Religious Tourism and Local Identity in Rural Catalonia, Spain

Thesis Abstract

Religious tourism in rural Catalonia shapes local identity through everyday practices, festival economies, and pilgrimage cartographies, presenting a nuanced interplay between heritage conservation, community belonging, and place-based economic development. The study addresses the problem of how small municipalities in rural Catalonia negotiate external tourist demand with local symbolic meanings, ensuring sustainability while safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. The aim is to elucidate how religious tourism networks influence residents’ sense of belonging, community cohesion, and place identity, and to identify policy and practice levers that enhance positive intercultural exchange without eroding local patrimony. Specific objectives are (1) to map the seasonal and ritual calendars that structure religious tourism flows in five representative rural municipalities; (2) to assess residents’ perceptions of tourism’s impact on local identity, social relations, and livelihoods; (3) to examine the role of ritual performances, sacred landscapes, and heritage narratives in shaping community memory; (4) to analyze tourism operators’ and municipal actors’ discourses on authenticity, commodification, and protection of religious heritage; (5) to propose a framework for governance that aligns tourism development with cultural sustainability and resident agency. The study adopts a mixed-methods design, combining quantitative surveys with qualitative ethnographic fieldwork. The population comprises residents aged 18 and above in five rural municipalities across Catalonia that host regular religious events and pilgrimage routes, with a target sample of 600 residents for the cross-sectional survey and 60 in-depth interviews across stakeholder groups (local residents, clergy, municipal staff, and tourism operators). Data collection instruments include a structured questionnaire measuring perceptions of identity, belonging, and perceived impacts of tourism; semi-structured interviews to capture narratives of ritual meaning, memory, and heritage governance; participant observation during major feast days and processions; and document analysis of festival programs, heritage policies, and tourism plans. Validity and reliability are ensured through pilot testing (n=40), triangulation across data sources, and intercoder reliability checks for qualitative coding (Cohen’s kappa ? 0.70). The data are analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (multivariate regression and factor analysis) to identify relationships between tourism intensity, identity indicators, and economic outcomes. The qualitative data are subjected to thematic analysis, complemented by narrative analysis of oral histories, and a social practice approach to ritual performance. A conceptual model draws on place attachment theory, social identity theory, and the commodification of culture framework to interpret findings. Expected findings indicate that religious tourism enhances external visibility and local pride, but also yields tensions around authenticity, commodification, and changes in ritual meaning. It is anticipated that higher tourism intensity correlates with stronger instrumental attachments to place among long-term residents, while younger cohorts express flexible or evolving identities tied to economic benefits and?? cultural repertoires. The study expects to reveal that sacred landscapes—churches, hermitages, and pilgrimage routes—function as performative spaces where memory-work and community negotiation occur, producing hybrid identities that integrate traditional piety with cosmopolitan tourism practices. Findings will likely show that governance arrangements with participatory mechanisms and clear heritage safeguards mediate negative impacts and foster inclusive cultural tourism strategies. The study contributes to knowledge by advancing empirical understanding of how religious tourism reconstitutes local identity in a rural Mediterranean context, integrating theories of place attachment, identity construction, and heritage governance within a tourism development framework. It offers a transferable, policy-relevant framework for balancing authenticity, community agency, and economic viability in religiously themed rural locales. Practical implications include guidelines for stakeholder collaboration, heritage impact assessments, and community-led co-management of festival infrastructure. Recommendations emphasize decentralized governance, transparent benefit-sharing, capacity-building for local historians and guides, and the codification of sacred heritage protection within tourism planning. The final conclusion posits that sustainable religious tourism in rural Catalonia is achieved through co-produced meanings, inclusive governance, and adaptive strategies that respect sacred geographies while enabling culturally respectful economic development.