Loja Cave<\/a>, or the Lluera Cave stand out, and there are nearly 20 more caves with archaeological remains on the non-visitable list. For their part, the Prehistory Museum of Teverga and the recent Tito Bustillo Interpretation Center are facilities with an educational vocation that allow us to understand the first artistic manifestations of man. <\/p>\n\nCave tourism<\/h3>\n\n This type of speleological tourism is directly related to archaeological tourism, as many of our caves contain not only beautiful speleothems but also artistic representations left by man since the Paleolithic. In this case, it is a form of adventure tourism where sport and culture go hand in hand, and it must be properly managed to avoid altering the very special conditions that have generated these underground ecosystems. <\/p>\n\n
Although there are more than 30,000 explored and surveyed caves in Spain, only a few are open to the public for tourism purposes; specifically, only 34 are included in the Association of Spanish Tourist Caves (ACTE), created in 1997. In Asturias, only the Cuevona de On\u00eds has belonged to this association since 2013, although there are numerous caves, especially in eastern Asturias, where guided caving can be practiced to enjoy the geological formations inside, such as La Vallina or Pruneda caves, both in Llanes, the El Pando and Tingan\u00f3n caves in Ribadesella, the Huelga Cave in Cangas de On\u00eds, and the La Peruyal and Alda caves in On\u00eds. It should be noted that many of them require tourists to be in good physical shape to traverse them, and special equipment is needed for the visit. <\/p>\n\n
Mining and industrial tourism<\/h3>\n\n In recent years, heritage linked to mining and industrial activities has acquired great tourist importance in Spain. Elements derived from the mining and industrial legacy are incorporated as resources for the tourist development of territories. Thus, it is a type of tourism that utilizes material and immaterial remains (buildings, tools, ways of life, technical knowledge, etc.) derived from production processes developed in the past or present that form part of a region’s collective memory. <\/p>\n\n
The origin of mining in Asturias is documented since prehistoric times and is directly related to the need for raw materials to manufacture tools and decorative objects. The mining exploitation of mineral resources such as flint, jet, gold, copper, or iron has left traces of exploitation in our region for millennia. <\/p>\n\n
The remains of the Llumeres iron mine, near the beach of the same name, was the most important iron mine in Asturias and is included in the Inventory of Cultural Heritage of Asturias. In the surroundings of the Saliencia Lakes, the remains of the Santa Rita iron mine facilities are still preserved, which was halted following the declaration of Somiedo as a Natural Park. <\/p>\n\n
In the Central Asturian Coal Basin, the unique orographic characteristics of our region meant that the exploitation of coal, since the 19th century, had to be carried out using innovative and peculiar techniques known as “mountain mining,” a type of mining that is a world reference.<\/p>\n\n
The Mining Museum (MUMI), the Steel Industry Museum (MUSI), and the enhancement of traditional mining areas in the Central Coal Basin are initiatives that are shaping the facilities related to the geological and mining heritage of our region. The recent opening as a museum of the Arnao coal mine, the only mine in Spain whose galleries extend under the seabed, also follows this trend, showcasing the first vertical shaft drilled in Europe and the oldest headframe in Asturias. <\/p>\n\n
Urban geotourism<\/h3>\n\n In our cities, the buildings, monuments, and even the sidewalks of our streets and squares are built with rocks that sometimes house fossils, minerals, and structures of great importance for understanding the past history of our planet. One of the main advantages of this type of tourism is its accessibility and good visibility. <\/p>\n\n
In Asturias, the Oviedo city council carried out a geotourism initiative in June 2013 consisting of polishing and marking some pavement tiles in the Town Hall square where there are particularly well-preserved fossils; however, there is no infrastructure to complement this initiative, and only the tiles are marked without providing information on the type of fossil, its age, etc.<\/p>\n\n
There are private initiatives that aim to identify fossils found in major cities, such as the blog of my good friend Rub\u00e9n Santos, Paleourbana<\/a>. Specifically, this website describes some of the fossils found in the streets of Oviedo, Gij\u00f3n, Avil\u00e9s, Langreo, and Mieres. <\/p>\n\nGeotourism as experiential tourism<\/h2>\n\n In all cases, geotourism is a specialized tourism that falls within the so-called Experiential tourism<\/strong>, involving all aspects of a site’s character such as landscape, history, culture, nature, and people. It is a type of tourism that implies a minimal impact on the character of the place. This style of tourism is what Asturias deserves as a “Natural Paradise.” <\/p>\n\nFortunately, our setting already constitutes an open-air museum in itself, and in most cases, existing resources can be utilized since the geotourist’s interest centers on the landscape itself. However, when complementary facilities are needed, “architectural displays” that we have suffered from in recent decades, totally removed from traditional architecture, must be avoided at all costs. In any case, the placement of new interpretation centers must be rationalized, and for this, it is essential to locate places with the greatest scientific, educational, and aesthetic importance that show some uniqueness making them special, while avoiding negative impacts at all costs. <\/p>\n\n
If Asturias wants to become a destination for geological tourism, the first step is to define, develop, and above all, conserve geotourism attractions. From GEOLAG<\/strong>, we are committed to discovering the geological attractions of our region and showing them in the most educational way possible. <\/p>\n\nWould you like to discover this landscape with a geologist?<\/strong>GEO<\/span>LAG<\/strong> organises educational routes adapted to families, groups and schools.Request information about this route<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Geotourism allows you to discover the landscape through its fossils, minerals, caves, mines, cities, and archaeological sites. A form of experiential tourism that combines science, nature, history, and the conservation of geological heritage. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6327,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,85],"tags":[116],"class_list":["post-6328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-geological-tourism","category-geology","tag-types-of-geotourism"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t
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