Santiago de Compostela is an iconic place. From the 9th century through to the present day the city has acted as the final destination of a major pilgrimage route named after it. In the article we ask ourselves how the contemporary reinvention of the pilgrimage and pilgrimages on the Way of St. James has boosted tourism development in the city. Development has been concentrated in the historic city centre and in the area around the cathedral. The importance of tourism has transformed the significance of the city itself, which acquires a magical component as a place of arrival and encounter for all kinds of visitors. The historic city has been set up in the 20th century as a destination for the Way and for cultural tourism. The buildings, particularly those connected with the pilgrimage route, become highly attractive and symbolic places and tourists carry out a number of rituals in them. They travel and enjoy Santiago as a unique experience. The study of tourism and of the tourist transformation of Santiago de Compostela is undertaken using a qualitative and quantitative method. The article analyses the heritage and symbolic value of the historic centre, together with the growth of its tourism activities. Numerical data are also provided on the perceptions and behaviour of visitors using surveys carried out by the city's Tourism Observatory.
AshworthGJ (2003) La ciudad histórico-turística: Desarrollo y sostenibilidad. In: Patronato Provincial de Turismo de Granada (ed) Desarrollo turístico integral de ciudades monumentales, Granada: Patronato Provincial de Turismo de Granada, pp. 291–311.
2.
AshworthGJTunbridgeJE (1990) The Tourist-histori City, London: Belhaven Press.
3.
Castro FernándezBMª (2007) Francisco Pons-Sorolla y Arnau, arquitecto-restaurador: sus intervenciones en Galicia (1945–1985), Santiago de Compostela: Servizo de Publicacións e Intercambio Científico, University of Santiago de Compostela.
4.
Cetur, Centro de Estudos Turísticos & Xacobeo (2007–2010) Observatorio estatístico do Camiño de Santiago 2007, 2008, 2009 e 2010, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela: Xunta de Galicia & Centro de Estudos Turísticos (CETUR).
5.
ChidesterDLinenthalET (1995) American Sacred Space, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
6.
ChoayF (1992–2007) Alegoría del Patrimonio, Barcelona: Editorial Gustavo GiliSpanish Edition.
7.
ClavalP (1999) Los Fundamentos Actuales de la Geografía Cultural. Documents d'Anàlisi Geogràfica34: 25–40.
8.
CohenE (1992) Pilgrimage and Tourism: Convergence and Divergence. In: MorinisA (ed) Sacred Journeys. The Anthropology of Pilgrimage, Westport: Greenwood Press, pp. 47–61.
9.
ColemanSEadeJ (2004) Reframing Pilgrimage. Cultures in Motion, London: Routledge.
10.
CollignonB (1999) La geografía cultural en Francia: un estado de la cuestión. Documents d'Anàlisi Geogràfica34: 107–117.
11.
Collins-KreinerN (2010) Researching Pilgrimage. Continuity and transformations. Annals of Tourism Research37(2): 440–456.
12.
CosgroveD (1998) Social Formation and Symbolic Landscape, Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press.
13.
CosgroveDDanielsS (1998) The Iconography of Landscape, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
14.
Criado BoadoFGonzález PérezCA (1996) Fichas e redes, sitios e paisaxes: das bases de datos ós sistemas de información, dos inventarios estáticos ós catálogos interactivos. In: Fontenla SanJuan (ed) Os profesionais da Historia ante o Patrimonio Cultural: liñas metodolóxicas, Santiago de Compostela: Dirección Xeral de Patrimonio Cultural, pp. 103–121.
15.
DavieG (2000) Religion in Modern Europe. A Memory Mutates, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
16.
De la Calle VaqueroM (2002) La ciudad histórica como destino turístico, Barcelona: Ariel.
17.
De la FlorFR (1998) Los lugares de la memoria: el intelectual y el aura de la ciudad histórica entre dos fines de siglo. In: Castillo Oreja MA (ed) Centros Históricos y conservación del patrimonio, Madrid: Fundación Argentaria, pp. 127–147.
18.
FarinelliF (1992) I segni del mondo. Immagine cartografica e discorso cartografico in età moderna, Florence: La Nuova Italia.
19.
FarinelliF (2003) Geografia. Un'introduzione ai modelli del mondo, Turin: Einaudi.
20.
Fernández ArenasJ (1995) Elementos Simbólicos de la peregrinación Jacobea. Actas del Congreso de Estudios Jacobeos, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, Santiago de Compostela: Dirección Xeral de Promoción do Camiño de Santiago, pp. 263–275.
21.
HalbwachsMLewisAC (1992) On Collective Memory, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
22.
KnottK (2005) The Location of Religion: A Spatial Analysis, London: Equinox Publishing Ltd.
23.
KramschOT (1999) El horizonte de la nueva geografía cultural. Documents d'Anàlisi Geogràfica34: 53–68.
24.
LefebvreH (1975) La production de l'espace, Paris: Anthropos.
25.
LiY (2003) Heritage tourism: The contradictions between conservation and change. Tourism and Hospitality Research4(3): 247–261.
26.
Lois GonzálezRC (2013) The Camino de Santiago and its contemporary renewal: Pilgrims, tourists and territorial identities. Culture and Religion: An Interdisciplinary Journal14(1): 8–22.
27.
Lois GonzálezRCCastro FernándezBMª (2006) Se loger dans le passé. La récupération emblématique de l'Hostal des Rois Catholiques de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle en hôtel de luxe. Espaces et Sociétés126(3): 159–177.
28.
Lois GonzalezRCLopezL (2012) El Camino de Santiago: una aproximación a su carácter polisémico desde la geografía cultural y el turismo. Documents d'Anàlisi Geogràfica58(3): 459–479.
29.
Lopez L (2013) La Imagen de Santiago de Compostela y del Camino en Italia. Una Aproximación desde la Geografía Cultural. PhD Thesis, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
30.
MaddrellA (2009) A place for grief and belief: the Witness Cairn, Isle of Whithorn, Galloway, Scotland. Social and Cultural Geography10(6): 675–693.
31.
MaddrellADella DoraV (2013) Editorial: Space of renewal. Culture and Religion: An Interdisciplinary Journal14: 1–7.
32.
MasseyD (2002) For Space, London: Sage.
33.
MorinisA (1992) Sacred Journeys. The Anthropology of Pilgrimage, Westport CT: Greenwood Press.
34.
Observatorio do Camino de Santiago (2007) Informe do Perfil do Peregrino 2007, Santiago de Compostela: Consorcio Instituto de Estudios Turísticos de Galicia.
35.
PoppM (2012) Positive and negative urban tourist crowding: Florence, Italy. Tourism Geographies: An International Journal of Tourism Space, Place and Environment14(1): 50–72.
36.
QuinnB (2007) Performing tourism. Venetian residents in focus. Annals of Tourism Research34(2): 458–476.
37.
Riegl A (1987) El culto moderno a los monumentos. Caracteres y origen. Madrid: Visor (1ª ed 1903. Der moderne Denkmalkultus, sein Wesen, seine Entstehung).
38.
RinschedeG (1992) Forms of religious tourism. Annals of Tourism Research19(1): 51–67.
39.
Santos SollaXMLois GonzálezRC (2011) El Camino de Santiago en el contexto de los nuevos turismos. Estudios Turísticos189: 87–110.
40.
Santos SollaXMLopezL (2014) Tourism policies and planning in Santiago de Compostela (Spain). In: NunkooRSeetanahBSannasseeRV (eds) Conference Proceedings. 4th Advances in Hospitality & Tourism Marketing & Management Conference, Washington State University: Faculty of Law and Management, University of Mauritius: Mauritius and School of Hospitality Business Management & USA Washington State University, pp. 175–202.
41.
Santos SollaXMPena CabreraL (2014) Management of Tourist Flows. The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Pasos. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural12(4): 719–735.
42.
SchrammK (2004) Coming home to the motherland. Pilgrimage tourism in Ghana. In: ColemanSEadeJ (eds) Reframing Pilgrimage. Cultures in Motion, London: Routledge, pp. 133–149.
43.
StoddardRMorinisA (1997) Sacred Places, Sacred Spaces. The Geography of Pilgrimage, Baton Rouge, LA: Geoscience Publications.
44.
TurnbullC (1992) Postscript: Anthropology as pilgrimage, anthropologist as pilgrim. In: Morinis A (ed) Sacred Journeys. The Anthropology of Pilgrimage, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, pp. 257–274.
45.
TuanYF (1977) Space and Place. The Perspective of Experience, 7a edn. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
46.
Turismo de Santiago de Compostela (2004) PLAN de Marketing Estratégico del Turismo: Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela: Author.
47.
Turismo de Santiago de Compostela (2006) PLAN de Excelencia Turística 2001-2005, Memoria, Santiago de Compostela: Author.
48.
Van der BorgJCostaPGottiG (1996) Tourism in European heritage cities. Annals of Tourism Research23(2): 306–321.
49.
Van der LeeuwG (1933) Religion in Essence and Manifestation, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
50.
WeidenfeldA (2006) Religious needs in the hospitality industry. Tourism and Hospitality Research6(2): 143–159.
