Islands’ based hotel chains diffusion
Main Transnational Hotel Chains based in the Balearic Islands (2010)
GIST, 2010
Hotel
Chain
Spain Abroad
Nº hotels Nº rooms Nº hotels Nº rooms
Sol Meliá 168 35.346 150 42.515
Riu 50 14.405 56 19.309
Barceló 44 11.200 69 17.664
Iberostar 34 10.589 47 15.492
Fiesta 31 8.063 9 3.157
H. Globals 31 8.063 9 3.157
Hotetur 16 3.940 11 2.329
Blázquez, Cañada & Murray, 2011
Hamaca hotel,
Bocachica, Macià
Blázquez, 19/2/2009
…
B. Capitalism’s contradictions
1. Capital-labour: more profit and
capital accumulation deals to
less salaries and less demand
2. Production conditions
constrained by labour force,
infrastructures and natural
resources conditions
Tourism contributions to solve capitalism’s contradictions
1. Dealing with capital-labour:
• Relocation of production and
consumption by new peripheries
• Commodification of the space (Britton, 1991)
• Spatio-temporal fixes for capital
flow (Harvey, 1989)
C. Tourism contributions to solve capitalism’s contradictions
2. External limits (O’Connor, 1988):
• Historical block of sustainable
development (Igoe, Neves &
Brockington, 2010)
• Planning as regulatory framework
E.g. the “ecobatle”, Balearic Islands 2001-2003
Murray, 2005; Blázquez, Artigues & Murray, 2011
C. Tourism contributions to solve capitalism’s contradictions
2. External limits (O’Connor, 1988):
• Historical block of sustainable
development (Igoe, Neves &
Brockington, 2010)
• Planning as regulatory framework
• Green capitalism solutions, such as
ecotourism (Fletcher, 2012)
C. Tourism contributions to solve capitalism’s contradictions
2. External limits (O’Connor, 1988):
• Green “fixes”:
REDDS
Land graving
Biocarburants
Ecotourism…
Evolució de la superfície protegida a les I. Balears,
1988-2007.
0
10.000
20.000
30.000
40.000
50.000
60.000
70.000
80.000
19
88
19
90
19
92
19
94
19
96
19
98
20
00
20
02
20
04
20
06
Superfície Terrestre Protegida (Ha) Superfície Marina Protegida (Ha)
Natural areas designation during the housing bubble at the Balearic Islands
Murray (coord.), 2010
Bunker-style all-inclusive holiday formula
Barceló Montelimar, Macià Blázquez, 14/2/2009
Accumulation by dispossession
Riu Matapalo, Macià Blázquez, 16/2/2009
Conflicts and resistances at North
Iberostar headquarters, Grup Balear d’Ornitologia i Defensa dela Naturalesa, 22/5/2010
Conflicts and resistances at South
Playa Delfines, Sosa & Jiménez (2010) 10/6/2007
Conclusions
• Tourism contributes to capital
accumulation
• Tourism contributes with
“solutions” to capitalism’s
contradictions
• Conflicts and resistances are
symptoms of tourism and
capitalism’s malfunction