Four Cultural Routes sign an agreement with the National Geographic Institute (IGN) and the autonomous body National Center for Geographic Information (CNIG), both of the Ministry of Public Works, which will allow their integration into the IGN's cartography.
The tourist routes and destinations of the Silver Route, Paths of Passion, Routes of Emperor Charles V and Rock Art Routes of Spain have today signed an agreement at FITUR with the General Directorate of the National Geographic Institute (IGN) and the autonomous body Geographic Information Center (CNIG), attached to the Ministry of Public Works through the IGN, for the exchange of geographic information.
This agreement will allow the dissemination of Nature, Culture and Leisure through its collaborative web platform (https://nco.ign.es/VisorNCOConMarco/) of the tourist itineraries and destinations of these four Cultural Routes from any website that includes said viewer, as well as its use in the rest of the IGN and CNIG channels: other thematic viewers (http://www.ign.es/web/ign/portal/visualizadores-tematicos), apps (http://www.ign.es/web/ign/portal/dir-aplicaciones-moviles), Download Center Routes section (http://centrodedescargas.cnig.es/CentroDescargas/index.jsp), special maps based on basic and derived cartography, printed or digital NCO thematic cartography (https://www.cnig.es/agrupaciones?superAgrupacion=MTUNA-Tur%C3%ADsticos-y-de-naturaleza), ...
The event, held at the Turespaña stand at FITUR, was attended by the Director General of the IGN and President of the CNIG, Lorenzo García Asensio; the Deputy Director General of Geodesy and Cartography of the IGN, Francisco Javier González Matesanz; and the Director of the CNIG, Emilio López Romero; as well as the presidents of the four networks of municipalities and institutions that manage the cultural routes: Juan Pérez Guerrero (Mayor of Lucena and President of the Association for the Tourist Development of the Caminos de Pasión Route), Fermín Encabo Acuña (Mayor of Jarandilla de La Vera and Vice President of the Cooperation Network of the European Routes of Emperor Charles V), José Miguel Palazuelo Martín (Mayor of La Bañeza and President of the Cooperation Network of Cities on the Ruta de la Plata) and Pedro Gómez Ruiz (President of the Cantabrian Rural Development Network and of the International Association of Prehistoric Rock Art Trails).
Among other responsibilities, the IGN (National Geographic Institute) is assigned the production, updating, and operation of national topographic and cartographic databases, while the CNIG (National Geographic Institute) is responsible for their publication and dissemination, as well as the development of value-added products, especially those of a technological nature (mobile applications to facilitate universal accessibility, augmented reality, 3D scenarios, etc.). Therefore, this agreement represents a significant leap forward and provides logistical support for the Cultural Routes of Spain in the development of their dissemination and geolocation tools for the different routes and destinations, something essential in the current tourism market. The coordinated work of all the stakeholders involved will provide efficient service to the Cultural Routes of Spain in their tourism and cultural promotion and dissemination efforts, both nationally and internationally.
The four routes, included in the Cultural Routes of Spain tourism brand promoted by TURESPAÑA, are true benchmarks of Spain's cultural tourism offerings, covering virtually the entire country. Through these routes, visitors can discover the formidable wealth of Spain's cultural and natural heritage concentrated in these themed itineraries.
The Rock Art Trails offer several routes focused on caves with Paleolithic art in northern Spain, the petroglyphs of Galicia, the schematic art of Extremadura, the Siega Verde site in Ciudad Rodrigo (Salamanca), and the prehistoric art routes of the Mediterranean coast, from Aragon to Andalusia. Many of the sites open to visitors, such as the caves of the Cantabrian region, the Siega Verde site, and the rock shelters of the Mediterranean coast, are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The first and last journeys of Charles V, between Tazones (Villaviciosa, Asturias) and Mojados (Valladolid) in 1517, and between Laredo (Cantabria) and the Monastery of Yuste (Extremadura) between 1556-1557, are the two routes included in the Routes of Emperor Charles V. They recreate the first journey to Spain of the young Charles of Habsburg through the lands of Asturias, Cantabria and Castile, in order to take possession of the Hispanic kingdoms inherited from his grandparents, the Catholic Monarchs, as well as the last journey from Brussels to what would be his final residence, the Monastery of Yuste, disembarking for this purpose in the port of Laredo.
The Silver Route, between Seville and Gijón, follows the Roman roads that connected the rich cities of southern Hispania, with Hispalis and Emerita Augusta as key references, with the lands of the Astures, where gold mines and other metals were exploited, and settlements such as Legio (León) or Noega (Gijón) were developed, key to the Romanization of the territories of the northern peninsula.
Finally, Caminos de Pasión is a route that travels through the main cities of inland Andalusia (Alcalá La Real, Baena, Cabra, Carmona, Écija, Lucena, Osuna, Priego De Córdoba, Puente Genil and Utrera), places where the celebration of Holy Week constitutes an expression of art, culture and popular feeling, with manifestations of great strength and color.