Yes or no to the tourist of the flowery fields?

* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
11 April 2023 Tuesday 03:51
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Yes or no to the tourist of the flowery fields?

* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia

This series of photographs that we see in Las Fotos de los Lectores de La Vanguardia show a flowery field in the Osona region, where wild poppies stand out, but the farmer to whom it belongs has asked me not to reveal its location.

With the arrival of spring the fields explode and attract all eyes. There are areas of Catalonia that choose to exploit the so-called "flowering tourism" for their benefit, such as Aitona (Segrià), where guided tours are even organized to contemplate the spectacle of flowering trees.

In Berguedà, for example, the planting of tulips is being encouraged to attract tourism interested in these colorful fields, with Pedraforca as a backdrop. It's a bit like exporting the Dutch tourism model to the heart of Catalonia.

On the other hand, there is a sector of farmers who prefer to keep the location of their flowering fields as anonymous as possible, since the mass tourism can alter their day-to-day work on the land.

Cases like this have not only occurred in the Osona region, but also in other areas of Catalonia, such as the Empordà. The red poppy fields or the yellow rapeseed fields are two of the most sought after by tourists.

Therefore, two models coexist: lands that encourage flowering tourism and areas that try to keep it away.