**1. Introduction**

Coastal areas are generally densely populated and have high strategic value from a socioeconomic point of view. However, the coast in general, and beaches in particular, constitute systems with highly nonlinear, complex dynamics and are strongly vulnerable to the individual or joint action of different types of natural hazards, which can lead to erosion or flooding processes with significant negative socioeconomic repercussions (e.g., [1]). This is especially true in the case of areas heavily dependent on beach tourism, such as the Canary Islands and, in particular, the southern flank of the Tenerife island [2]. The islands are a tourist destination of world importance, notably in Europe. The archipelago received more than 15 million tourists in 2019 and, according to the Canary Islands Institute of Statistics [3], tourism visiting the islands generates 32% of the Canary Islands' GDP and 30% of jobs. These percentages are even higher on the southern coast of Tenerife, where a large fraction of tourism received in the islands, some six million tourists per year, is concentrated in a few municipalities.

The great majority of tourists visiting the island are looking to enjoy the climate and the beaches (e.g., [4]). In this sense, it is important to bear in mind that beaches are dynamic complex systems that evolve and change their characteristics depending on the hydrodynamic conditions to which they are subjected, particularly during severe wave conditions. Extreme wave storms represent risky events for the natural environment and

**Citation:** Guerra-Medina, D.; Rodríguez, G. Spatiotemporal Variability of Extreme Wave Storms in a Beach Tourism Destination Area. *Geosciences* **2021**, *11*, 237. https:// doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11060237

Academic Editors: Jesus Martinez-Frias and Fabrizio Antonioli

Received: 27 April 2021 Accepted: 27 May 2021 Published: 31 May 2021

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human activities on the coast (e.g., [5]). In particular, they have the potential to produce significant beach erosion episodes in relatively short periods, resulting in loss of sand, beach retreat, and the consequent undesirable reduction in beach dimensions. This kind of impact can be temporal or even semi-permanent, depending on the nature of the beach, but, in any case, extends over variable but considerable periods of time, because poststorm beach recovery by long-period swell onshore sediment transport is generally a slow process. Accordingly, it is evident that the occurrence of severe wave storms may have strong negative impacts on tourism activities.

The effects of wave storms on a beach depend on a substantial number of factors, such as their severity, duration, directionality, and seasonality, as well as on the likelihood of occurrence during periods of high (tidal and non-tidal) sea water level elevation, among others. All of the above highlights the importance of having a good understanding of the space–time variability of the extreme wave storms affecting a given coastal zone, as an essential support tool for the development of management strategies that reduce the socio-economic impacts caused by these abnormally severe events.

The study of wave conditions in the Canary archipelago has focused mainly on the northern and northwestern edges of the islands to explore the potential use of waves as a renewable energy resource (e.g., [6,7]). However, the characterization of long-term wave conditions, including high severity episodes, at the southern flanks has received much less attention, despite its potential negative impact on beaches and surrounding areas and the corresponding socioeconomic implications.

In view of the above, the primary focus of this study is to explore the wave climate on the southern coast of Tenerife, with emphasis on stormy conditions, because of the socioeconomic importance of this stretch of coast. Specifically, we focus our interest on those storms with a remarkable capacity to cause damage, mainly in terms of coastal erosion and/or flooding. As a first step towards achieving this goal, the space–time behavior of the wave climate along the outer edges of the Canary Islands is examined to understand the general wave conditions reaching the coasts of the archipelago.

The paper is structured as follows. After justifying the need to study extreme wave storm characteristics, in both space and time domains, in the southern coastal strip of Tenerife island, a brief description of the geographical and meteoceanic characteristics of the study area, as well as the main characteristics of experimental data used in the study, is provided in Section 2. The methodological approaches used to examine the spatial and temporal variability of extreme wave storms are introduced in Section 3. Section 4 presents the results derived from the study and their discussion, including the detailed study of a selected storm, as an illustrative case of severe beach erosion and infrastructure damage, highlighting the evolution of wind, wave, and tidal conditions, and showing evidence of its socioeconomic impacts. Finally, Section 5 summarizes the main findings of the study.
