On the left side of the Ría del Ibaizabal, in Bizkaia, we have had the most outstanding model of monoculture economy. It was the area of steel and metallurgy, it was the blast workshops and furnaces that guided the economic and social life of the entire Left Margin. The same applies to Commissioning and Mining Area, since there was monoculture of iron mines. In the latter region, as soon as mining is over, there has been a decline in the economy to this day. Looking left, something like that happens, because the last big industries are in danger of extinction, like ArcelorMittal Sestao.

Something similar happened in a famous city of the EE.UU. In the early 20th century, Detroit specialized in the automobile sector, becoming monoculture. At the end of the century, the sector moved to other countries, economically evacuating the city. The documentary From Detroit to De(s)troit shows this situation very well.

This type of economic disaster has been throughout history, if our reference is the region, it is closely linked to the functioning of the capitalist economic system. That is, for a while the “specialization” of the economy in the region is promoted, increasing the types of profit and being very significant the monoculture mentioned above. Of course, when profits decrease, investments move to other regions and territories and the territory stays, no matter capital. Deindustrialization processes are a consequence of this. In addition, these economic and social disasters are exacerbated when these sectors are in the hands of international markets or transnational companies.

When the future of the industrial sector is becoming increasingly obscure, it seems that tourism will be the savior of our economy, as expressed by the political leaders: Its impact on GDP is increasing. In the CAV, unemployment has risen by 5.8%. In Navarra, 6%. The employment it generates is increasing, we will leave working conditions aside and we want to attract tourists of “quality”. That is to say, with a very high cultural level, which is rich or which spends a lot of money.

The risk is that, after industrial decline, tourism will become our new monoculture in many areas. We must not forget that the sector depends on some transnational companies and that the supply of our counties is integrated into these circuits (rural tourism is outside them). There is a lack of public and critical debate on the tourism model to avoid the problems we have had in other sectors. The tourists who come will leave, while our need to survive will stay here.