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The Pontevedra municipality of Campo Lameiro is, by popular vote, the new Capital of Rural Tourism 2023, a title promoted by the Rural Getaway platform that distinguishes the favorite rural destination of travelers in Spain. It is the first time that a Galician town is made with the award. With more than 100,000 votes, the Pontevedra has achieved 16.9% of user support. He faced powerful candidates, including Candeleda (Ávila) and Zerain (Gipuzkoa) who have been second and third classified with 16% and 12.4% of the votes, respectively.

The mystery and legend of Campo Lameiro have been able to with everyone. The town of the region of Terras de Pontevedra, with a charm of an almost intact rural and ancestral traditions, hides endless enigmas, natural landscapes and the traces of disappeared civilizations that seduce the visitor.

"We have shown that, being a modest and humble municipality, we are great in heritage, in history, in gastronomy, in landscape, in ethnography, in culture and above all in people with great hearts, excited and proud of their municipality," said the mayor of Campo Lameiro, Carlos Costa Domínguez, upon receiving the award. "I would like to thank the support for our candidacy from absolutely all areas: culture, media, politics... to our voters who have been many and from everywhere... But I would like to emphasize that, without a doubt, the most important and the most exciting thing has been and is to listen to the neighbors, protagonists of our candidacy, to feel proud of their house, a house in harmony and open to everyone. Without them, who protect and care for our memory and heritage every day, none of this would be possible."

Petroglyphs in the town of Pontevedra.SHUTTERSTOCK

The magic of its stones

In this heritage we must highlight, of course, the Archaeological Park of Rock Art (PAAR) of Campo Lameiro, an extraordinary cultural landscape characterized by the high density of petroglyphs. The visit allows you to observe the geometric and naturalistic designs of Galician rock art and observe some of the most notable petroglyphs of Galicia through an itinerary of more than 3 kilometers in length dotted by the rest areas and fountains.

The Capital of Rural Tourism awards were born seven years ago with the aim of giving visibility through a great campaign to disseminate Rural Getaway to those municipalities that are committed to the development of sustainable rural tourism and thus discover new destinations to explore. After seven years of competition, it has become clear that the initiative has helped many municipalities to increase their notoriety and position themselves as a relevant rural destination, thus contributing to local development, according to their respective mayors.

Now, Campo Lameiro picks up the baton of the Jaenense town of Cazorla, which has held to date the title of Capital of Rural Tourism after proclaiming itself the winner last year in which it obtained 20.9% of the votes received. Its name joins those of other towns such as Olvera (Jaén), Potes (Cantabria), Santillana del Mar (Cantabria); Aínsa-Sobrarbe (Huesca) and Sigüenza (Guadalajara) awarded in previous years.

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