Les conflits socio-environnementaux dans les espaces touristiques littoraux des États de Bahia et du Ceará au Brésil

Abstract

In the Northeast of Brazil, seaside tourism is developing, particularly near metropolitan areas. This tourism was initiated by public policies and involves private actors for the creation of strongly capitalized hotel resorts. This article explores the arguments on which policies are justified in the stakeholders’ narrative, it analyzes the types of conflicts generated by the control of space, particularly concerning the sharing of water resources between hotel resorts and local populations. The study concerns two territories previously occupied by the working class, on the outskirts of large metropolises. The narratives of tourism stakeholders promote modernization and economic development, supposed to accompany tourist resorts, when in reality, it generates exclusion of local populations from the coastal area. The inhabitants of the coast, poorly served by the drinking water supply networks, see their individual well threatened by the aquifer exploitation of hotel resorts, without the public authorities actually regulating the use of water.

Keywords

• tourism
• littoral
• environmental inequality
• water resource