Rural tourism and landscape in mountain. Proposed methodology to identify their relations in the southern midlands in Albacete

Abstract

Mountainous areas present some geographical and socioeconomic specificities. Within them, it can be found a particular heritage based on natural and cultural landscapes. There, a considerable encouraging of rural tourism, which has been focused on valuation of uniqueness and variety of landscapes, has been developed. In this case, the attention is given to the southern mountains of the province of Albacete, Spain. This work takes its starting point on a methodology that combines the use of surveys showing tourists’ preferences, and mapping techniques with variables about touristic rural areas. The essay can be located within the paradigms of Local Development and Sustainable Development applied to rural areas and the Midlands in the southeast of Castilla-La Mancha. Our hypothesis focuses on the consideration of the landscape as a key element of rural tourism.