Photograph: Brian Overcast/Alamy. Retrieved from theguardian.com

Excerpt from theguardian.com

Every year, tourists from across the globe flock to the south-west corner of Puerto Rico to witness a phenomenon found in only a few select locations worldwide.

Here in the idyllic coastal region of La Parguera in Lajas, the main attraction is a bay by the same name: filled with microscopic plankton that can glow in the dark, the bay turns into a sparkly blue lagoon after sundown. This is one of the only bioluminescent bays in the world; nighttime visitors rush to see it up close, pushing off into the shimmering waters in kayaks.

The delicate spectacle of light has long been a local treasure – but it’s been threatened by a demand for housing by locals and tourists alike who desire a front-row seat to the show.

“We’ve seen a lack of control in the last 10 years,” said Francheska Vélez Ramírez, a 34-year-old mother from Lajas who says the housing boom has changed her home town. “People come here without any awareness toward the environment – they don’t care about the resources, just the party.”

In recent decades, the area around La Parguera has seen extensive gentrification and coastal development. Seasonal and foreign residents have moved into the area, displacing lower-income locals. Urban, wealthy newcomers who have made Lajas their home are referred to by locals as “precaristas”, or squatters. And longtime residents say their new neighbors are having a detrimental impact on the environment by buying up homes on the bay and expanding these properties with new decks and other renovations.