Las ciudades patrimonio de la humanidad de españaEl desafío construir destinos turísticos sostenible en clave de patrimonio cultural

Abstract

The development of tourism in the World Heritage Cities of Spain has contributed to its recovery and functional revitalization, but facing excessive and uncontrolled pressure, it is urgent to control it and to channel it according to the necessities of the conservation, because these cities have acquired the voluntary and unavoidable commitment to preserve a heritage with recognized exceptional universal value. There is a need for a new theoretical and methodological framework for interpreting and managing the relationships between tourism, heritage and urban policies where, from the outset, the need and opportunity is assumed, depending on the carrying capacity of the different destinations, to put limits to an excessive tourist growth. The awakening and takeoff of heritage destinations is closely related to the recent dynamics of cultural tourism and the prominent role of the national visitor. An approach to the birth and start of the Group of World Heritage Cities of Spain (WHCS) and a synchronous analysis of it in 2006, serves as a starting point to differentiate three phases in its recent dynamics, the first one with a pendular rhythm, the second one marked by the negative impact of the economic crisis of 2008 and the third, which starts in 2013 and is characterized by a strong growth and the appearance of problems related to an uncontrolled tourist pressure. Finally, starting from the needs, beyond the requirements of UNESCO, to have management plans, after presenting some experiences, Salamanca and Santiago de Compostela, is committed to a utopian proposal, to formulate plans based on the cultural-heritage offer, in order to advance in the configuration of multifunctional and sustainable heritage destinations.