In this essay I analyze the new principles of what is called rural tourism in Spain. I examine the importance of this sector in relation to the new directions of globalization, inserting this phenomena within a larger process of the reconfiguration of the rural world. Designed at the European level and regulated by the Política Agraria Común (Common Agricultural Policy, PAC) this process, in essence, pursues a new design of rurality not based exclusively on agricultural production, but rather on the diversification of economic activities. These directives, well financed by various European Programs, support small traditional industries and the consumption of tradition and of nature to make up what I call the construction of rurality. The goal has been to create a rural product that follows the new guidelines of differential consumption and feeds the growing offer of what is called cultural tourism. After reviewing the rural tourism panorama in Andalusia, I analyze two empirical cases with a consolidated development program based on the tourism potential of local products.
development policies; globalization; local culture; rural tourism
