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- Dry-Stone walls as touristic attractive. Comparative between northeast and southwest of Iberian PeninsulaPublication . Mallafrè Balsells, Cèlia; Costa Jover, Agustí; Coll Pla, Sergio; Muñoz Santos, Alberto; Marçal Gonçalves, Marta; Rosendahl, Stefan; Prates, GonçaloThe promotion of dry-stone vernacular heritage as a pole of attraction of sustainable tourism has a key role on its preservation. Moreover, the outreach prevents the loss of the technique, since the knowledge becomes accessible for people. In the same way, this interest on vernacular heritage has a favourable impact on rural areas, where devalued and non-profitable terrains can be attractive for the society with new uses. Dry-stone technique only uses stones without other joining material. The shape and the appearance of those constructions varies from one place in function of various features. Based on the structural principles of dry-stone technique, they had to adapt to the material, the surroundings and the necessities. The methodology proposes the analysis of formal and structural differences and similarities of dry-stone walls located on different Iberian Peninsula areas. Three areas of study are chosen to perform the comparison: Northeast and Southwest of Iberian Peninsula. In the Northeast, the study is focused on the Terra Alta region (Spain) and, in the Southwest the study analyses the North of Seville region (Spain) and Algarve area (Portugal). This study evidences the differences and common features for the conservation of that heritage, which are common all over the world. Following, the study focuses on the context of conservation, dissemination and formation of this vernacular heritage, both in these specific areas and in the international context. Finally, a protocol is proposed to design promoting actions in the context of sustainable tourism linked to the dry-stone heritage.
- Crossing heritages: drystone walls in cultural tourism and geo-tourismPublication . Rosendahl, Stefan; Mallafrè Balsells, Cèlia; Marçal Gonçalves, MartaThe aim of cultural tourism is the cultural heritage. This heritage can consist of monuments in cities, for instance, and also of vernacular heritage which is found in rural areas. The drystone walls, often existing in regions where slopes prevail, are splendid examples of this group of heritage. Their role in cultural vernacular heritage is that they are made by man to make agriculture possible in difficult terrain creating plane areas in slopes, to retain surface and subsurface water as a reserve e.g. for the plantation and protection against wildfires, to protect agricultural areas in lower places against falling rocks and erosion by torrents, and so on. On the other hand, they also belong to the natural geological heritage because they are made of local stones, the geological setting of an area determines if such a wall is necessary or not, they interfere with the surface and subsurface water flows, they slow down erosional processes, they mould typical landscapes, and they create a lot of ecological niches and habitats for animals and plants. Therefore, drystone walls represent a link between cultural-vernacular and natural-geological heritage. Stone wall terraces are an expression of the history and the culture of the local people and present environmental, social and economic benefits. They may offer touristic opportunities, contributing to their renewal and survival. Their cultural value was recognized by the UNESCO in 2018 by the declaration of the “art of drystone walling, knowledge and techniques” as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.