Something I hadn't thought about was how this system requires enormous amount of building of holiday lodging in order to have enough capacity in late July through early September. I was on the Bodrum peninsula in the southwest corner of Turkey in late Spring, when the weather is perfect, but the place, with its immense numbers of vacation homes and small hotels was practically empty because A. the Turkish schools weren't out for the year yet, and Turks vacation as families; B. Europeans (in Turkey, mostly Germans and Brits) aren't going on vacation now because they have so much vacation coming up in a couple of months.
California resorts probably aim for, say, 50% occupancy over the course of a year (hey, it's a Mediterranean climate, so the weather is okay most of the year), but Mediterranean resorts can't expect much above 15% occupancy. So, there has to be a remarkable amount of holiday lodging sprawl to accommodate the teeming Europeans during the brief high season.
Personally, I don't mind the sprawl and constant construction along Turkey's spectacular coasts, but by the anti-development standards of the California Coastal Commission, European vacation schedules would be considered an environmental disaster.
