El impacto de las medusas en el uso recreativo de las playas. Un enfoque desde la perspectiva del riesgo

Abstract

This research analyses and maps, from the perspective of risk management analysis, the problem of the increasingly common visit of jellyfish swarms on the Costa del Sol (Málaga, Spain). The analysis deals with a separate characterisation of the different risk components. On the one hand, the hazard is studied using as a source the information obtained through the Infomedusa App, which offers daily records of sightings by the users of the application, and allows classifying the beaches according to the frequency of jellyfish occurrence. On the other hand, exposure is categorised, i.e. the higher or lower concentration of users on the different beaches. Finally, using indicators obtained from surveys of beach users, vulnerability to jellyfish is assessed. The results show different levels of severity: the highest danger is observed in Málaga and Marbella, stretches of coastline that also stand out in exposure, at the same level as Torrox. Vulnerability is uniformly high but with nuances if one looks at the factors that compose it. The results suggest that the analysis should be extended to the rest of the coastline in order to improve the management of this type of risk.