Tourism related to the environment generates significant income in Spain. The vast majority of tourists come to Spain for the good weather and the coasts. However, they also come to visit the interior and do routes and trails through protected natural areas where they can see the Spanish biodiversity.
Nature tourism grows in Spain far above the conventional one and has also registered a strong internationalization in recent years that has resulted in an exponential growth of foreigners who visit Spain attracted by its natural resources. Is this increase in nature tourism sustainable?
More nature tourism
In the period between 2009 and 2016 in Spain nature tourism has grown by 32%. The number of travelers It has gone from 2,7 million (2009) to 3,6 million (2016) and that almost 700.00 were foreigners, especially from Germany, France, Holland and the United Kingdom.
Nature tourism is also important for the contribution to the tourism sector in the three pillars that make up sustainability: economy, society and environment. Sustainable tourism is one that can be done without damaging the environment or biodiversity. Simply, tourists know the biodiversity of Spain and experience it in person, but without impacting the environment.
For a tourist activity to be sustainable, it must have a limited number of people, they must be aware of the deterioration of the environment caused by humans, comply with the established regulations of each natural area and, of course, respect the natural resources of the area. zone.
Natura 2000 network
A study by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment that analyzes the potential of nature tourism affects the "incalculable" value of the fact that Spain is the European country with the largest and richest biodiversity and in which This natural wealth represents an opportunity to develop a sustainable tourism model and to generate jobs and wealth among the rural population.
Spain is in fact the European country that contributes the most surface to the Natura 2000 network (222.000 kilometers that represent 27 percent of the surface), but also the country with the most Biosphere Reserves (48), to which there are 15 National Parks.