Is heritage tourism a panacea for rural decline? A comparative study of the Camino de Santiago and the Canal de Castilla in Spain

[En] The aim of this article is to establish whether fostering rural tourism by reuse and promotion of heritage has been able to mitigate the demographic decline in a depopulating area of Spain. Two types of route-based tourism in the north-west of Castile are compared, namely the millenary pilgrima...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Hortelano Mínguez, Luis Alfonso, Mansvelt Beck, Jan
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión borrador
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)
Repositorio:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
OAI Identifier:oai:gredos.usal.es:10366/155821
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10366/155821
Access Level:acceso embargado
Palabra clave:Despoblación
España
Camino de Santiago
St. James way
Spain
Depopulation
5401 Geografía Económica
5404.02 Geografía Rural
5403.01 Geografía Cultural
Descripción
Sumario:[En] The aim of this article is to establish whether fostering rural tourism by reuse and promotion of heritage has been able to mitigate the demographic decline in a depopulating area of Spain. Two types of route-based tourism in the north-west of Castile are compared, namely the millenary pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela and the nineteenth-century Castile Canal. For three decades, public authorities have actively stimulated tourism along these routes in order to retain the population. The findings reveal that public-sector investments and promotion have contributed to the growth of tourism along both routes but have not stopped demographic decline. The lack of revitalisation of the countryside is the result of the preceding rural exodus that has destroyed village communities.