Açores: as segundas melhores ilhas do mundo (II)

"Destinations Rated: Islands". Com este título publicou a revista XXX um trabalho (Text by Jonathan B. Tourtellot - Photograph by Grant Dixon/Lonely Planet Images) sobre as ilhas do mundo, elaborando uma espécie de ranking liderado pelas ilhas Feroe, com 87 pontos, que coloca os Açores em 2º lugar com 84 pontos, enquanto que a Madeira aparece perdida em 70º lugar com 61 pontos, mesmo asism à frente das Canárias com : "The world's most appealing destinations—islands—are the ones most prone to tourism overkill. Our 522 experts vote on which ones avoid the danger, which are succumbing to it, and which hang in the balance. Tourism is a phenomenon that can cook your food or burn your house down. In other words, we all risk destroying the very places that we love the most. Nowhere more so than on islands. Islands symbolize vacation. Escape! Their very insularity makes them more attractive than a comparable piece of real estate on the mainland. They are worlds unto themselves—their own traditions, ecosystems, cultures, landscapes. That's what attracts us. But as micro-worlds, islands are also more vulnerable to population pressure, climate change, storm damage, invasive species, and now, tourism overkill". Leia aqui a notícia mais desenvolvida.