1. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
UNIT 9: SERVICE SPACES
1. Spain’s economy towards third sector
The third sector comprises services given to society. It is a heterogeneous sector. It
started its expansion since the 60s decade and nowadays it occupies more than half of
the working population.
The reasons for the development of third sectors are:
- increase of living standards
- industry requires some services and its development implied the development
of other activities, banks and others
- development of tourism
- increase of public services
- entrance of women in the work market (need for kindergartens, for instance).
2. Heterogeneity from region to region
Service sector is heterogeneous and there are several ways of classifying the activities
involved in it:
- private and public sectors
- services devoted to sales
- intermediate services or last consumption services
- interrupted services or in different levels
In Spain the third sector presents some lacks. The main activities are traditional and
services offered to companies are not very important.
- Services provided by State Administration are the most important because they
create a good number of jobs, followed by commercial services.
- Taking into account the number of workers some of them have lost weight:
transports and telecommunications, immovable assets, credit and insurances,
management and supply services.
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2. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
- Services given to companies are not very developed but their evolution has
been positive (lawyers, accountancies, management).
- Hotel and catering have improved and linked to them tourism and other free
time activities.
In all Autonomous Regions third sector is hegemonic, judging by their part in the GDP
or the number of people involved in tertiary activities. Anyway there is disequilibrium
between regions because even if they can be established in any place, there are some
conditionings: population volume, urbanization level, development and rents.
a) Jobs are more abundant in tertiary sector, mainly those related to tourism near
the coasts, related to State administration in Madrid. The importance is smaller
in agricultural territories.
b) The different sectors of tertiary sector have different weight.
- Services addressed to companies are developed in few provinces
- Services linked to consumption are more common in touristy areas
- Non specialised services: those controlled individually.
In the future the differences inside the tertiary service may increase. The situation
nowadays is similar to other European countries. The development will be aimed at
improving quality and diversifying services.
3. Transports and communications
Transport system is devoted to transport people and
products from a place to another. It has an important role
in economy and spatial organization:
a) Transports and territories influence each other:
a. Transports indicate population distribution and spatial disequilibrium of
development, because they tend to be located in capitals or
economically important areas
b. They can influence on changes because they are a key element to
develop regions.
b) Transports net organise the territory: they link different regions and
movements are easier and faster thanks to new technologies.
Characteristics of transport system
a) Physical environment is not good: relief is complicated and some elements of
the climate make communications more difficult. Thanks to modern
technologies some difficulties have been overcome but costs are high and this
reduces productivity.
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3. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
b) Land and air nets are radial: They tend to link any point of the geography with
Madrid. This model started with the Bourbons and continues nowadays.
c) The main transport used by passengers and products is motorway because they
offer direct service at arriving at any point.
d) The net has important disequilibrium from one region to another: there are
some main axes while other regions lack of communications.
e) Jurisdiction over transport has been decentralized with the creation of
autonomies: the State controls national communications whereas autonomous
government control communications operating in their regions exclusively
f) Transports in Spain are controlled by the Guide Plan for Infrastructures;
depending on them transport policy is part of the territorial organization, one
of its aims is to increase speed and reduce the number of accidents; they
promote the links between different regions and communities; they try to
recover spaces degraded through public works.
g) Spain’s communication net is included in the European net and some European
policies are used:
a. Improve links with the EU
b. Fund of the EU are directed to the improvement of infrastructures
c. Reduce the impact of communications in environment by assuming
appropriate measures.
h) Communications have an impact in environment: visual, sounds, pollution, due
to these projects are studied to valuate the impact aiming at correcting
possible problems.
Road transports
Road net links populated regions. It is an essential infrastructure. The characteristics of
Spain’s motorways are:
a) Radial structure: a majority of the roads crossed Madrid, establishing links with
developed and industrialised areas.
b) The control of the roads belongs to the State, Autonomous communities and
Provincial governments.
c) Technical characteristic are varied, being the most appropriate those of
national level whereas others present more deficiencies.
d) It is used by a majority of the traffic of people and products.
e) There are important differences between regions:
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4. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
a. Density is higher in developed and industrial areas, in areas with spread
population, in regions with divided by the orography or islands.
b. Intensity of traffic is higher in indirect corridors because in them are the
main industrial and touristy spaces.
c. Communications easiness in industrial or touristy regions due to the
needs.
f) Guide Plan for Infrastructures 1993-2007 had as objectives:
a. A complete development of communications all over the State
b. Improve the quality and security of motorways
c. Stress the development of indirect axes
g) Spanish roads must have a better link with the EU, for that new motorways are
projected and the capacity of the existent ones is going to be developed.
Train transports
Train was the main means of transport during the second half of 19 th century and the
beginning of the 20th. After that the situation changed when new transport appeared
and the critical financial situation did not help its development because exploitation
costs are very high. Due to this many lines have disappeared but some of them have
changed their orientation to be left for tourism.
The main characteristics of Spain’s train net are the following:
a) The Spanish Train National Net (RENFE) controls 90 per cent of the traffic. It has
radial distribution and then tree structure in cities of secondary level, what
permits to cover big areas with few lines and reducing costs. EU has urged
Spain to limit the role of RENFE in railroad’s financiation. There are other lines
such as:
a. Train of narrow railway (FEVE), it is developed in the Northern area,
Catalonia, Valencia, and other places. It is specialised in short distances.
b. High Speed trains (AVE): It still being developed at the moment.
b) Lines have important technical contrasts: some lack of modern materials or are
not properly electrified or count just with a railway. All of them require to be
modernised.
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5. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
c) Traffic must be oriented to the transport of passengers and products:
Passenger transport is profitable nowadays in peripheral areas and in the case
of products this means of transport is appropriate for important weights of
huge volume.
d) There are regional differences in equipment and investment: the most
important areas are those of big cities while there are regions with poor
infrastructures due to the lack of investment.
e) Guide Plan of Infrastructures wants to increase the traffic to close areas,
improving the lines and increasing speed.
f) Spanish railway net must be better integrated in the EU net: new trains will
have the same weight of Europeans and huge investments are required in
order to create profitable services.
Sea transports
The characteristics of transport by sea are:
a) The net of ports is controlled by the State and the Autonomous Governments.
States controls ports devoted to trade activities while smaller ones, mainly
indicated for fishing or sportive are under the control of autonomous
authorities.
b) Passenger and trade traffic present huge differences:
a. Passengers: it is scarce, being only important between Algeciras and
Ceuta or in the islands.
b. Traffic around the coast (cabotaje) is used for the transport of
petroleum and its derivates because refineries are near the coast.
c. International trade: it is the most important because imports and
exports have been done using this transport:
i. Tradition: for import and export raw materials for the industries
or petroleum derivates
ii. Nowadays: the most generalised are general products, at least
those that can be transported in containers. It is practised in
huge ships in order to reduce costs.
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6. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
c) Technical improvements are needed in ports: surface and communication links
need to be improved.
d) Disequilibrium between regions as long as equipment and inversions are
concerned: the biggest works are done just through a limited number of ports.
e) Guide Plan for Infrastructures puts the conditions for the distribution of
products and specialization.
f) European Union prepared the Green Book of sea and ports and they try to
avoid competition among ports.
River transports
The only port in a river is that of Seville in the Guadalquivir. This port has to face some
problems mainly that of the sand in the entrance. Sedimentation is closing some parts
and the traffic is more and more limited. Its hinterland is important, in the whole valley
of the Guadalquivir and Extremadura.
Air transports
It has developed quickly because income has increased, economic space has changed
its organization, the demand of tourism, jobs and businesses and international flights
are abundant. Its characteristics are:
a) Airports’ net is quite developed since the 70s in which it was decided that every
city of a certain size should count with one. The net is organised in and
hierarchical way: Madrid hub has connexions with all the airports in Spain.
b) Passengers and products’ traffic is very different:
a. Air transport is competitive in long and medium distances because it is
fast and comfortable
b. Product traffic is scarce due to its high cost so that it is only used for
deciduous or expensive products.
c) There are regional differences: Cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, and Bilbao
have international airports whereas there are a lot of small airports that are not
profitable.
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7. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
d) Guide Plan for Infrastructures aims at improving airports and the links of the
cities with these places.
e) European Union has liberalised the tariffs of air services so that some
companies have become private, as the case of Iberia, in order to reform their
finances.
Communications
Long distance communications and
telecommunications are essential nowadays.
Thanks to them information can be shared
quickly and this is very important in our
global world. In our society the location of a
company is not important because what
really matters is to be well connected to
information nets.
In Spain telecommunications and mainly telephone net have improved even if it still
being delayed in comparison with other countries.
Telephone flux is hierarchical with the highest concentration in big metropolis such as
Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville and Biscay. The rest of the provinces are in a
secondary position and there are regional sub-systems.
4. Tourism spaces
The term tourist was coined in Britain in the 18 th century to refer to a person who liked
to travel due to cultural or spare time reasons. During the 19 th century this activity was
elitist but nowadays it is a phenomenon generalised.
Factors to develop tourism in Spain
Since the 1960s Spain experienced a huge development of this sector and nowadays is
one of the countries with a higher potential. The increase answered to internal and
external factors:
a) External factors were:
a. Economic development in Europe after WW2 that increased the
spending power of middle classes who started travelling abroad. In
addition to this workers started having paid holidays.
b. Development of transports that made easier movements and prices
became lower.
b) Internal factors were:
a. Spain was near the European costumers
b. Climate and landscape, mainly beaches, were attractive
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8. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
c. It is cheap for foreign tourist, specially since the peseta devaluation in
1959
d. State gave advantages to the development of this activity because the
money made with tourism equilibrated the payment scale.
e. Hotel and important travel agencies have appeared.
Nowadays those factors are not as important as before and others must be taken into
account:
- strengthen of internal demand
- quality of the offer that takes into account environmental measures
- diversification of the touristy products offered
- existence of human resources at hand
- improvement of communications and infrastructures
- promotion
- in places that can compete with Spain there are political problems (Northern
Africa, Balkans)
Traditional touristy model
The model created in the 60s has an important offer addressed to a great number of
costumers who have medium or medium-low acquisitive power and who are looking
for hotels of medium category in beaches or coastal places. In addition to this, it was
linked to the tour-operators and a big part of the expenses made by tourist escaped to
foreign countries.
Touristy offer
Those selling the product are
organizations or tour-operators
and touristy installations (hotels,
restaurants).
Accommodation offer is wide and
it is very developed along the
Mediterranean coast and the
islands, even if during the last
years there is a trend to develop
interior regions.
Feeding offer is wide, including very different categories.
Offer for free time activities is increasing with sport installations, parks, water-parks,
equestrian clubs, golf clubs and nautical installations.
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9. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
Touristy demand
At the beginning foreign was the main one but nowadays there is an important one in
the interior too.
a) International demand has increased since the 1950s, but
the exception of the years of the crisis. The main
demand comes from Europe: Germany, Britain, France,
Netherlands, Italy and Portugal. They come normally in
summer and they look for sun and beaches.
b) State demand increased since the 1960s. It comes from
the industrialised areas to others with lower population
or the coast.
c) Seasonality of the demand is one of the main problems because it tends to
concentrate in summer time, with the exception of snow-tourism. As a
consequence installations are over exploited during some months and almost
completely left apart during others.
Crisis of the traditional model and alternative tourism
Reasons for the crisis
Although the number of tourist and the amount of money produce by tourism have
increased, the traditional touristy model is in crisis because of the following reasons:
a) A majority of the tourists is of medium or low-medium level
b) Touristy offer has some problems such as the increase of prices without
improving quality, the lack of accommodation to the new demand, to be
seasonal and the geographical disequilibrium.
c) Dependency towards international tour-operators
d) Damage to the environment and changes in the landscape.
Alternative tourism and new touristy policy
To answer to the problems the restructuring of the sector was needed and the basis
for that has been the policy of territorial organization. The objectives of touristy policy
are:
a) Promote tourism of quality
b) Improve the offer, with new modalities
a. Tourism for third age
b. Sport tourism
c. Agricultural tourism
d. Eco-tourism
e. Tourism linked to cities, culture, congresses and conventions
c) Reduce the dependency of the exterior
d) Unify touristy development and environmental quality
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10. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
Touristy space and typology
Touristy spaces are those that attract a lot of tourist. In Spain the highest density is
linked to sun and beaches, this is Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, and Mediterranean
coast. Madrid is the centre of cultural tourism. After those are the North Western
coast and the Northern coast.
At the same level of that regions are some touristy points that are highly profitable, for
instance, areas with sky stations, rural tourism or historical cities.
All those regions can be classified depending on the uses:
- seasonal touristy regions
- steady tourism
4.4.1. Areas with sun and beaches
There are located in the islands or the Mediterranean region. They receive abundant
tourism thanks to their climate; anyway, there are several differences:
- Facilities for communication, essential for the arrival of tourists.
- Ways of occupying the space: touristy installations are abundant
- Kind of guesthouses, quality and costumers
4.4.2. Other touristy areas
Since 1990 tourism has developed in the space due to:
- Close tourism has increased due to urban accumulation
- Agricultural regions of the interior have developed strategies to attract tourism
- Coastal spaces have been structured and also the area near them
- Demand asks for quality and attractiveness.
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11. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
In this way, apart from the tourism of coast other kinds of tourism have developed:
- Madrid: being the capital its tourism is not seasonal and it is linked to its
cultural offer.
- Canary and Galician coasts and the interior have developed their natural spaces
- Rural tourism is linked to agricultural
activities
- Sky stations are the basis for snow tourism
- Historical and artistic cities: they can offer
museums, and historical neighbourhoods.
4.5. Influence of tourism in the space
Tourism has a great impact in territory. This impact is notorious on the coast but it also
affects other territories.
4.5.1. Demographic influence
- In coastal regions population increases, mainly with young populations looking
for jobs. Other times people from other countries or other regions tend to
move there.
- In rural areas sometimes provokes the emptiness but for the cases of historical
cities.
4.5.2. Influence in populate
- Coast: tourism supposed the creation of new population structures, such as
conurbations in these regions. There is also a huge density of constructions.
- Rural and urban areas tourism has been helpful to restore old areas.
4.5.3. Economic consequences
- Tourism creates jobs because it requires a lot of people. It supposes more than
9 per cent of active population but the problem is that a majority of the jobs
are seasonal.
- It has a multiplying effect in other activities
- It supposes about the 12 per cent of the GDP
- It equilibrates the payment balance and it is used to reduce exterior debt.
- It has a great influence in transport policy.
4.5.4. Influences in politics, culture and sociology
- Thanks to tourism countries are closer and there are cultural links among them.
This eases the relations between countries.
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12. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
- It has an influence in the live of local populations, sometimes in a negative form
because some traditions are lost.
4.5.5. Influence in territorial organization
a) In regions with well developed tourism, spaces around have been affected, in
order to provide free time spaces: sports, services.
a. Transformation of environment and landscape
b. Economic transformations
c. Problems to control the use of soil and resources
b) There are concentrated in areas I which tourism is interested
c) In rural areas tourism can create problems because they can influence in other
activities.
4.5.6. Environmental influence
These are the reasons:
- The sector has developed in a short period of
time, in a limited space and when
environmental measures were not defined.
- Urbanization process was done without taking
into account the damage to environment
- Protection and recovery policies have been
taken during recent years.
5. Interior and exterior commerce
Commerce is the activity that offers products and services to consumers. It can be
practised inside the State borders of out of them.
5.1. Interior commerce
It has the following characteristics:
a) Localization: they require communications to be close to producers, markets
and costumers. Good transport’s net united to high density population with
high acquisition power are essential for commerce.
b) Structure: it has suffered important changes during the last years. Those
changes have affected:
a. Distribution channels (intermediaries have disappeared)
b. Consumption: rents have increased and with them demand
c. Distribution: selling in auto-service or great companies that reduce the
number of workers and offer better prices
d. Equipment: technology related to sales
e. Payment ways
c) Typology: The following systems can be found:
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13. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
a. Wholesales commerce: they concentrate products and they send them
to minor sellers. It has central location.
b. Minor sales: they sell directly to the costumer and there are different
varieties:
i. Traditional commerce
ii. Modern commerce
1. self-services
2. storehouses
3. regional commercial
centres
4. hyper markets
d) Commercial areas are the regions where
people move to get the products they are
looking for.
e) Commercial policy: it has followed the
Frame Law of 1995 to try to increase
profitability of minor commerce by
increasing qualification; increase
innovations with new technologies and
management; liberalizing timetables and
others.
5.2. Exterior commerce
This activity consists of exchanging products and services with any other area in the
world. Both, imports and exports have increased during the last years thanks to global
commerce.
a) Exports: products of primary sector have lost importance in benefit of half
manufactured industrial products, equipment, cars and consumption items. In
imports energy and some industrial products are the leading ones in addition to
agricultural.
b) Areas of exterior commerce have changed mainly after the entrance in the
European Union. The EU is the main area for exports and imports of Spain, but
the problem is that Spanish products are not of high productivity.
c) Commercial policy has been influenced by the entrance in the only market and
the agreements signed with the World Commerce Institution. The Spanish
exports policy want to offer advantages thanks to a series of measures:
a. Organization of fairs and shows to make their products known and trips
to other countries to present innovations
b. Give to companies information about foreign opportunities
c. Credits for developing commercial nets in the exterior
d. Funds for Development Aid have been created in cooperation with
other countries to put into work commercial policies
e. Aids to small companies to open to the international market.
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14. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
6. Tertiary sector space in the Basque Country
The process of the tertiary sector in the Basque Country has
developed due to several factors, such as the existence of
Autonomous Communities (Basque and Navarre) that have
their own services, the per capita income and life quality are
quite high and companies demand more and more services.
In the Autonomous Community of Euskadi more than half the
active population works in this sector. Three are the factors
that have influenced in this situation since the 60s:
- Crisis of the industries: a lot of workers passed to the tertiary sector
- Entrance in the European Community, what implied to accommodate to the
new policy
- Autonomous processes that resulted in the development of public sector.
Anyway, the importance of the service sector in the Basque Country is smaller than in
Spain because in this Community industry continues having an important weight.
6.1. Transport system and communications
Transport infrastructure is important. However, there are differences depending on
the territories and it can lack of some functions. The links between the three capitals,
rural nucleus and street nucleus are not good. In addition to this, some areas have a
deficit of infrastructures or there are obsolete and need to be repaired.
6.1.1. Motorways
In the Basque Country road, motorways and
double line roads are improving constantly and
their main characteristics are:
- There are North-South and East-West
nets: Madrid-Irun, Madrid-Bilbao and
Bilbao-Behobia. There is also a link with
the Ebro’s corridor uniting Basque
Provinces with the Mediterranean
coast.
- Links between the three Basque
capitals.
- Local roads.
The net and its functions are different depending on the territory and in order to
reduce them the Plan of Motorways of the Basque Country was made with the aim of
improving the links with the European net and between the three territories.
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15. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
6.1.2. Trains
The most important lines of long distances are: Madrid-Irun in the axis Madrid-Paris,
Bilbao-Miranda, linking the Basque Provinces with the Meseta, and Vitoria-Pamplona
and Bayona, linking with Burdeos and Toulouse. Trains of narrow width are not very
appropriate but there are useful in short distances. In the case of Bilbao the
underground must be added, linking all the metropolitan area. There is also a project
of this kind for San Sebastian.
The main objectives of the railroad communication are:
- Improve the links with Spain and Europe
- Improve the links and the speed between the three Basque capitals with high
speed trains. This is the project known as the Basque Y.
- Promote services in metropolitan areas to avoid traffic jambs.
- Finish the second line of the Bilbao’s underground.
- Adapt train stations to high speed trains, create more trains stations and
prepare other more for products: an autonomous port in Bilbao, an
interchange area in Guipuzcoa and an integrated transport hub in Alava.
- Integrate train in cities and improve stations.
6.1.3. Ports
The most important are Bilbao, Pasajes and Bayona. Through those ports there is a
great exchange of products with foreign countries. In addition to them there are other
smaller ports for transport, fishing or sport.
- Bilbao’s port expands its hinterland to the whole Basque Community and other
close areas. Its problem are the bad links with roads and trains what demands
improvements:
o Create a Multifunctional Station to bring products to the port by train
o Logistic companies should be integrated in the port
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16. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
o Create a free area to increase the size of sea transport, at least as long
as lines with the US and Latin America are concerned.
o Bring the port out from Bilbao to make urbanize the area.
- Pasajes’ port is specialised in raw materials, iron and cars’ import and export. In
the future they want to develop a industrial area and a sport port as well. There
is a project for a port in the outside of the outlet that would take bigger ships,
but its future is not assured because it is a controversial project.
- Bayona’s port is one of the most important of France, specialised in chemist
and fuels.
- From the rest of the port Bermeo, Lekeitio, Ondarra, Motrico, Zumaya,
Hendaya and San Juan de Luz should be mentioned.
6.1.4. Airports
They have limitations because of the mountains and
the climate that do not make easy their traffic. The
most important is Loiu in Bilbao, directly link to the
active economy of the region. Hondarribia is quite
stable and Foronda in Vitoria is an infrastructure of
high quality. In Northern Basque Country Biarritz is
important and in Navarre Noain.
There are aims to create a Basque Airport System to
be more specialised.
6.1.5. Telecommunications
There are essential in our global society. Basque Country is very developed in this field,
mainly in the area of the technological park of Zamudio. The connexions with all the
world are made through the satellites Eutelsat, Intelsat and Hispasat.
6.2. Tourism
It started in the Basque Country in the 19th century when the high classes started
coming to have baths. Some of them built in this region their residences, being the
most important San Sebastian and Biarritz. Since 1830 the royal family started coming
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17. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
to these cities. In addition to this, Zarauz and Lekeitio became touristy centres for the
high bourgeoisie.
6.2.1. Limits and benefits of Basque tourism
Although it started early, Basque tourism is less developed than in other regions due to
the following reasons:
- climate is not appropriate
- touristy offer was faced with some difficulties such as lack of international
promotion, intermediaries, limited hotel offer, lack of diversification of the
product.
About 60 per cent of the tourists come from the rest of the Spanish state, 29 per cent
are foreigners and 11 per cent are Basque. In general the massive movement happens
in summer.
Basque tourism has high potentialities:
- geographical location
- good communications
- traditional tourism is exhausted and new models are being developed
The main resources are:
- natural beauty of the coast
- gastronomy
- folklore
- regional sport
- craftsmanship
- archaeology
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18. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
- museums
6.2.2. Tourism types
Thanks to the resources, there are different kinds of tourism:
- Coast tourism: in summer. The most important locations are Biarritz, San
Sebastian and Zarauz, lacking the rest of the cities of enough hotel
infrastructures
- Ecotourism, rural tourism and sport
tourism have experienced an important
increase and new installations have
been created.
- Culture, congress, conventions and
business tourism has increased.
6.2.3. Touristy policy
The aims of this policy are:
a) Increase the importance of the tourism, for that some activities are being
promoted:
a. Design promotion campaigns
b. Improve offer by developing infrastructures and services
b) Support sustainable development and equilibrium in touristy activity.
6.3. Commerce
6.3.1. Interior commerce
During the last years unemployment has been reduced in this sector and familiar rents
have increased.
a) Small commerce even if feeble has some advantages:
a. There is quite high density of small shops what is favourable for their
development. Their size is small and some of them do not count with
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19. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
appropriate installations but there is scarce tradition in uniting shops
what makes more difficult the introduction of innovations. Sometimes
in the periphery of cities commercial areas are created and these tend
to be more active.
b. Their advantage is their location in city centres, they adapt to changes
quite quickly, and their accessibility for costumers is essential.
b) Wholesale commerce does not count with a well developed logistic distribution
what is prejudicial
c) Basque commercial policy has as objectives:
a. Modernization
b. Competitiveness
c. Specialised workers
In addition to all this, urban commercial centres have
been reinforced with new urbanization.
Finally they want to modernise and divide to reduce
costs and open to the nation what would be beneficial for the development of the
sector.
6.3.2. Exterior commerce
Exports suppose about a quarter of the GDP
in the Basque Country. Their main costumer
is the EU. The sectors that export more are
equipment and metallurgy. The result of
international trade has been positive during
the last years.
Basque companies have very clear that to
open to the international market is
essential and during the last years they
have made great efforts. Anyway, the main
problem is the small size of the companies
and the lack of planning. This is evident in
exhibition centres such as in Bilbao (BEC).
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20. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
appropriate installations but there is scarce tradition in uniting shops
what makes more difficult the introduction of innovations. Sometimes
in the periphery of cities commercial areas are created and these tend
to be more active.
b. Their advantage is their location in city centres, they adapt to changes
quite quickly, and their accessibility for costumers is essential.
b) Wholesale commerce does not count with a well developed logistic distribution
what is prejudicial
c) Basque commercial policy has as objectives:
a. Modernization
b. Competitiveness
c. Specialised workers
In addition to all this, urban commercial centres have
been reinforced with new urbanization.
Finally they want to modernise and divide to reduce
costs and open to the nation what would be beneficial for the development of the
sector.
6.3.2. Exterior commerce
Exports suppose about a quarter of the GDP
in the Basque Country. Their main costumer
is the EU. The sectors that export more are
equipment and metallurgy. The result of
international trade has been positive during
the last years.
Basque companies have very clear that to
open to the international market is
essential and during the last years they
have made great efforts. Anyway, the main
problem is the small size of the companies
and the lack of planning. This is evident in
exhibition centres such as in Bilbao (BEC).
19
21. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY DEPARTMENT
Teacher: Maite Fresnillo
appropriate installations but there is scarce tradition in uniting shops
what makes more difficult the introduction of innovations. Sometimes
in the periphery of cities commercial areas are created and these tend
to be more active.
b. Their advantage is their location in city centres, they adapt to changes
quite quickly, and their accessibility for costumers is essential.
b) Wholesale commerce does not count with a well developed logistic distribution
what is prejudicial
c) Basque commercial policy has as objectives:
a. Modernization
b. Competitiveness
c. Specialised workers
In addition to all this, urban commercial centres have
been reinforced with new urbanization.
Finally they want to modernise and divide to reduce
costs and open to the nation what would be beneficial for the development of the
sector.
6.3.2. Exterior commerce
Exports suppose about a quarter of the GDP
in the Basque Country. Their main costumer
is the EU. The sectors that export more are
equipment and metallurgy. The result of
international trade has been positive during
the last years.
Basque companies have very clear that to
open to the international market is
essential and during the last years they
have made great efforts. Anyway, the main
problem is the small size of the companies
and the lack of planning. This is evident in
exhibition centres such as in Bilbao (BEC).
19