Borderless Flanders the Impact of Tourism on Territorial Identification Processes in Dutch Borderland Zeelandic Flanders, 1970-1985
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Borderless Flanders The impact of tourism on territorial identification processes in Dutch borderland Zeelandic Flanders, 1970-1985 Master Thesis ResMA History: Politics, Culture and National Identities Lauren Antonides s1395505 | [email protected] Supervisor: dr. H.J. Storm Second reader: prof. dr. H. te Velde Word count: 24.956 Hand in date: 30 June 2020 Leiden University Lauren Antonides Image on front page: Women in traditional dress with shop selling pornographic literature in the background, Sluis (before 1974). Source: J.J.H. Pop, ‘In Zeeuwsch-Vlaanderen: Gemeenten stellen grenzen aan commerciële seks’, De Nederlandse Gemeente (Official magazine of the Vereniging voor Nederlandse Gemeenten (VNG)) 13 (1975) 145-150: 147. 2 Borderless Flanders Preface ‘Are you from Zeelandic Flanders yourself?’ was invariably the reaction I got when I told people about my research. As if it was hard to imagine that I, a student from Leiden, was interested in this border region. And that may perfectly be the reason for this research. In the Randstad, Zeelandic Flanders and other borderlands are not only physically, but also mentally, far away. This center- periphery thinking has been subject to change over the last few decades, as the Dutch border area gained increasing attention in the political and social debate. This thesis aims to contribute to that spatial – and mental – shift. During my research, I did find out what exactly was meant by that ‘peripheral character’. After numerous trips to Middelburg in practically empty train compartments and having explained my friends for the Xth time what exactly I was doing in that ‘fishing village’, I began to ask myself the existential questions that every researcher asks him or herself at some point. Why am I doing this? And what exactly did I find interesting about this region in the first place? Who is reading this anyway? Luckily, at these moments I could count on the support of a number of people without whom I could not have written this thesis. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor dr. Eric Storm for his guidance and scholarly insights. His critical eye and constructive feedback proved vital to writing this thesis. My gratitude also goes out to the employees of the Zeeuws Archief in Middelburg and the Gemeentearchief in Oostburg, who were able to scan incredible amounts of digital material when the archives were closed during the Corona crisis. I would also like to thank my aunt Jolanda, whom I could always count on for a place to sleep (and a good conversation) after a long day in the archives of Middelburg. Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents Jo and Liesbeth and my sister Judith for their endless support and patience. Whenever I was in doubt, or simply felt like complaining, I knew I could rely on them. Thank you for always believing in me and making sure I’m keeping my feet on the ground. Lauren Antonides Leiden, June 2020 3 Lauren Antonides Contents Preface .......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Contents ....................................................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 6 Studying regions: the spatial turn ......................................................................................................... 9 Tourism and regional identities .......................................................................................................... 13 Method ................................................................................................................................................... 16 1 Tourism in Zeelandic Flanders ...................................................................................................... 21 1.1 Tourism...................................................................................................................................... 21 1.1.1 Zeeland, holiday province of the Netherlands ............................................................ 21 1.1.2 Domestic tourism ............................................................................................................ 23 1.1.3 Tourism in Zeelandic Flanders: beach and border ..................................................... 24 1.2 The Vereniging voor Vreemdelingenverkeer (VVV) ..................................................................... 29 1.2.1 Local VVVs....................................................................................................................... 29 1.2.2 The regional VVV ............................................................................................................ 32 1.2.3 Other actors in the tourist industry ............................................................................... 33 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 35 2 Beach tourism ................................................................................................................................... 36 2.1 Tourist framing: A maritime-rural landscape crossing borders ......................................... 36 2.1.1 A pure and quiet coastline .............................................................................................. 36 2.1.2 Ripe cornstalks, gently swaying in the sea breeze: the countryside .......................... 39 2.1.3 Like fork and knife: Cadzand and Knokke .................................................................. 42 2.1.4 Zeelandic clay and Flemish sandy soils: a cross-border tourist landscape .............. 45 2.2 Tussen bloot en niet bloot staat een grenspaal: nudist recreation ................................................. 47 2.2.1 The threat of blootliggers and naaktlopers: the local debate ............................................ 48 2.2.2 Citizen letters .................................................................................................................... 50 2.2.3 Zeeland’s first nudist beach: VVV and local authorities ............................................ 52 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 54 3 City tourism ...................................................................................................................................... 56 3.1 Tourist framing: The Flemish idyll ........................................................................................ 56 3.1.1 Shopping in the border area ........................................................................................... 56 3.1.2 Architecture: Flemish roots and Scheldegotiek ............................................................... 58 4 Borderless Flanders 3.1.3 Bourgondisch genieten: local cuisine .................................................................................... 60 3.1.4 Reinventing local traditions: krulbollen and carnaval ..................................................... 62 3.1.5 The Belgian hinterland .................................................................................................... 64 3.2 From historic town to ‘sex Mecca’: border tourism in Sluis .............................................. 67 3.2.1 Sluis, ‘open sewer of Zeelandic Flanders’: the local debate ....................................... 68 3.2.2 The VVV and sex shop tourism .................................................................................... 71 3.2.3 ‘Op sex beluste Belgen’: local and national media ............................................................. 72 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 75 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 76 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................... 81 5 Lauren Antonides Introduction Cadzand and Knokke, they belong together like food and drinks, like knife and fork… Well, whoever amongst the young tourists says ‘Cadzand’, also says ‘Knokke’.1 In 1970, Zeelandic Flanders’ local tourist magazine De Badkoerier [The Coastal Courier] described a typical holiday of youngsters visiting the Dutch maritime border region. Young tourists would usually combine a day on the beach in Cadzand, on the Dutch side of the border, with a night out in the Belgian city of Knokke, which was only a 30-minute bike ride away. ‘Sleeping on the beach during the day, and in the evening… that’s when the holiday starts’, the author wrote. This article quite accurately summarizes Zeelandic Flanders’ tourist landscape in the 1970s. The most southwestern region of the Netherlands was bordered by Belgium in the south and the Western Scheldt in the north. This sea delta separated the region from the rest of the province of Zeeland – a tunnel connecting the two would only be realized in 2003.2 The geographical situation of the Zeelandic borderland was strongly associated with its peripheral