Turkey’s ‘Concrete Jungle’ Resort Sparks Local Backlash
The country has made construction a pillar of economic planning, but local opposition is stalling a tourist development on parkland.
Illustration: Lee Kyutae for Bloomberg
On a clear winter day, the towering cranes over the Sinpas Kizilbuk Thermal Wellness Resort are visible from the Turkish tourist town of Marmaris about four miles away. The construction site sprawls along the coast, on a growing patch of barren land that has eaten into the lush greenery. The sea around it has turned from deep blue to light brown where disrupted soil has bled into the water. From a boat offshore, it takes long minutes to pass along the entire length of the site — one concrete block after another, capped by three groups of tall buildings, making up the backbone of the hotel.
Marmaris, on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, is one of the country’s most beloved tourist spots. Visitors, particularly Brits and Russians, flock to the city for its beaches, crystal water and pine forests. The Southern Aegean Touristic Hoteliers and Operators Association estimates a million tourists visited the region last year. Most stay in the hundreds of small hotels and guesthouses that crowd the shore.