TOURISM AND QUALITY AGRO-FOOD PRODUCTS:

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE SPANISH

COUNTRYSIDE
XOSÉ A. ARMESTO LÓPEZ & BELÉN GÓMEZ MARTÍN
Dpt. de Geografia Física i Anàlisi Geogràfica Regional, Facultat de Geografia i Història, Universitat de
Barcelona. C/ Baldiri Reixac s/n, Barcelona 08028, Spain. E-mails: armesto@ub.edu, bgomez@ub.edu

Received: October 2004; revised April 2005

ABSTRACT
This paper describes the relationships between tourism and the agricultural production of
traditional products, the latter having achieved new levels of appreciation in recent years as a result
of quality designations. In this context, agro-food products can be considered as gastronomic
tourism resources that enable tourism both to be developed and itself become a tool for promoting
and commercialising quality agro-food products. These two circumstances merge around a single
aim: the local development of areas traditionally regarded as marginal within the regional context.
These facts are showed in the Catalan region of Priorat (Spain) where wines support the local
development.

Key words: Gastronomy, tourism, quality foods, local development, agriculture, Spain.

INTRODUCTION ation of cultural aspects from a more recreational

In recent years the development of tourism in
various areas has shown a number of particular
characteristics that have come to be seen as
symptomatic of change and which mark the
start of a new stage in the history of this key
economic and social phenomenon. This stage,
regarded as beginning at the end of the 1980s
and referred to as post-Fordist, is characterised
by new processes of tourism production and
consumption in which geographical space takes
on renewed value and a different dimension.
The new observable trends in the production
and consumption of cultural tourism are in-
extricably linked to the new tourism paradigm
(Urry 1990; Nuryanti 1996, cited in Antón 2000).
In this regard, the singularisation of tourism
space through the productive and symbolic
valuing of those elements of cultural heritage
which provide territorial identity, a renewed
interest in all forms of culture, or the appreci-
or entertainment perspective are all features
that illustrate new approaches to tourism (Antón
2000; Boniface 2003). Indeed, the leading role
acquired in recent years by some forms of cul-
tural tourism that were previously regarded as
complementary, such as gastronomic tourism,
can only be understood within the framework
of these renewed trends.
In gastronomic tourism, food products and
culinary specialties become the vehicle for a
closer understanding of cultures in that they
act as markers of peoples and territories. This
new way of approaching the culture of a place,
region or country is more active, experiential,
entertainment-based and celebratory than
previous forms and, a priori, seeks sustainable
development by: (i) ensuring the maintenance
of tourism resources; (ii) improving the welfare
of the population involved in producing and
commercialising products; and (iii) assuring
a satisfactory tourism experience by offering

Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie – 2006, Vol. 97, No. 2, pp. 166–177.
© 2006 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG
Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA
TOURISM AND QUALITY AGRO-FOOD PRODUCTS
quality. This satisfaction through quality is fre-
quently linked to the presence and promotion
of food products bearing quality labels.
Food quality is one of the key features of the
redefined Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).
This new perspective is a direct result of the situ-
ation that arose following the Second World
War, in which a war-ravaged Europe was in need
of a rapid economic recovery and so increased
all areas of production, including, of course,
agriculture. However, this situation led to large
surpluses being accumulated, saw a progressive
reduction and loss of social structure in rural
populations and soon resulted in deterioration
of the environment. Consequently, in the 1980s
European policy-makers began to discuss and
develop proposals with the aim of off-setting
these imbalances.
The Spanish countryside is currently deter-
mined by European policy, which nominally
seeks to base itself on three premises: the main-
tenance of productive function; the conside-
ration of the rural world as the social basis of
Europe; and the protection and improvement of
the environment. Quality falls under the first
of these objectives, and appears as a key feature
of the new European agriculture that seeks to
replace the search for increased production.
This new situation, in which an attempt is
made to consider the rural environment as a
whole and not just in terms of agricultural pro-
duction, has led some authors to argue that the
European countryside is in the midst of a post-
productivist transition. New demands that com-
bine tradition and innovation are being made of
today’s countryside, and thus, the rural environ-
ment is increasingly asked to provide urban
markets not just with food but also with other
non-material assets such as nature, landscape,
territorial balance, culture, health, gastronomy
and tourism, all of which are contemplated
from the point of view of the consumer and
situated within the conceptual framework of
post-Fordism and postmodernism (Rubio 1999).
It is within this philosophical context that the
general idea of sustainable rural development
should be placed, quality products being one of
the instruments used to attain it.
In sum, the needs of consumers in terms of
rural space, centred round the search for qual-
ity in the widest sense, lead to a strong resur-
gence of place and region in a world we seem
167
determined to define as globalised. Desig-
nations of origin for agricultural products,
through the various forms of protection they
offer, are able to strengthen the geographical
relationship between production, place, pro-
ducers, preparers and consumers. Therefore,
it seems clear that links between these types of
registered products and the consumer are
established not only in the supermarket but also
through the leisure-related mobility of an urban
population that finds further appeal in the gas-
tronomy and typical products of a given area.
This paper is divided into three sections: the
first focuses on the development process of
gastronomic tourism in Spain; the second deals
with the link between gastronomy tourism and
the promotion of quality products; and the
third shows, in a global way, how the integration
of those activities can be configured into a strat-
egy for local development.
The sources used to complete this analysis
were the following:
• Documentation provided by the General
Subdirectory of Agro-Food Quality and
Promotion of the Spanish Ministry of
Agriculture, Fishing, and Food.
• Documentation provided by the General
Secretary of Tourism of the Ministry of
Industry, Tourism, and Commerce.
• Documentation provided by the Regulatory
Councils of the Denominations of Origin
(DO).
• A sample of local, provincial, and regional
tourist brochures targeted directly to the
consumer.
• Semi-structured indepth interviews with the
Regulatory Councils, tourist agents, operators
registered in the Regulatory Councils, tourists
and those on outings, and organisations that
operate at the local level.
CULTURAL TOURISM AND GASTRONOMY
IN SPAIN
The socio-economic transformations undergone
over the last two decades have affected the way
in which the concept of cultural heritage is
understood. The previous notion has been
extended and now includes monuments, groups
of buildings and historic places (UNESCO
1972), new elements linked to what is referred
© 2006 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG
168
to as popular and traditional culture. Thus,
cultural heritage is nowadays understood as ‘all
natural and cultural elements, tangible or
intangible, which are inherited or newly cre-
ated, because through these elements social
groups recognise their identity and commit
themselves to pass it on to future generations
in an improved and enriched form’ (UNESCO
1998).
The concept of cultural tourism has developed
alongside that of cultural heritage. Gastronomy,
understood as the cultural value assigned to
foods or the way in which they are prepared
in a given place or social group, is one of the
elements with close links to the new concept of
cultural heritage and one of the most highly
valued tourism resources in recent years, due to
its ability to meet the new consumer needs
associated with the demand for cultural tourism.
Gastronomy, as a tourism resource, is not only
appreciated for its intrinsic value but also on a
symbolic level, in that it is representative of
peoples and territories. In this regard, identity
should be seen as taking on prime importance
in a globalised society, where culture itself has
undergone a process of standardisation (Grande
2001). This homogenisation, that in gastron-
omy could be identified with the process of
McDonaldisation and Coca-Colarisation or with US
culinary imperialism (extended under the old
Fordist paradigm), has generated a longing for
the authentic and traditional (post-Fordism)
(Ritzer 1998; Moulin 2000). This desire has
led both to a growth in restaurants offering
traditional cuisine and quality local products
and to the consolidation of a new subcategory
of tourism: gastronomic tourism.
Another way in which gastronomy is appre-
ciated as a tourism resource is through its
compatibility with new trends of cultural con-
sumption. Gastronomy enables people to
approach culture in a more experiential and
participative way (postmodernist), one that is
not merely contemplative. Moreover, exploited
in certain ways it is able to generate tourism
products of high added value and, occasionally,
an exclusive nature (post-tourism).
All these aspects, of interest in the new system
of tourism production and consumption, mean
that gastronomy often becomes a factor of
attraction and a key element in the image of
a tourism destination, thus coming to play an
© 2006 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG
XOSÉ A. ARMESTO LÓPEZ & BELÉN GÓMEZ MARTÍN
important role in the process of purchase
decisions made by the tourist/consumer (Chon
1990). Indeed, according to a recent review by
Gallarza & Calderón (2002) of 25 TDI (tourism
destination image) studies, gastronomy is one
of the most important attributes used by poten-
tial tourists in forming images of a tourism
destination (occupying fifth place in a ranking
of twenty variables), and also one of the most
influential in terms of visitor satisfaction.
In the context of Spanish tourism, gastro-
nomic tourism is one of the emerging products
showing most development in recent years. This
is clearly illustrated both by the large quantity
of tourism products based mainly on gastro-
nomic resources (in this regard the notable
increase in gastronomic tourism routes is par-
ticularly noteworthy) and the constant rise in
the number of eating establishments. Accord-
ing to figures from the Spanish federation for
the hotel and catering trade for 2002, there
were 254,802 bars, 54,520 restaurants and
12,696 cafés in Spain, the figure for all these
establishments having practically doubled since
1985. Likewise, comparative figures showed the
restaurant subsector to have grown much more
rapidly than the other tourism subsectors: for
the period 1975–2000, the number of beds
offered by the accommodation subsector only
increased by a little over 50 per cent whereas the
number of dining places in restaurants tripled
during the same period (AECIT 2002, 2003).
This increasing development is based on the
potential resources on offer in Spain: the coun-
try’s geographical and cultural diversity provide
a wide range of foods and ways of preparing
them and, consequently, shapes and gives
content to concepts of local cuisine, regional
cooking, or the cuisine associated with large
geographical areas.
In today’s Spain, gastronomic aspects have
come to be regarded as complementary tourism
resources or as basic resources to be used in
developing tourism products. In the former
case, gastronomic resources are not in them-
selves seen as the reason behind tourist journeys
but add value to the destination’s image, help
distinguish it from competitors and play a key
role in evaluating levels of visitor satisfaction
(Bernard & Domínguez 2001). Restaurants,
understood as all those establishments special-
ised in offering traditional dishes of local and
TOURISM AND QUALITY AGRO-FOOD PRODUCTS
regional cuisine (Vallée 1992) are the tool that
brings people into contact with the gastronomic
resources of a given place, and thus a tourist’s
evaluation of this place will depend on the
number and quality of such establishments. It
is no idle speculation to say that the growth in
the number and range of restaurants in Spain
has been particularly driven by tourism activity
and the wish to exploit this complementary
resource. Indeed, the greatest increase in both
the number of eating establishments and growth
percentages is to be found in those regions
of Spain most closely associated with tourism.
For example the correlation coefficient between
the number of restaurants and nights spent in
tourist establishments by Autonomous Commu-
nity shows a solid result of r = 0.70.
Gastronomic resources and the tools used in
deploying them help to shape an image of qual-
ity for the destination that is revealed through
various promotional materials: both the images
and text that appear in Spanish tourism leaflets
place great emphasis on the type and range of
gastronomy on offer as being a fundamental
part of the tourist experience. It is no accident
that the information regarding gastronomic
resources and/or the range of products avail-
able is either presented in a separate section of
general leaflets and/or appears in a specific
leaflet dedicated exclusively to gastronomy (for
example Wines and Food from La Rioja or The
Guide to Food and Drink in the Basque Country).
In the second case, gastronomic resources
become the protagonists and play a decisive role
in drawing tourists towards certain geographi-
cal areas. Foods and/or ways of preparing
them are here the basic elements of the tourism
product, and so restaurants, a small trade in
traditional products and the presence of small
and medium-sized thematic museums take on
fundamental importance in the tourism experi-
ence. Indeed, tourists in this category dedicate
most of their budget to the food area, one which
includes not only local consumption but also
the purchase of food products as souvenirs or
for later consumption back home.
The thematisation of tourism products
around gastronomy is thus another strategy
for diversifying what is on offer and adapting
it to the new tastes of potential tourists. In the
Spanish market these basic resources are in-
corporated in three different ways.
169
Thematic routes – These appear on different
scales and consist of itineraries that seek to
explore a given place through short visits based
around a single gastronomic aspect or theme.
Routes may revolve around a particular product
or specific dishes. Gastronomic routes offer a
series of pleasurable moments and activities
related to the distinctive elements of a given
itinerary: trying products or dishes, guided
tours to learn about the agro-industrial produc-
tion of the resource (either in situ or through
museum reproductions), purchases in specialist
shops and visits to traditional markets, etc. It
should be borne in mind that such routes
enable a product to include elements that, indi-
vidually, could only be presented as comple-
mentary resources of other modes of tourism,
but which taken together form the backbone
of and create a final product of great value.
Wine tourism, which in Spain has become a
highly important part of gastronomic tourism,
is one of the products that have traditionally
been commercialised in the form of routes: for
example, there are routes through the vine-
yards of areas such as La Rioja, Ribera del Duero
and Alt Penedès.
Trips to a destination – In these cases tourists
travel, either independently or in organised
tours, to destinations of recognised gastronomic
prestige where there are a wide range of restau-
rants. These places tend to use gastronomic
products as the main attraction, although they
also include other elements of cultural or nat-
ural appeal and of recognised value. These trips
may be offered throughout the year, as in the
case of Segovia with its suckling pig, or the
Iberian cured hams of the Huelva Sierra; at
times, however, they are closely linked to the
seasonal nature of raw materials (for example,
autumn visits to the Catalan Pyrenees to enjoy wild
mushrooms or springtime trips to Pontevedra
(Galicia) to try lamprey).
Events – These include thematic festivities (tra-
ditional fairs, markets and festivals celebrating
typical customs and products) whose influence
goes beyond the strictly local area and which
attract large numbers of visitors from outside.
Galicia is particularly noteworthy in terms of
the organisation of this type of event: examples
here include festivities celebrating mussels,
© 2006 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG
170
octopus, goose barnacles, oysters and the tradi-
tional pies known as empanadas (Lois & Santos
2001). Festivities in other regions of Spain
include the traditional slaughter of pigs (in the
town of Burgo de Osma), the outdoor barbecues
of Catalan spring onions known as calçotades,
and the snail festivals in Lleida. Many of these
celebrations bear the Declaration of Tourist In-
terest, a distinction awarded to those festivals or
events deemed to illustrate cultural values and
popular traditions, especially in terms of their
ethnological characteristics, and which are of
special interest as a tourist attraction. Once
again, Galicia can be seen to place special
emphasis on these resources in its tourism
system: of the 22 festivals held in Galicia but
declared to be of tourist interest for the whole
of Spain, five are based around gastronomy.
Likewise, of the 35 festivals regarded as being
of tourist interest for Galicia (a regional decla-
ration) 16 relate to typical products and/or
dishes of the region.
The three forms of commercialisation described
show common elements in terms of the trend
presented by these types of product, namely,
one that is moving towards an entertainment-
based or dramatised approach to resources and
space (in order that they be enjoyed and experi-
enced first-hand), as well as more participative
interpretation (so as to provide the creative and
enriching experiences so much in demand
from today’s tourists).
When these resources become the protago-
nists, then the tourism image of a country,
region or destination is associated with gastro-
nomic aspects, a feature that is directly reflected
in tourism slogans and logos. This, for example,
is the case of Asturias, whose campaign slogan
(or generic brand of the Principality) is Asturias
– A Natural Paradise and whose product slogan
(or sub-brand) is Get a Taste for Asturias.
The important role played by gastronomic
aspects can be clearly seen in the promotional
stands set up by some of Spain’s autonomous
communities, provinces and destinations in
tourism fairs (such as Fitur in Madrid, ITB in
Berlin, and SITC in Barcelona), where they
display and give visitors the opportunity to try
their main products and culinary specialities.
Moreover, it is reflected in the large numbers
of specific leaflets, travelling exhibitions/
© 2006 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG
XOSÉ A. ARMESTO LÓPEZ & BELÉN GÓMEZ MARTÍN
demonstrations (for example, the one organised
in 2003 by the local authorities of Cordoba
entitled Cordoba: The Taste of a Culture) and tourist
guidebooks specialised in gastronomy.
This key role of gastronomic aspects in the
development of tourism is also evident in a
number of initiatives undertaken in Spain in
recent years.
Creation of quality labels to highlight food
products from a traditional range with close ties
to a consolidated route or tourism region –
The most well known example of this is the
quality label Tradition along the Road developed
to highlight traditional food products associ-
ated with the legendary Road to Santiago.
Making traditional products from three coun-
tries (France, Spain and Portugal) are 635
companies grouped into 16 associations corre-
sponding to 11 clearly differentiated regions,
which launched this brand onto the European
market. This quality label, a brand of brands, is
designed to highlight those foods produced
along the Road to Santiago which, either for
their intrinsic quality or the traditional produc-
tion methods used, remain faithful to the typi-
cal style associated with certain geographical
and historical features (gathers together prod-
ucts carrying Designations of Origin or foods
assigned Protected Geographical Indications, as
well as products included under the category of
recognised organic foods or, simply, traditional
products monitored by external inspections).
Its objectives include fostering regional gastro-
nomic traditions as part of the culture of the
Road to Santiago, developing new forms of
promotion and distribution in tourism and
cultural markets, and creating new jobs, partic-
ularly in rural and mountain areas that lie off
the usual economic circuits.
Foundation of specialised public/private asso-
ciations in order to develop tourism in a given
place by means of gastronomy – For example,
in 2002 the Catalan tourist board set up the
Gastronomy Club with the aim of promoting the
country through gastronomy. The club involves
various groups of chefs and restaurant owners
from across Catalonia, organisations such as the
Catalan Institute of Cuisine, producers, profes-
sionals from the world of culture and science,
and several tourist agents. One of the main
TOURISM AND QUALITY AGRO-FOOD PRODUCTS
contributions of the Gastronomy Club has been
the production of the Gastronomic Diary of
Catalonia.
Signing agreements in order to promote quality
tourism linked to gastronomy – The Spanish
Secretary of State for Trade and Tourism, the
Spanish Federation for the Hotel and Catering
Trade, the Spanish Nutrition Foundation and
the Spanish Academy of Gastronomy have
signed an agreement aimed at attracting quality
tourism to Spain. One of the best ways of doing
this, and a key element in meeting the objective,
is to promote Spanish cuisine abroad as an
expression of the country’s culture. The project
involves the development and introduction of
actions for setting standards and instruments
for recognising and promoting quality Spanish
cuisine in overseas establishments. The first
planned action to result from the agreement is
the Gastronomic Excellence Project, the aim being
to highlight Spanish restaurants abroad that
reach a certain level of quality and which trans-
mit a sense of what Spain is about. Other com-
panies and organisations from the world of food
and tourism that support this initiative may join
in signing the agreement, thus contributing to
the shared benefit of the whole sector.
THE LINKS BETWEEN QUALITY AND
PLACE
The development of gastronomic tourism is
based on the presence of certain products and
a distinctive cuisine. The identification of these
products and this singular cuisine is frequently
linked to tradition and the existence of foods
characterised by their quality.
The concept of agro-food quality is currently
one of the most widely studied issues in research
on agriculture and the rural environment
(Goodman 2003). Quality can be defined as
superiority in a given category, that is, a state
that defines the optimum condition of a food
product. Implicit within the internal quality of
a product are the following forms: (i) hygienic
quality, which refers to the absence of chemical
toxicity; (ii) nutritional quality, related to dietary
balance; (iii) organoleptic quality, defined in
terms of sensations of taste, smell, texture or
appearance; and (iv) quality of use, that is,
aspects related to conservation and ease of use
171
(Dedeire 2001). Ilbery & Kneafsey (2000) argue
that agro-food quality is approached from three
distinct perspectives: (i) that of the institutions,
where the parameters defining quality are
closely linked to the concept of hygiene; (ii)
that of producers, whose definition of the term
is centred around the raw materials and pro-
duction methods; and (iii) that of consumers,
who basically understand the concept in terms
of their experience over time and who intro-
duce the dimension of trust and risk.
Quality emerged as an objective to be sought
by consumers, institutions and producers at the
same time as the most important food scandals
came to light. Hence, it is this aspect which in
recent years has received most attention from
European countryside researchers (Goodman
2003). In Spain, many consumers have become
more wary following events such as: the contami-
nated rapeseed oil disaster in the 1980s that
caused numerous deaths and left permanent
sequelae in hundreds of people; the frequent
cases of food poisoning, particularly during the
summer months, due to salmonella bacteria;
and, in recent years, the outbreak of bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow
disease (Armesto 2003).
Quality products can be defined as those with
links to a place of reference and which, in addi-
tion and from a cultural point of view, respect
well-established traditions in terms of the way
they are obtained or produced. These circum-
stances confer upon them particular qualitative
characteristics that serve to distinguish them from
possible competitors (Gómez & Armesto 2002).
The European Union (EU) has become
aware of the cultural wealth and development
opportunities provided by production methods
that recover traditional aspects and which are
more environmentally friendly. With the aim of
promoting and protecting them, two related
regulations (No. 2081/92 and No. 2082/92)
were introduced in 1992 and defined the three
essential legal concepts for assessing value in
agriculture: Protected Designation of Origin
(PDO), Protected Geographical Indications
(PGI) and Traditional Specialities Guaranteed
(TSG). Subsequently, in 1999, Regulation (EC)
No. 1493/99 was passed in order to regulate and
describe the production system for quality wines
produced in specified regions (qwpsr). Previ-
ously, Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 had been
© 2006 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG
172 XOSÉ A. ARMESTO LÓPEZ & BELÉN GÓMEZ MARTÍN

Table 1. Number of PDOs and PGIs according to the Table 2. Distribution of the main Designations of Origin
MAPA classification ( January 2004). in Spain (2004).

Type of production Number of PDO PGI qwpdr Total

Protected
Products Andalusia 13 2 4 34
Aragon 3 3 5 17
Virgin olive oils 19 Canary Islands 2 0 8 11
Rice 3 Cantabria 3 1 0 4
Fresh meat 14 Castile and Leon 3 10 5 26
Condiments and spices 2 Castile–La Mancha 6 3 7 21
Cold cuts and other meat products 5 Catalonia 7 9 12 29
Fruit 12 Autonomous 4 5 4 16
Vegetables 10 Community of Valencia
Cured hams 4 Extremadura 9 2 2 14
Pulses 4 Galicia 2 4 5 14
Honey 3 Balearic Islands 2 1 2 11
Cheese and dairy products 20 La Rioja 0 2 2 9
Turrón, marzipan and sweet products 2 Madrid 0 2 1 4
Miscellaneous 4 Navarre 3 4 3 11
Total 102 Basque Country 1 0 5 6
Principality of Asturias 2 2 0 5
Source : <www.mapya.es/alimentacion/pags/Denomin Murcia region 4 0 3 10
acion/resultado.asp>. MAPA (2004). Total 64 50 68 242

introduced to regulate organic production. In
Spain, these new EU regulations meant that the
various levels of government had to adapt their
instruments, and in 1994 the Spanish Ministry
of Agriculture, Fisheries and Farming (MAPA)
brought their old designations of origin and
specific designations into line with the PDOs and
PGIs. In addition, a new law on wines and vineyards
was introduced in 2003, completely replacing
the previous legislation which dated back to 1970.
The last ten years in Spain have seen a pro-
liferation of quality indicators for foodstuffs,
these being especially promoted by the Autono-
mous Communities and at times reflecting the
abovementioned European legislation. This is
well illustrated by the rise in the number of
designations of origin: in 1987 there were 12,
in 1992 twenty-six, in 1997 the figure had risen
to 49, while by 2002 there were 88 PDOs and
PGIs. Figures for the beginning of 2004 show
that Spain boasts a total 102 products covered
by these two basic legal concepts (see Table 1),
it being one of the European Union states with
the highest numbers of such concepts. In addi-
tion to foodstuffs whose quality is recognised by
the EU there is a whole host of parallel food
products which either come accompanied by a
Source : <www.mapya.es/alimentacion/pags/Denomin
acion/resultado.asp>, MAPA (2004).
regional guarantee issued by the respective
Autonomous Community, or which despite hav-
ing no official quality label are widely acknowl-
edged and prized by consumers.
One issue which is of clear interest in the
minds of consumers is the identification of
foodstuffs protected by one of the legal con-
cepts, what Sage (2003) calls ‘good food’. Con-
sumers interpret origin as a sign that enables
them to attribute a qualitative value to a product,
a fine quality that is free from risks (Dedeire
2001). These better or healthier products are
directly linked to defined regions, localities or
places where they are cultivated, raised or pro-
duced. In the case of Spain, agro-food protec-
tion concepts most commonly appear at local
level (Gómez & Armesto 2002). This same idea
of quality associated with a return to the local
features as one of the central arguments in a
recent report by Winter (2003).
In terms of the territorial distribution of
these products in Spain the Autonomous Com-
munities in which they are most abundant are
Andalusia, Catalonia, and Castile and Leon (see
Table 2). There are various reasons why there

© 2006 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG

TOURISM AND QUALITY AGRO-FOOD PRODUCTS
is such a noticeable imbalance between these
three regions and those with fewer legal con-
cepts of geographical protection, namely,
Madrid, Cantabria and Asturias. Both Castile
and Leon, and Andalusia are regions covering
a vast area with a great variety of agricultural
landscapes (this is particularly the case of Anda-
lusia) and this results in there being a large
number of distinct products. In addition to
these geographical factors the – to an extent –
peripheral nature of the economy in the rural
areas of the two communities has had a decisive
influence in terms of their maintaining forms
of production already discarded in other places.
Although Catalonia does not share these char-
acteristics, in that it is a medium-sized region,
it is, geographically speaking, very varied in
terms of agro-food production: in addition to
an important internal market and a strong com-
mercial presence beyond its borders, it has very
modern and technologically-advanced agricul-
tural and food sectors, an important network
of rural initiatives and a much smaller active
agricultural population than in the other cases.
The common feature of these regions with less
presence in this issue is their smaller size (none
of them extends beyond 11,000 km2). In the
context of differentiated agricultural production
the case of Madrid is somewhat special in that
its rate of urbanisation is higher than any other
region, and its agricultural assets reach only
residual levels (0.3%); it therefore seems logical
that it is an Autonomous Community with
fewer declared Designations of Origin. The
other two areas mentioned, Asturias and
Cantabria, are, from a physical point of view,
relatively homogenous in that they are bounded
at a similar latitude by the high peaks of the
Cantabrian Mountains and the Cantabrian
Sea; they also border one another. However, this
relative homogeneity, particularly when com-
pared with other autonomous regions of Spain,
is not in itself sufficient to explain the lesser
presence of geographical designations of quality;
another key factor is the regional governments
themselves and their decisions regarding the
promotion of typical products.
All these products bearing a quality label
provide the basis for the development of gastro-
nomic tourism. Indeed, it can be argued that
the recognition offered by one of these legal
concepts consolidates and shapes gastronomic
173
tourism resources which until recently had not
been used to this end. The recognition of
gastronomic products positions them in the
market and aids the process through which
specialised tourism resources can be based on
them. This is illustrated by the fact that the
development of gastronomic tourism in Spain
has gone hand in hand with the development
of the different legal concepts for valuing and
protecting agro-food products.
DISCUSSION. THE INTEGRATION OF
AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES AND
TOURISM: STRATEGIES FOR LOCAL
DEVELOPMENT. THE CASE OF PRIORAT
(CATALONIA)
The connection between the agricultural and
tourism sectors in largely rural areas has led to
the development of bidirectional quality stan-
dards: had this qualitative perspective not been
introduced such a link would be almost impossi-
ble. The idea that survival of the countryside was
totally dependent on rural activity being plural
in nature was raised at the Cork conference on
rural development back in 1996, and continued
to form part of the Salzburg Declaration of 2003.
It seems clear that in the coming years the intro-
duction of primary and tertiary activities into the
same family or business environment will be one
of the factors that sees the European countryside
becoming increasingly multi-functional.
This kind of association is directly fostered by
the rural development policy that has been
advocated by the EU since the end of the 1990s;
it would form part of what Jouen (2001) calls
the extrovert view of rural development, or to
put it another way, an approach that fundamen-
tally seeks to import modernity in the form of
economic development programmes for tertiary
(tourism, cultural heritage) or primary (agricul-
ture, fishing) activities, improved quality and the
commercialisation of traditionally-produced
agricultural products. These approaches are
consistent with that set out in the EU initiative
LEADER which, together with the PRODER
programme, is one of the key strategies of
modern European rural development policy.
However, Esparcia (2001) argues that the im-
portance of these programmes is relative in that
although they are more territorially-focused
they are not more quantitatively important. The
© 2006 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG
174
total amount spent on sectorial approaches and
accompanying measures is much greater than
the budget of the two programmes mentioned
above.
The first rural development actions within
the framework of the LEADER programme
were implemented in 1991, and for the first
three years were focused precisely on the devel-
opment of rural tourism and the re-appreciation
of agricultural products, among other impor-
tant issues such as the promotion of traditional
production methods and professional training.
Linked to this first initiative were two further
and similar programmes which, until 1999, were
known as LEADER II and PRODER (Esparcia
2003). In this second period the majority of
actions concerned tourism activities, the pro-
motion of small industrial and service compa-
nies, and the development and improvement of
firms producing and commercialising agricul-
tural resources; these three categories alone
accounted for three-quarters of the total invest-
ment (Alario Trigueros 2001). The third phase
of the initiative, which got underway in 1999, is
called LEADER + and has three basic objectives:
(i) the appreciation of both natural and cul-
tural heritage; (ii) improving rural economies
through job creation; and (iii) improving the
organisational capacity of rural communities.
In addition, the PRODER programme also has
a second stage which, as in the case of LEADER,
will take it through to 2006.
The concept of rural development currently
includes a series of features that until recently
had not seemed remotely necessary. For example,
aspects such as respect for the environment,
social equity, the recovery and maintenance of
culture and the interrelatedness and multi-
functionality of jobs and the economy are now
seen as absolutely essential for the survival of
the rural environment. Economic sectors can
no longer remain isolated but must comple-
ment, promote and provide feedback to one
another, this being the basis of the relationship
between gastronomic tourism and quality agri-
cultural products. Thus, it is increasingly com-
mon to find restaurant menus in rural Spain
that include not only a description of the dishes
on offer but also complementary information
regarding their protected designation. This
strategy of differentiation has led to an increase
in the number of trade fairs, local festivities,
© 2006 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG
XOSÉ A. ARMESTO LÓPEZ & BELÉN GÓMEZ MARTÍN
specialist magazines, cook books and tourist
information leaflets dedicated to regional pro-
ducts, thus illustrating the growing interest being
shown across Europe in this issue (Voth 2001).
Assigning value to agricultural products plays
a key role in the different stages of the European
LEADER initiative and the PRODER pro-
grammes. Indeed, there are numerous exam-
ples of such actions within Spain: for example,
sheep’s milk cheese and lamb have been valued
in the district of La Serena (Extremadura) for
over ten years; in several districts of Andalusia
(Sierra Morena, Serranías de Ronda and
Grazalema, etc.) large game animals, such as
wild boar and deer, have come to form the basis
of a differentiated gastronomy with tourist
appeal; also in Andalusia, in Sierra de Aracena,
cured ham bearing the PDO of Jamón de Huelva,
together with wild mushrooms, serves as a
core feature around which much of the area’s
tourism is promoted.
Gastronomic tourism, as well as being an end
in achieving local development, is also a basic
tool for promoting and distributing the local
agro-food products which likewise need to be
commercialised for this development to take
off. This is understandable if one considers that
one of the defining characteristics of this type
of product is their local nature and links to
small businesses, the latter facing difficulties in
promoting and selling their products. This is
why: (i) basic tourism infrastructure (restaurants,
rural houses, hotels, etc.) is developed in order
that foodstuff producers use these establish-
ments to market their products; (ii) museums,
wine centres and educational centres are estab-
lished, and events and markets are organised,
to enable the public to learn more about the
assets of a given area; and (iii) tourism promo-
tion in a particular area is linked to the existence
of quality agro-food products, this becoming a
basic strategy for such promotion. Indeed,
tourists and day trippers may become the
saviours of small businesses, not only by helping
to make their products more widely known
but also by facilitating self-commercialisation,
that is, by enabling producers listed in the
official designation of origin registers to sell
their products directly. It is hoped that this sales
strategy will be able to consolidate a potential
market of mid- to high-level consumers. Indeed,
the development of thematic tourism implies
TOURISM AND QUALITY AGRO-FOOD PRODUCTS
the specialisation of a target public (those in-
terested in gastronomic issues) that, by chance,
coincides with the real or potential market of
these quality foodstuffs.
One of the cases that best illustrates this situ-
ation is that of the Priorat region (Catalonia).
This is a good example of how a product that
is distinguished for its quality, in this case wine,
can serve as an attraction for a significant
number of visitors, offering the territory oppor-
tunities for endogenous development. The fact
that the region possesses production that is
managed in an efficient and modern way means
that the quality label enjoys a good position in
the market and, therefore, strengthens the rest of
the local economy directly linked to the product.
The success of this territory linked with the
Denomination of Origin has coincided with the
benefits of a rural development group, LEADER
II (1994–99), which contributed 4,722,000 $
and later Leader + (currently functioning),
which has a budget of 3,606,072 $ from the
government which is supplemented with private
investment that takes the total to 9,720,000 $.
The data clearly reflect this position since the
majority of the 50 initiatives that have been
completed are directly related with the world of
wine, high-end agro-food products, restaurants,
and tourism.
In the Priorat region, the success of the
revaluation of the product from the agrarian
perspective can be seen by looking at the fol-
lowing numbers: the increase in the area dedi-
cated to viticulture in the municipalities that
make up the Denominación de Origen is more
than notable, it went from 890 hectares in 1998
to 1,600 in 2005; the number of bodegas in 1990
was scarcely 10, while in 1998 it was already 23
Table 3. Evolution of tourist lodging beds, establishment of restaurants, businesses, industries and small-business
specialised agro-fish products in the Priorat region.
1975 1986
Hotels 76 87
Camping 0 0
Rural accommodation 0 0
Restaurants na na
Specialised shops na na
Agrofood industries na na
* Data from 1994.
Source : Institut d’Estadística de Catalunya. <www.idescat.net>.
175
and in 2003 it climbed to 45, with 54 in opera-
tion today. In the same way, wine production has
also increased from 13,419 hl in 1998 to 21,000
in 2003. The number of winemakers has also
increased from 425 in 1998 to 600 today.
This new push based on wine has a trans-
lation in the regional economy and society as
can be seen in the evolution of the following
measures. The importance of wine is such that
for the year 2003, 46.3 per cent of the agrarian
GDP came from this product. The population
of citizens younger than 44 that, until 1996, lost
almost three per cent of the total every five
years, seems to have stabilised at 48 per cent
(this proportion did not change from 2001 to
2003, and the stratum that corresponds to those
younger than 15 years has experienced a slight
rebound such that it is now about where it was
ten years ago).
The labour market, which until a very short
time ago was the same as any marginal agrarian
region shows clear signs of improvement: the
unemployment rate (4%) is lower than the
averages for Catalonia (6%) and Spain (9%),
while the working population increased by
24 per cent from 1996. The distribution of jobs
in the municipalities of the DO clearly show the
importance of the DO, according to the last
population census (2001), 34 per cent of the
jobs are directly related to wine production,
sales in specialised establishments, and hospi-
tality. In fact, in the last four years the beds in
tourist lodgings have increased by a factor of 15
and restaurants, food businesses, and agro-food
businesses have not stopped increasing in
number (see Table 3).
Furthermore, as a consequence of this relative
dynamism, the territory has begun to receive
1992 1996 2000 2001 2002
95 174 174 174 174
0 0 475 475 853
0 0 115 162 177
na 24 29 29 30
83* 83 97 95 92
46* 46 75 79 82
© 2006 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG
176
immigration, an estimated five per cent of
the resident population is not Spanish-born (in
1996 the foreign population was only 0.7% of
the total). Similarly, land prices increased by
a factor of ten in the last decade and, in terms
of housing prices and in spite of the limited
volume, it is following the Catalan trend average
(an increase of 19% in the last year).
The above data reference the majority opinion
of the agents involved. According to the data
gathered in our surveys, the majority of those
interviewed partially attributed the economic and
social development of the region to the Denomi-
nation of Origin. For this reason, the following
questions appear which are totally or partially
linked to the success of the wine DO of Priorat:
• The creation of new work opportunities for
young people in the region.
• Increases in family incomes.
• Attraction of foreign investment.
• Promotion of the territory abroad.
• Attracting tourists.
• Recovering popular culture.
• The promotion of the unique products and
gastronomy of the region.
• Increase in the prices of land and housing.
• Putting land that had been abandoned under
cultivation.
• Creating new regions similar to this one.
SOME FINAL REMARKS
In recent years, new forms of tourism have
clearly emerged in certain geographical and
market areas that had previously been overlooked
by tourist agents and, therefore, by consumers.
At the same time, the Spanish countryside has
eagerly sought to assert the value of its products
through the protection offered by legislation
that establishes a direct relationship between
quality and the geographical origin of products.
The result of these intertwined processes has
been feedback between two productive sectors,
the primary and the tertiary joining forces in
order to take up a strong position in a market
where tradition plays a key role.
The links developed between the production
of quality agro-livestock products and these new
forms of tourism have led to the appearance of
a gastronomy which both recovers traditional
methods and is able to offer innovative proposals
© 2006 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG
XOSÉ A. ARMESTO LÓPEZ & BELÉN GÓMEZ MARTÍN
on the basis of quality products. The two issues
discussed in this paper quality production and
tourism, therefore serve as tools which, through
gastronomy or other sales channels, contribute
to the rural development of numerous regions
and localities that seek to participate in patterns
of consumption increasingly linked to urban
environments.
In the Priorat region the improvement of the
principal economic and social indicators and of
the opinion of the agents involved show how the
existence of a trademark and agricultural
promotion become an important local develop-
ment tool which transcends the production
area. The change in relative employment figures
and their link with the wine sector, together
with the area defined by the Denomination of
Origin and the number of related companies
are clear indicators of this fact. In the same way,
statistics from the tourist phenomenon show
how this has evolved in parallel to reinforce the
Denomination of Origin; currently, there are
numerous business initiatives in the region that
link these two sectors.
In sum, quality agro-food products and all
aspects related to them are the driving force
behind a number of rural development projects
implemented in recent years in many areas that
had previously been considered marginal from
an economic point of view. These projects are
injecting new life into these regions, not only
economically but also by strengthening them
socially.
Acknowledgements
This paper has been written as part of the research
project Territorial Imbalances: Labour Markets and Mar-
ginal Areas in Catalonia, funded by the CYCIT (project
BSO2001-3095) and through a research grant ( Ajut
de Suport a la Recerca dels Grups Consolidats del II Pla de
Recerca) awarded by the Autonomous Government of
Catalonia (2001SGR-00016).
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