New Rurality, Events, and Festivals in Selected Places of Rural Spain

Abstract

The study of and participation in festivals and celebrations is an area of great interest in the tourism experience. Social situations and a power structure (which is unequal) can be expressed through the events taking place. Also, by studying the organization of events one can identify different ways of articulating local authenticity and socio-cultural processes of rural change in a global context. Using qualitative techniques, the present study focuses on different events affected, to varying degrees, by socio-cultural processes of rural change in a global setting. Events with farming origins have been studied in term of, or associated with, the seasons, or interactions of the seasonal weather with the agriculture. Also of interest are other festivals or events of more recent origins which try to revive the historical roots of an area or recover traditional trades or professions. The events are often a means of setting rural traditions in a different socio-cultural context, and of emphasizing the nature of the rural place. Hence, each celebration has a different function in each place.