Nordic skiing and mountain tourism

Abstract

The study area, which comprises approximately 1,100 Km2 and 4,500 inhabitants (excluding the town of la Seu d'Urgell), has been affected in recent years by a process of rapid depopulation which has dismantled the structure of the rural habitat forged over the centuries. This process has coincided with a crisis in the principal sector of agricultural production -that of cattle- rearing for dairy production. One of the alternatives proposed to help palliate this deteriorated situation is the promotion of the tourist sector. Considerable resources, unti1 now untapped, are available: a nature park, numerous places of interest, historic and prehistoric monuments and, especially, facilities for cross-country skiing and fous ski resorts (Arànser, Lles, Sant Joan de l'Erm and Tuixén-la Vansa), which are gradually consolidating their structure. Cross-country skiing, which is rapidly growing in popularity in Catalonia, may prove more directly beneficial to the local mountain inhabitants than other forms of tourism and sport, while the impact on the natural environment should be minimal.