‘My life and my art were born of the sea’

                                                                                                                                                                                Carmen Amaya

Benefiting from a Santander Mobility grant, Dr. Georgiana Els (Ciuchete) spent a week in Begur, Spain to conduct in-depths interviews with local community members involved in the Cittaslow movement. Located at the heart of the Empordá region, the small town of Begur is one of the first six slow towns in Spain that aims to enhance the living quality of its residents and visitors by supporting and encouraging the Cittaslow philosophy.

The main aim of the research project is to explore how the Cittaslow implementation enhances local community’s empowerment whilst developing sustainable tourism destinations. In order to achieve the goal of the research, discussions and meetings took place with members of Cittaslow Begur, the local business community, residents and the city council. The mayor of Begur is currently the vice-president of Cittaslow International Coordinating Committee and thus, being at the forefront of the slow movement. He kindly set up a meeting in which the strengths and weekends of Begur as Cittaslow destination were discussed.

Slow Begur

While in Empordá region, Dr. Els discussed with key decision makers and influencers, established contacts with University of Girona and visited the newly opened recycling center located in the ‘Mas Pinc’ castle donated to the town hall by the famous flamenco dancer Carmen Amaya.

The involvement and participation of the local community in tourism planning and management is crucial for sustainable tourism and community empowerment. Thus, the project results will be beneficial for policy makers and tourism practitioners in a small-scaled destination providing the insight of community empowerment.

 

Indians

 

The project enabled collaboration opportunities for research with Cittaslow Spain, Ajuntament de Begur and University of Girona. A special thank you goes to Santander for funding the travel and to the local business who participated in the study.

 

Begur