Las brisas marinas y su significación geográfica. El caso de Mallorca

Abstract

Sea breeze is an atmospheric phenomenon caused by the uneven heating and cooling of terrestrial and maritime neighboring areas. In the Isle of Mallorca, in the center of the western Mediterranean, the coastal breezes presents prototypical characteristics. It is so consistent that its effectiveness allows for easy common as well as scientific verification. The breeze system is defined in Mallorca by its multi-directional spatial behaviour and its unifying nature. As a result of the physical insularity of the land, sea breezes have multiple orientations and of opposite direction. This means that they operate simultaneously from different coasts, and penetrate inland –coupled to the ground– to inland areas where they typically converge, a fact that serves as a trigger for the formation of convective clouds of stormy character. To this must be added the influence of breezes in all areas of human settlement: territorial, economic and social.