Sustainability and commodification? The role of cultural assets in the development of new paths for tourism in Catalonia

Abstract

Recognising and even producing cultural assets has been one of the emerging strategies in the development of new potential paths for sustainable tourism. This type of process has integrated into the same frame practices and concepts such as cultural rights and economic competitiveness, cultural diversity and the economy of identity or cultural heritage and the intangible economy. Even if significant research has been developed on these issues, some questions remain still unexplored. Can we see a kind of paradox in these strategies, i.e. an opportunity for transforming development processes (making them more sustainable) and at the same time for reproducing economic and cultural inequalities? Can we see an opportunity to ensure equity in public decision-making about cultural tourism initiatives and at the same time the risk of deepening social and political exclusion? This chapter will address these questions through the analysis of a historical view of cultural policies in Catalonia and, specifically, a study case on the relation between the promotion of heritage and the development of tourism in the Catalan Pyrenees. Both the theoretical framework and methodology of this contribution are based on an interdisciplinary approach, including knowledge from the fields of political science, social anthropology and cultural studies.