Box 4:3 Linear zonal development: the Costa del Sol, Spain

The Spanish Costa del Sol provides an excellent example of how linear forms of tourism development may be formed (see Figure 4:6). Prior to the popularisation of cheap package tours to Spain, this coastline was relatively unvisited by tourists, but after 1960 a rapid and largely unchecked expansion of facilities created continuous (or semi-continuous) forms of urban development along the coastal strip.