The Geological Heritage of Salobreña (SE Spain): example of a touristic area

Autor: Manuel Martín-Martín, Carlos Sanz de Galdeano, Santiago Moliner-Aznar
Přispěvatelé: Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra y del Medio Ambiente, Evolución Geodinámica de la Cordillera Bética Oriental y de la Plataforma Marina de Alicante
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: RUA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Alicante
Universidad de Alicante (UA)
Popis: Salobreña consist of a touristic area with a typical Andalusian white town built on a hill and crowned with a Castle from the medieval era of Moors occupation. The urban area is bordered by fields of tropical crops and fruit trees that, together with its location by the sea, confer on Salobreña a beautiful postcard. These features, as a whole, are an attraction for visitors. Although the authorities are very interested in developing the beach tourism and displaying and protecting the historical center of the town, the interest in geological heritage is negligible. So, this paper tries to expose and evaluate the sites of geologic interest recognizable in the area, so that not only tourists and visitors, but also students, are offered more attractions for their visits. 30 sites are proposed as suitable to be considered as geological heritage, organized in three accessible walking itineraries named respectively: Urban, Panoramic and Littoral georoutes. The selected sites display a great variety of geological typologies as structural geology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, geomaterials, petrology, mineralogy, geomorphology and hydrogeology-hydraulics. Avoiding subjectivity, the sites and georoutes have been classified and ranked with a numerical methodology based on recent literature. The Scientific Value (SV), Potential Educational Value (PEV), Potential Touristic Value (PTV) have been quantified by using several criteria in each case. This allows visitors and teachers to select the most suitable route according to their goals. The Degradation Risk (DR) has also been evaluated, giving key geo-conservation actions. This plan can be presented to political and technical managers from Salobreña Town. Finally, some actions are proposed for better conservation of the sites but also to contribute to education and promote cultural tourism. These actions would also favor educational activities for students of all levels in earth science subjects, but also increase economic activity and sustainable development in the area by incorporating cultural visitors.
Databáze: OpenAIRE