María Ruiz I Granada, (EFE).- Some thirty outreach centers, fifty municipalities, 4,700 square kilometers and more than 5,000 accommodation places are just the figures for the Granada Geopark, a space recognized by UNESCO three years ago. years that is also an opportunity for development, tourism and economic.
The geological value of a space brushed in the Quaternary and almost two decades of work served for UNESCO to recognize the Granada Geopark as a member of the Global Geoparks Network on July 10, 2020.
The one in Granada is one of the 16 in Spain. And it stands out in the list of almost 200 protected areas distributed in 48 countries for offering one of the best records of continental sediments and fossils of the last five million years of Earth’s history.
Geological and heritage perspective
That past guarded on earth has become opportunities for the future thanks to a project. The Geopark, which has a geological and heritage perspective. But it also presents scientific, tourist, development, museum, environmental and even gastronomic edges. Many sides of a coin to combat the cross of depopulation.
The 47 municipalities with some 100,000 residents who share this project have paleontological, archaeological, and ethnographic resources. Samples of troglodyte, a network of viewpoints and another of ecotourism trails. But they also boast of attachment to the territory, unpolluted skies, caves and diversity.
The extension of the Granada Geopark, one of the ones that brings together more municipalities from the entire network of spaces protected by Unesco, allows you to combine spectacular contrasting landscapes. And that they have already established themselves as a tourist destination with their own name.
The Granada Geopark has a tourism sustainability plan with twenty actions and a budget of 4 million. And three action plans focused on geology and landscape, project management and an educational and environmental awareness program.
A team work
“Without a doubt, the Granada Geopark is one of the great attractions of Granada. A project that we are really proud of, because it is young but it is full of possibilities. I’m talking about tourism, territorial development, culture, heritage, the environment. Of depopulation and, of course, of economic growth”, the acting president of the Granada Provincial Council, José Entrena, explained to EFE.
This institution led the candidacy also promoted by the Rural Development Group of Guadiz and the Altiplano de Granada. The Geological and Mining Institute of Spain and the Association for the economic promotion of Los Montes. With the support of the neighbors and about twenty entities such as the universities of Granada and Jaén.
“It is one of the most ambitious that have been carried out in the province. 47 municipalities located in a territory affected by depopulation have been able to agree to transform their natural heritage into a tool to improve their present and future”, Entrena summarized.
Looking at the sky in the Granada Geopark
The Granada Geopark has already become a tourist destination that has increased visits by 30% since 2021. Thanks to the efforts of nearly 200 tourist establishments. With an estimated economic impact in the area of almost 59.2 million, according to data provided by the Diputación.
But it is also science, the one that is going to be studied and the one that will make it possible to turn a sky free of pollution into the star of astrotourism.
At the moment, the first five astronomical viewpoints have been installed. This figure will grow next year with the endorsement of the IAA-CSIC Sky Quality Office. In charge of a study on the quality of the night sky in the Granada Geopark.
According to their data, 42% of its surface preserves conditions that would make it a candidate to obtain quality certifications and 11% present “exceptional” conditions that are difficult to find in the Iberian Peninsula, which makes it possible to request sky quality certifications. night.
The Geopark has also designed a great trail of 372 kilometers and 17 stages that runs throughout the territory, a circular proposal to cover its main claims.
In addition, the Ecotourism Association in Spain accredits local companies as collaborators of the Geopark, some 20 last year to which another 24 will be added in 2023.
The Granada Geopark is made up of caves, skies full of stars, cliffs, hot air ballooning, desert and lunar landscapes, badlands and dolmens, but above all it is the legacy of a past to shield the future. EFE