The (in)visible presence of water in the landscape and tourist routes of the Algarvensis Geopark in the Algarve region

Resumen

This paper aims to contribute to the definition and understanding of the role and importance of water in the historical process of construction and transformation of the Algarvensis Geopark landscape, in particular its karst landscape, associated with the Algarvian Barrocal. To achieve this objective, the research is developed around four main themes. The first theme corresponds to the identification and characterization of the water landscape (visible and invisible), considering the interrelationship between natural factors (climate, geology, relief, soils, vegetation). The second theme is related to the humanization of the territory and the management and use of water resources by local communities. Next, we focus on the appropriation of water for tourism, as a strong element in the construction of the landscape that the Algarvensis Geopark makes known through the numerous interpretation routes signaled in the territory. It ends by identifying, still in an exploratory manner, literary events, works and authors that could be allied to the existing routes and those to be proposed to encourage literary tourism. Within the scope of the present study on the landscape and the water heritage in the calcareous Algarve, a research methodology was used that crosses bibliographic and documentary sources with narratives by writers (novelists and poets) in which the presence of water (superficial and underground) creates parallels with the Algarve landscape. Therefore, in this article, water is approached from different perspectives that interrelate, articulate, and complement each other. An integrative approach between science and art is used in the context of biophysical and historical-cultural analyzes of the Barrocal water landscape, and its tourist (re)discovery as a fundamental resource in the (re)affirmation of the Algarvian region’s collective memory and identity.