Maspalomas receiving 5,5 million in European Next Generation funds to improve tourism resilience sounds like a nice headline... but behind the official photo is a lot of green marketing and few concrete results. The Cabildo's recipe is simple: showcase the dunes and promote sustainability... through multilingual videos and audio guides. Yes, you read that right: you don't protect the sand by walking on it, but by listening with headphones to understand that it's fragile.
Raúl García Brink, Minister of Environment, Climate, Energy, and Knowledge, insists that the content seeks to bring the richness of the environment, landscape, and culture closer to home. Translated into real-life language: tourists can't plead ignorance while destroying the dune fields with sandals, cell phones, and ice cream carts. It's all very immersive, all very digital... and all very Instagrammable.
The plan also includes marking walkable paths, installing solar panels in parking lots, bike lanes in Meloneras, and charging stations for electric cars. Because nothing says "resilience" like pedaling through the dunes while a Tesla recharges next to you and you listen to an audio guide that explains how to avoid stepping on the sand.
The contract, divided into two lots and worth €27.914,30, guarantees translations, QR codes, and promotional videos. All highly immersive and a "quality experience"… so that tourists learn that sustainability today is measured by Wi-Fi and mobile apps, not by real conservation decisions.
In Maspalomas, it seems nature can only be saved digitally. The dunes will still be there, of course, but now with headphones, QR codes, and sustainable selfies. Everything is very green, very technological, and, of course, very Next Generation.
