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Page 145Geotourism in the city of Segovia (Spain): a complement and an alternative to traditional tourism
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ABSTRACT:
as
KEYWORDS:
1. INTRODUCTION:Although there is no internationally accepted definition of the concept of Geotourism, according
to Newsome & Dowling (2010), “Geotourism is another form of nature tourism that is specifically
centred on the geology and the landscape. It promotes a sustanaible tourism to Sites of Geological
Interest (Geosites) and it fosters knowledge of Earth Sciences through appreciation, enjoyment and
learning. This is accomplished through visits to geological features; the use of georouteing and
itineraries with observation points; guided tours, geological activities and visits to geological visitor
centres”. An effort is detected in the recent years by geologists and public administrations to
promote and disseminate the geological and palaeontological values of a certain region as a key for
touristic development (Moreira et al., 2008). Geotourism is looking for the integration of Geology
and geological heritage management, including geoconservation, within the touristic programs, in
order to make the relevant points of geological heritage a part of touristic products (Hose 1997,
2000; Nieto et al., 2006; Parisi, 2010). Other definitions of the term geotourism recognise that it
deals with tourism, that entails a sustainable
development of the local community in which it is implemented, with a regard for their culture,
traditions and customs but without interfering with their daily way of life (Global and European
Geopark Network).The actuality is that there are no reliable statistics for the volume of economic activity and
Geotourism in the city of Segovia (Spain):a complement and an alternative to traditional tourism
A. DÍEZ-HERRERO Geological Survey of Spain. Ministry of Science & Innovation. Ríos
Rosas 23, 28003 Madrid, Spain)
J. VEGAS (Geological Survey of Spain. Ministry of Science & Innovation. Ríos Rosas 23, 28003
Madrid, Spain)
B. PEÑA GONZÁLEZ Segovia Tourism. Heritage & Tourism Department. Segovia City
Council. Judería Vieja 12, 40001 Segovia, Spain)
A.S. HERRERO AYUSO [email protected] Segovia Tourism. Heritage & Tourism
Department. Segovia City Council. Juderia Vieja 12, 40001 Segovia, Spain)
R. LUCIA ATANCE Segovia Tourism. Heritage & Tourism Department. Segovia
City Council. Juderia Vieja 12, 40001 Segovia, Spain)
C. DE SANTOS BORREGUERO Segovia Tourism. Heritage & Tourism Department.
Segovia City Council. Juderia Vieja 12, 40001 Segovia, Spain)
The City of Segovia is, due to its rich and varied historical and artistic heritage, a first order place for the welcoming of tourists, from all over the world. Segovia also offers Geotourism due to their extraordinary geological heritage, with almost one hundred Geosites that can be used as an other tourism resource. The City Council promotes Geotourism a quality complement to traditional tourism, and even, an innovative and sustainable alternative for all public.
Geotourism, geological heritage, geosites, tourism, Segovia.
GEOTOURISM AS AN ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL ACTIVITY
through the promotion of geological heritage,
movement of people that supposes a worldwide or national scale. However the Spanish reality show
that the places most visited by tourists in Spain are not from the historical or artistic heritage
domains, as might be the Prado Museum (2.8 million visitors in 2009) or the Alhambra in Granada
(3.1 million visitors in 2009). The most visited place in Spain is the Teide National Park (3.2 million
visitors in 2009), where principal components are the volcanoes and the geological landscapes they
created. Significant sites are also recorded for other Geosites, such as: la Ciudad Encantada [the
Enchanted City] (Cuenca); el Torcal de Antequera (Málaga); la Pedriza del Manzanares (Madrid); la
Cueva de Nerja [the Caves of Nerja] (Málaga); and el Monasterio de Piedra [the Stone Monastery]
(Zaragoza), to name a few. Therefore, when the geological heritage is truly exceptional, it represents
a tourism resource of the first magnitude for those places which, on many occasions, lack other
attractions as an engine for development.
2. CASE STUDY:
The most singular features of the geological heritage of the City of Segovia had already been
catalogued, in an unfledged form, in a preliminary list of Sites of Geological Interest (Geosites)
conducted at the Provincial level ( . Subsequently, these Geosites were rated using
standardised criteria along with the rest of the said inventory ; and in a more detailed
form for the municipal area of Segovia, in the context of the revision of the General Urban
Regulation Plan; and in the Territorial Regulation Directives for Segovia and its environs
.
The Geosites catalogued may be grouped into 16 geological frameworks that cover practically all
types of place, from outcrops of metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary rocks, to paleontological
and mineralogical sites, up to moveable geoheritage (museums and collections) and tectonic
structures, inter alia
Despite the incipient development of geotouristic activities in Segovia, it is already possible to
list some infrastructure and initiatives that have been developed in recent decades:I) Current infrastructure for geotourism in Segovia City- Museums, collections and visitor centres: among those which stand out are the collections of
minerals, rocks and fossils of the Academy of Artillery, considered the oldest documented in the thWorld (Díez-Herrero, 2005); the 18 century Lapidary marbles collection of the Cathedral; the
th19 century collection of minerals at Secondary School of Segovia; 'Room A' dedicated to
Geology of the Museum of Segovia; the Los Molinos Centre (Caja Segovia) and the La Zarzuela
THE GEOLOGICAL HERITAGE OF THE CITY OF SEGOVIA AS A
GEOTOURISTIC RESOURCE
Díez, 1991)
(Vegas, 2000)
; and rules
have even been published for its geoconservation In this sense, about a hundred Geosites have been
identified, catalogued and assessed in the city of Segovia and its environs, many of them being of
regional or national interest, implying an educational resource of huge didactic potential for the
devising of thematic itineraries which exploit those from the very old (Gila, 1897) to those of recent
times (Díez-Herrero et al., 2010; Díez-Herrero & Vegas, 2010 & 2011; Martín Moreno et al., 2010).
(Ayuntamiento de Segovia, 2005; Díez-Herrero & Vegas, 2010 & 2011); they
also cover a range of eras from the Proterozoic (> 600 million years) to the Quaternary. In contrast to
the spatial concentration of the historic and artistic places of interest within the walled area of the
City of Segovia and its surrounding district (outskirts), the Geosites are spread throughout the urban
area and its surroundings. In addition, the Geosites can be visited at any season of the year and at any
time of day, as they lack the seasonality of other tourist spots and conventional tourist typologies.
3. THE REALITY AND POTENTIAL OF GEOTOURISM IN SEGOVIA
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classroom (situated on Nueva Segovia avandonated quarry).- Information panels and posters: located along the Eresma Nature Trail, in the Zarzuela quarry, on
the Los Molinos path, and in several wall along Cervantes Street (at the gate of Cervantes 17 and
www.geologiadesegovia.info
- The publication of new guides and specially printed leaflets published by the Tourism Department
of Segovia City Council; among which one is entitled “From rock to rock: Discover the geological
heritage of the city of Segovia” ;- The design and development of 12 new geotourism itineraries – thematic, chronological and spatial
– adapted to the disposition profiles of potential visitors. A bike route through the city, to make use
of the City Council's existing cycle hire scheme, will also be designed.- The installation of information boards in some of the most visited Geosites (the Calle Real, the
Eresma and Clamores valleys...) and the replacement and updating of existing ones, some of which
have been stolen or suffered acts of vandalism;- Maintaining and updating the Web page, and new specific Web pages, with the participation of
internet users through their views and information - The inclusion of geological content in the tourist audio guides and development of applications for
mobile phones (augmented reality, iPhone apps) and GPS navigators;- Training courses for official tourist guides, both on the basic foundations of the geological heritage
and their use by tourists, as well as Segovia's Geosites and itineraries;- Promotion as a venue for geological conferences and excursions, to be facilitated through the
efforts of the Segovia Convention Bureau office; the celebration of national and international
scientific meetings and as a stopover destination for university fieldtrips, conferences and
secondary education centres.
3. CONCLUSIONS
Quintanilla Lingerie store) that are situated close to the Upper Cretaceous rocks.- Information resources: in addition to the numerous publications in print, a dynamic, modern
webpage is available ( ) with a high consultation hit-rate.
ii) Initiatives underway to exploit geotourism: there are essentially two routes that are made
periodically available to the general public as guided tours: Visit our tropical seas and the roots of the
mountains: A geological route through Segovia” (Segovia Tourism; Martín Moreno et al., 2010) and
“The big risk: coexisting with everyday geological disasters.” (Díez et al., 2007-2010); However,
several other routes have been implemented, notable among which is “A journey of 600 million
years”, held to mark the Geolodía [Geology Day] 2010 (Díez & Vegas, 2010). New hiking routes
also include geological aspects, such as the Los Molinos Path or the trip from the Aqueduct to the
Azud [Weir]. Furthermore, recently, the municipal company “Segovia Tourism” has created a
specific section designated “Segovia Natural” ([email protected]), to unify
all the initiatives for hiking, nature activities, geotourism, etc.
However, if geotourism in Segovia is still more of a promise than a reality, given its modest size
in comparison to the historic, artistic and gastronomic tourism, in the future it is planned to
implement further infrastructure and a series of activities to conspicuously include:
(Díez & Vegas, 2011)
(WikiSegoGeo);
The City of Segovia, declared as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985, is, due to its rich and
varied historical and artistic heritage, a first order place for the welcoming of tourists, from all over
the world, as well as for its traditional gastronomy. It is less known that, for its geographical location
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and its long geological history, it also has an extraordinary geological heritage, with almost one
hundred Geosites catalogued, inventoried, assessed, ranked and legally protected that is planned to
used as geotourism resource. For the exploitation of geotourism activities, there is already a certain
infrastructure, planned itineraries and routes, along with other activities in progress
(www.geologiadesegovia.info). However, it is intended, in the near future, introduce new initiatives
– audio guides; augmented reality applications for mobile phones and GPS receivers; training
courses for tour guides; specific tourist leaflets; the promotion as a venue for geological conventions
and as a destination for excursions, etc. – which can turn geotourism in Segovia into a quality
complement to traditional tourism, and even, at certain times of the year and in certain areas of the
city, as an innovative and sustainable alternative.
Díez, A. (1991) Puntos de Interés Geológico de la Provincia de Segovia. Litos, 6, pp. 31-33.
Díez-Herrero, A., Laín Huerta, L., Martín-Duque, J.F., Sacristán, N. & Vicente Rodado, F. (2010) A todo riesgo IV.
Convivir con los desastres geológicos cotidianos. IGME, UCM, IE Universidad y RSEHN, 70 p.Díez-Herrero, A. & Vegas, J. (Coord.) (2010) Un recorrido de 600 millones de años entre Nueva Segovia y La
Fuencisla. Geolodía 10 Segovia. Sociedad Geológica de España, AEPECT & IGME, 16 p.Díez-Herrero, A. & Vegas, J. (2011) De roca a roca. Descubre el patrimonio geológico de Segovia. Concejalía de
Turismo, Ayuntamiento de Segovia, 96 p.Gila, F. (1897) Paseos y Visitas Escolares por la Ciudad de Segovia y sus alrededores. Cuaderno 1º, Tip. De F.
Santiuste, 40 p.
Martín Moreno, C., Lucía Vela, A., Vicente Rodado, F., Díez Herrero, A. & Martín Duque, J.F. (2010) Los cimientos de
la ciudad: patrimonio geológico. In: Contreras Jiménez, J. (Coord.), Segovia desconocida, Empresa Municipal de
Turismo de Segovia, pp. 19.
Newsome, D. & Dowling, R.K. (2010) Geoturism: the tourism of Geology and landscape. Goodfellow Publishers.
Vegas. J. (2000) El patrimonio geológico de la provincia de Segovia: geodiversidad y geoconservación. Colección
Naturaleza y Medio Ambiente 26, Caja Segovia, 69 p.
AcknowledgementsWe are very grateful to the entire group of Segovian geologists, who have selflessly spent decades
contributing with initiatives and materials for the promotion of the geological culture of our city. We are
equally grateful to all the staff of the municipal company “Segovia Tourism”, the Visitor Reception Centre
and the Department of Heritage and Tourism of Segovia City Council.
References –
Díez Herrero, A. (2005) – Apuntes históricos sobre la Colección de minerales, rocas y fósiles de la Academia de
Artillería de Segovia. LLULL, Revista de la Sociedad Española de Historia de las Ciencias y las Técnicas, 28 (nº
62), pp. 383-413. –
–
–
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Hose, T.A. (1997) – Geotourism- Selling the earth to Europe. Engineering Geology and the Environment, Marinos,
Koukis, Tsiambaos & Stoumaras (eds), Balkema, Rotterdam, pp. 2955-2960.Hose, T.A. (2000) – 'Geoturismo' europeo. Interpretación geológica y promoción de la conservación geológica para
turistas. In: Patrimonio Geológico: Conservación y Gestión. D. Barettino, W. A. P. Wimbledon & E. Gallego
(eds.), pp. 137-159. –
Moreira, J., Meléndez, G. & Soria, M. (2008) - Geoturismo: ¿Explicación de la Geología al público o la Geología como
foco de atracción turística? Ejemplos del desarrollo del Geoturismo en Brasil (Estado de Paraná) y España
(Comunidad Autónoma de Aragón). Geotemas, 10, pp. 1327-1330. –
Nieto, L.M., Pérez Lorente, F., Guillén Mondéjar, F. & Díaz Martínez, E. (2006) - Estado actual de la legislación para la
geoconservación en España. Trabajos de Geología (Universidad de Oviedo), 26, pp. 187-201.Parisi, A. (2010) – Il geoturismo: salvaguardia e valorizzazione del patrimonio geologico. Geoturismo Edizioni, 49 p.
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