Revising the limits of the coastal area in the regulations of the iberoamerican region. Are they appropriate for risk management and adaptation to climate change?

Coastal laws define the boundaries of the coastal zone. Both a terrestrial part and a marine part are usually included, which can be anything from ten to two hundred or more meters. They are usually declared public domain zones, and a protection zone, parallel to the coastal edge, is often determined. The function of the protection zone is to reduce pressures of anthropogenic origin on coastal ecosystems, its services and, simultaneously, mitigate extreme natural phenomena within the inhabited areas of the coast. Protection zones are established according to different types of criteria. In this study, they have been classified into two main groups: scientific/universal criteria and functional/operational criteria. Integrated coastal zone management addresses complex problems for the organization of economic uses and activities, based on the protection of ecosystems, while addressing coastal risks. At present, erosion is one of the most serious issues affecting the coast, a problem that is likely to intensify as a result of sea level rise, which is an effect of climate change. The objective of this paper is to analyze regulations affecting the coast in the Ibero-American Region, paying special attention to the definition of the geographical area. Results of this study are: most laws, especially in the terrestrial area, use arbitrary criteria and metric distances. In the marine environment, the limit of the coastal zone is usually fixed up to 12 nautical miles from the Territorial Sea. On few occasions, natural-physical criteria are used, which take into account the characteristics of the coast and anthropic criteria, such as the socio-economic reality. This means that limits have been established that are politically functional, as well as practices that do not take into account the vulnerability of the area, the functioning of coastal ecosystems or protection against natural risks. We are in no doubt that, faced with the challenge of establishing adaptation measures for the effects of climate change, the search for a new delimitation of the coastal zone should be considered an urgent matter. •In Ibero-America, most laws use metric criteria to delimit the coastal, terrestrial and marine zones.•The extension of the limits of the coastal zone render the management of the coast more complex.•The distribution of competencies (coast, watersheds and marine) make it difficult to define the geographical scope.•Erosion is one of the most serious impacts of coastal a