Highs and lows of the resortification of the Saint-Paul coast (Reunion Island)

Abstract

Reunion has few white sand beaches. The most exploitable of them are on the Saint-Paul coast on the west of the island, which are currently in the news after a spate of shark attacks. Their development for tourism has turned Saint-Gilles, once a small fishing and farming village, into a local and international beach resort with extensive repercussions on the organization of the municipal territory in which the agricultural uplands of the hinterland occupied an important area. This article analyses the imbalances created by such development and its sustainability conditions.