Open Space and Ocean Grabbing: The Sea in the Geographic Opening of the Galápagos

Abstract

The sea has long been a barrier guaranteeing the ecological isolation of the Galápagos. When Ecuador annexed the archipelago, the sea became an obstacle, because neither the state nor the island residents had ships to maintain regular relations with the mainland. On the contrary, the Galápagos Islands are an open space for foreign actors who, having adequate transport, freely use its natural resources and strategic location. At the end of the twentieth century, air travel overcame the oceanic distance and led to the unlimited development of maritime and land tourism in the archipelago’s protected areas. The needs of the Galápagos’ growing population are supplied by cargo ships and, through a process of ocean grabbing, its sea is exploited by various forms of tourism and export fishing. The sea is thus the main vector of the geographical opening of the Galápagos, a process characteristic of globalization that causes profound spatial, ecological, and social changes in a once isolated region.