SPANISH TOURIST ATLAS FOR THE RURAL AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
J. Sancho1, F. Escobar1, M. Carbajo2
1 - Universidad de Alcala, Departamento de Geografia, Spain
2 - National Geographic Institute, Spain
smas@fomento.es
Tourism
constitutes a key element of Spanish economic structure; up to 14% of the PIB
comes from activities directly related to tourism. Growing figures on
international tourist visit have reached over 55 million in 2005. In addition,
domestic tourism is also increasingly significant which results on evident
traces over the territory.
All Spanish
coastal areas and particularly Mediterranean coast and the archipelagos of
Balearic and Canary Islands support most part of tourist activities. This is a
sun and beach tourist-based industry which advantages of favourable natural
resources.
In parallel
to this kind of tourism, rural tourism is rapidly developing during the last
decades. Inland Spain is home of rural areas whose natural and cultural
heritage are extraordinary valuable. At the same time, a significant share of
tourist demand is addressed towards alternative and high quality products
closely linked to natural and cultural values in rural territories. More than
11,000 rural accommodation facilities possessing a capacity of 100,000 beds are
frequented by more than 3 million people every year.
Rural
tourism is already a reality with an outstanding weight in Spain and it is
envisaged a high growth in the short term. European Union promotes for the
rural world a role as tourist space, contributing this way to its economical
diversification, social revitalization and to the improvement of its heritage,
landscape and preservation.
The
structure of the National Tourist Atlas of Spain for the Rural and Natural
Environment responds to a double criteria: general presentation and regional
approach. First, for the whole of the country, natural, landscape and cultural
resources in rural territories are presented to a scale of 1:3,000,000. Second,
the cartographic information related to tourist infrastructures is compiled.
Lastly, in a third section, the impact of rural development policies for the
promotion of depressed rural areas is analysed.
The
regional approach takes as referent spatial unit the 17 Spanish Autonomous
Regions. In each of them, at a more detailed scale, tourist resources are
represented and itineraries or routes to be undertaken by tourists are
proposed. The Atlas includes about 150 thematic maps, numerous photographs,
satellite images and a carefully written text to achieve a better understanding
of the rural tourism. The direction and coordination of this piece of work,
involving more than 30 specialised staff members, had lied on the Department of
Geography of the University of Alcalá and the Thematic Cartography and
National Atlas Area of the Spanish National Geographic Institute.