MARTA GONZÁLEZ-HONTORIA
Updated Monday, January 29, 2024-02:34
Teruel Matarraña, the hidden treasure of emptied Spain (and why they call it Aragonese Tuscany)
Route The perfect getaway through Spain has its own name: the Canal de Castilla
Two years ago he left his native Barcelona for a town, El Espinar (Segovia), which is not one of the Most Beautiful Towns in Spain, the association chaired by Francisco Mestre since 2016, but has "a spectacular environment." Mestre is also one of the founders of this initiative imported from France that in our geography has given rural tourism colossal visibility and momentum in the last ten years. "Today it sells more to be a town than a city," says Mestre, who continues to admire municipalities such as Parauta (Málaga), one of the last included in the association. "No one knew it and it surprised us all. Everything paved, everything intact whitewashed, a magical place." As of January 1, there are now 116 towns with this distinction. "Just naming a town as a new member of the association is a promotional campaign for them that would cost a fortune."
Ask.
Why is it that there are only five towns in Catalonia in the association?
Answer.
This association is created by people from civil society. People interested in the rural world, in architecture, in heritage... Curiously, almost all Catalans. That we only have five Catalan towns and one in the Basque Country (Laguardia) is because it is difficult to put the word Spain in the rural world. We could have many more towns in Catalonia if the association were called the 'Most Beautiful Towns of the Iberian Peninsula'.
Q.
When did you realize the impact on rural tourism of this alliance of towns?
A.
At the first assembly we held, the mayor of Rubielos de Mora, Teruel, approached me and told me: We have done a survey at the Tourism Office and 50% of the visitors have come because we are one of the Most Beautiful Towns in Spain. . Then we began to see that our towns multiplied tourism by two, three and we have cases of up to 20. We have managed to deseasonalize tourism. There are people to whom we have literally given life. Especially in the less known, the impact is brutal.
Q.
It is also possible to die of success. What are some of the challenges you face?
A.
Now we have to have more help from the administrations close to the municipalities. There are towns that have gone from having 2,000 visitors a year to having 50,000 and this causes problems for them. They do not have services to offer visitors or they do not have people to collect the garbage they create. It is logical that if you have 50 inhabitants and 400,000 people come each year you will be overwhelmed. We need aid from public administrations not to be given to towns based on their inhabitants, but rather based on the visitors they receive.
Q.
Is there any town that has regretted being in the association for massification? Was this the case of Rupit, in Catalonia?
A.
We have not gone to see Rupit as an association. We have never invited them to enter and they have never been members of the associations. Only Trujillo left in 2016 and has re-entered this year, but that was a political reason.
Q.
What percentage of towns manage to be one of the most beautiful?
A.
This year 19 have requested it and five have entered. Around 25% of those who apply manage to enter. Our quality commission assesses both new towns and those already there because there are problems that arise over time. One of the latest decisions they have made is that there cannot be solar panels on the roofs of historic centers. If not, we destroy the assets.
Q.
How can a candidacy be distorted?
A.
The main reason is urban planning. There are towns with beautiful historic centers, but they are surrounded by eight-story buildings. The larger the town, the more of these problems appear. The towns of the association cannot exceed 15,000 inhabitants, but the reality is that 93% have less than 3,000.
Q.
How many beautiful towns do you estimate could still join the association?
A.
In France they have 165 towns, but the population limit there is 2,000 inhabitants. We follow the Italian scale—municipalities with a maximum of 15,000 residents—and they have more than 300 towns. For me it's maybe too much. I always said that the limit of our association would be between 150 or 160 members at most. If we consider the towns in Catalonia and Euskadi that should be there, we would already be approaching 135 or 140... And there may always be some that we do not know, as has happened to us this year with Parauta, in Malaga.
Q.
There are provinces without a single town...
A.
In Murcia we have not had any town that has passed the audit. We have gone to Albacete and neither. The criteria is the same for everyone, but there are provinces that are very expensive now and from the beginning. For example, Teruel, which already hosts seven very powerful towns and we continue to receive candidates.
Q.
Do you consider that the association has fulfilled its mission?
A.
The association has greatly exceeded its expectations. I would invite you to call the mayors. And it is not only because of the greater number of visitors. It is the fact of having heritage, of caring for it, of preserving it. Nowadays a town sells better than a city. For me, the word town is valued better than the word city.
Q. How are you fighting against overcrowding?
A. To avoid it, especially at certain times, the association is creating a system of traffic lights that indicate to visitors what the parking lots, hotels and restaurants in the towns are like. The idea is that if it has snowed in Morella and you want to go see it, you can check if many other people have had the same idea. Or if you go on two weekends, know if it coincides with the Moors and Christians festival.
From 14 towns to 116
Les Plus Beaux Villages de France
, that is, The Most Beautiful Villages of France is the mother of all these associations (there are currently 13 in the world). She was born in 1982 and it was soon seen that her towns attracted people from all over the world. "We then decided to talk about it with mayors in Spain who could have that distinction and that's how our association was born in 2011," says Mestre. At the first assembly, 14 towns were present. Today there are already 116.
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