Coastal ecosystems are under threat across the Mediterranean, starting from illegally-built hotel in a Spanish nature park to a holiday complex encroaching on Lebanon's salt flats.
With 46,000 kilometres (29,000 miles) of coastline spread across 21 countries, the Mediterranean hosts over a quarter of global tourism -- but that comes at a cost to the planet, AFP reported.
"The current tourism model is highly unsustainable," says Plan Bleu, a UN-affiliated body for environment and development in the Mediterranean.
It estimates that arrivals have surged from 58 million in 1970 to 324 million in 2015, and could rise to 500 million by 2030.
The body has warned that future growth will exacerbate "already critical environmental pressures... in coastal and marine ecosystems".
According to AFP, the region's population is also growing, surging from 32 million in 1970 to 75 million in 2000 on the Mediterranean's southern and eastern shores.
While legislation in some countries has improved coastal protection, abuses persist.
In Lebanon, it's hard to go to the beach without paying private resort owners who control the coast.
A 2012 Lebanese government report stated that up to five million square metres of coastline is illegally built onm with now only 20 percent of the coastline is freely accessible.
Also, Spain's 8,000 kilometre coastline has suffered multiple pressures, starting with a construction boom in the 1970s and another bubble ahead of the global property market crash in 2008, AFP reported.
A 21-storey hotel built against beachside hills in a protected nature park in Algarrobico is a symbol of illegal construction in the early 21st century. Condemned to demolition by the Supreme Court, the 15-year-old hotel "remains standing because multiple lawsuits are underway."
A 1986 "coastal law" in France protects around 15,000 kilometres of coastline in France and its overseas territories from urbanisation "despite land pressure", says Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot.
Lawmakers recently sought to review the legislation -- provoking an outcry that forced them to retreat. But abuses have not stopped, reports AFP.
