For political reasons Spain's Costa del Sol had until recently presented a
classic example of reactive coastal management. The 1988 Coasts Act introdu
ced a more proactive approach, but its management still lacks a scientific
classification of the coastline upon which to base coastal policy. Such an
overgeneralized delineation of the coastal domain generally ignores the var
iations in physical and socioeconomic variables and is likely to lead to ov
ersimplified management practices. Against the background of the policies a
dopted over the past 50 years, this article presents an index that delineat
es different degrees of sensitivity of the coastline of the Costa del Sol.
A geographical information system (GIS) approach is adopted in the construc
tion of the index that recognizes that coastal vulnerability is equally a f
unction of physical processes and human activities. Four physical (litholog
y, landforms, river discharge, marine processes) and two anthropomorphic (p
opulation growth, urbanization) components are incorporated, and the result
s are applied to produce a broadly based measure for policy making in south
ern Spain that also has applicability in other coastal situations.