Santoña Coastal Adaptation Plan

This document presents the analysis of the risks derived from climate change on the coast of the municipality of Santoña and proposes measures for its adaptation to different emission scenarios.
The scope of this work includes the approximately 20 km of Santoña's coastline, extending the analysis beyond what is merely the Maritime-Terrestrial Public Domain, to also include all those natural and socio-economic systems located along the coast, under regional jurisdiction, that may be affected by climate change.

The study makes use of the most up-to-date databases on climate projections and information on exposure and vulnerability associated with the natural and socioeconomic system of the coast.
The analysis has been conducted with a very high spatial resolution that allows for the acquisition of geospatial information on the impacts of climate change and the associated risks. However, in order to facilitate understanding, the risk is also obtained at the municipal level by integrating the different sectors considered in the analysis: population, built assets, industrial sector, tourism (based on the recreational service provided by the beaches), and ecosystems.
Adaptation, in human systems, is defined as the process of adjustment to actual or projected climate and its effects, in order to mitigate damages or take advantage of beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the definition refers to the process of adjustment to the actual climate and its effects. Human intervention can facilitate the adjustment to projected climate and its effects.

The types of adaptation that can be considered are:

- Gradual or incremental adaptation: adaptation that maintains the essence and integrity of a system or process on a determined scale. In some cases, gradual adaptation can culminate in transformative adaptation.

- Transformative adaptation: adaptation that changes the fundamental attributes of a socio-ecological system in anticipation of climate change and its impacts.

Likewise, it will be necessary to consider that there are limits to adaptation, understood as those points where the objectives of an agent (or the needs of a system) cannot be ensured against intolerable risks through adaptation measures. Specifically, they can be classified as:

- Strict adaptation limit: adaptation measures cannot be adopted to avoid intolerable risks.

- Soft limit of adaptation: currently, there are no options available to avoid intolerable risks through adaptation measures.

The ultimate goal of adaptation is, therefore, to make systems more resilient to climate action or to seize the new opportunities it offers.
Coastal adaptation planning must be based on a rigorous analysis of climate change risks, as proposed in this study, but considering that adaptation should be framed within the context of existing policies, strategies, and decision-making processes in coastal management. Unlike risk analysis, adaptation requires the intervention and implementation of concrete measures, and therefore, it is necessary for them to be contextualized within the existing frameworks.

However, this document is not just a study of the effects of climate change on the coast of Santoña, but also proposes adaptation measures for different locations, whether it be the city's port front, the promenade, or Berria beach, paying special attention to the marshes, which make up the most important ecological system of Santoña, seeking to preserve their ecosystem benefits.