Title: Religious tourism and sacred places in Spain: old practices, new forms of tourism

Authors: Gemma Cànoves; Francesc Romagosa; Asunción Blanco; Gerda K. Priestley

Addresses: Departament of Geography, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 – Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain ' Departament of Geography, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 – Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain ' Departament of Geography, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 – Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain ' Departament of Geography, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 – Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

Abstract: Heritage, images, shrines, beliefs and devotions are related to culture, identity, religious feeling and faith, but also to the consumption of a tourism product. Religious tourism is an important type of cultural tourism that is now firmly established within the range of tourism products available in Spain. The article aims to demonstrate that religious tourism and cultural tourism form a joint trend that is an expression of the commercialisation of culture or, more exactly, of religion and popular devotion. Based on this hypothesis, the authors examine the cases of Montserrat monastery, the Road to Santiago and Holy Week in Granada that have in common a link between religious heritage and tourism. They emerge as examples of cultural and religious expression that have become multi-motivated tourism products, albeit with a significant religious base.

Keywords: religious tourism; cultural tourism; culture; religious heritage; identity; Spain; Montserrat Monastery; Catalonia; Road to Santiago; Galicia; Holy Week; Granada; Andalusia; religion; popular devotion; tourism products.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTA.2012.052537

International Journal of Tourism Anthropology, 2012 Vol.2 No.4, pp.282 - 298

Received: 06 Sep 2012
Accepted: 07 Nov 2012
Published online: 16 Aug 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article