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Date Published: 19/07/2024

Slow Tourism: Town in Murcia, Spain pilots new model to fight overcrowding

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Caravaca de la Cruz is leading a European project to promote good practices in sustainable tourism

Slow Tourism: Town in Murcia, Spain pilots new model to fight overcrowding

Caravaca de la Cruz is taking centre stage in the development of a slow and sustainable tourism model along the Camino de Levante pilgrimage route as part of the European project, ‘SlowDown’.

A pivotal meeting between councils and tourism agents of the municipalities along the Camino de Levante was hosted in Caravaca de la Cruz this week.

This initiative aims to foster economic and social development in towns by promoting responsible and high-quality tourism, allowing travellers to leisurely enjoy local heritage, nature, culture and gastronomy.

Caravaca de la Cruz, as a key partner in the ‘SlowDown’ project, will have the opportunity to exchange experiences with other European regions, enhancing its already rich tourism offerings.

Councillor for Tourism José Santiago Villa emphasised some of the project’s goals, which include learning from successful sustainable tourism practices in other countries, extending tourism promotion beyond the Jubilee Year 2024 and securing funding for similar initiatives in the future.

“We are committed to ensuring that pilgrims and travellers can slowly discover this land, as an experience that allows them to understand and enjoy everything we offer,” he said.

The Director General of Quality and Competitiveness in Tourism added, “This project will help position the Region of Murcia as a benchmark in ‘Slow’ tourism and will serve to opt for and manage other European funds linked to cultural and spiritual tourism.”

Other places in Spain are experiencing serious backlash to overtourism, which has prompted many – real or perceived – social problems.

The ‘SlowDown’ project offers a significant opportunity to improve tourism through the exchange of experiences with other European regions, nd.exemplifies new strategies that integrate tourism with sustainable economic development.

As a concept, Slow tourism seeks to create a deeper connection with destinations, promoting local economic development through responsible and high-quality tourism, and could just be a model for other, worse-affected, regions to follow.

For more local information, including the Holy Jubilee Year as well as local news and what’s on, go to the home page of Caravaca Today

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Calle De Las Monjas, 19, 30400 CARAVACA DE LA CRUZ

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Oficina de Turismo de Caravaca de la Cruz

Caravaca de la Cruz Tourist Office More information about the places of interest which can be visited in the municipality of Caravaca de la Cruz, along with what's on and local news can be found in the Caravaca Today.

Caravaca de la Cruz, in the north-west of the Region of Murcia, is one of only 5 Holy Cities in the Roman Catholic world, a centre of pilgrimage, along with Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela and Santo Toribio de Liebana, and is home to the Cross of Caravaca, the Vera Cruz.

The status of Holy City was bestowed by Pope John Paul II in 1998, granting the City a Permanent Jubilee year every 7 years for perpetuity, the first one held in 2003 and the next in 2024.

Caravaca de la Cruz Tourist Office

The strategic and natural advantages of Caravaca de la Cruz have attracted the attention of settlers for more than 800,000 years, the Cueva Negra yielding remains of Homo Heidelbergensis, forbears of the Neanderthals and the municipality also houses important archaeological remains from the Argaric, Iberian and Roman cultures. many of these can be seen in the Municipal Archaeological Museum.

Caravaca de la Cruz Tourist Office As a border town caught between the Catholic forces of Castille and the last remaining Moorish stronghold in Spain, Granada, Caravaca had a turbulent medieval history, but it was during this period that the legend of the Cross of Caravaca was born, bringing the religious orders which shaped the structure of Caravaca today, with its impressive hilltop castle and eclectic collection of churches and monasteries, religious tourism today being a backbone of the town´s economy.

Caravaca de la Cruz is a municipality with important natural resources, including extensive forests, part of which have protected status due to their wealth of flora and fauna, and due to the abundant water supplies is also a major area for canned fruit production, apricots in particular being an important crop.

Caravaca de la Cruz Tourist Office Caravaca is renown for its important May Fiestas, held in honour of the Vera Cruz, which also incorporate the Moors and Christians celebrations and the Running of the Wine Horses.

Caravaca de la Cruz is also the home of Europe´s largest collection of ethnic instruments at Barranda, the Museo de Música Étnica Barranda and is the location of the Barranda festival de Cuadrillas, which celebrates the Region's ethnic music traditions.

The municipality is home to around 26,000 inhabitants and sahres boundaries with Moratalla, Cehegín, Lorca, Puebla de Don Fadrique in the province of Granada and Vélez-Blanco in the province of Almería.

Opening times:

Weekdays: 10.00 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30

Saturdays: 10.30 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30

Sundays and public holidays: 10.30 to 14.00

Click for map, Caravaca de la Cruz Tourist Office