In the context of multiple repurposing of rural spaces, tourism represents a path for development, with the potential to revitalize these areas. The conservation and restoration of heritage, and its promotion through tourism, can become an opportunity for local development, in which a range of stakeholders fulfil different roles in the carrying out of the processes involved. The aim of the study was to analyse the heritagisation processes and their tourist value enhancement and how it affects local development in Mértola (Baixo Alentejo, Portugal). A series of interviews with the chief stakeholders in the process were conducted, from which the contexts and conceptualisations of development were determined. On the basis of secondary data in terms of statistics, an analysis of the impacts of the process of heritagisation and the development of tourism was undertaken. The main conclusions drawn by the research are the following: (a) the importance of the process of heritagisation in Mértola; (b) the viability of the project, given the cost and lack of comprehensive conservation, in creating a unified whole; (c) the performance of, and power relationships between, the various stakeholders; (d) the limited participation of locals due to disaffection with the project; (e) the correlation between heritage, rural tourism, and local development.

La Sierra de Huelva es una comarca despoblada y envejecida, en la que dominan las actividades tradicionales, entre las que destacan la cría del cerdo ibérico en la dehesa y su industria asociada, que ha conformado Sistemas Productivos Locales no deslocalizables. Desde finales del siglo XX se han producido cambios importantes en esta industria, debidos a dinámicas internas y externas, que van a incidir en cambios productivos, organizativos, en la distribución y comercialización y la calidad del producto. Utilizando como fuente bases de datos oficiales y privadas para 2002 y 2020, se realizan comparaciones para establecer las causas, las transformaciones y sus consecuencias. Los principales resultados obtenidos señalan a cambios, con una tendencia a (1) la concentración empresarial y territorial y (2) la polarización del sector entre grandes empresas foráneas y pequeñas empresas tradicionales locales, a la vez que aparece una especialización productiva, en productos estandarizados y productos de calidad.

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Local Productive Systems (hereinafter LPSs) based on agro-food industries constitute alternative models of development in peripheral rural areas that are subject to internal and external dynamics and processes. The main objective of this research is to investigate these processes and their consequences on four LPSs based on the Iberian Pig Transformation Industry (hereinafter LPS-IPTI) in SW Spain: Fregenal de la Sierra, Higuera la Real, Cumbres Mayores and Jabugo. Using secondary data, a comparison is made between 2002 and 2020 to establish the changes, causes and consequences on the LPS-IPTIs studied. The results obtained indicate (1) the business and territorial concentration of LPS-IPTIs; (2) changes in the structure of the LPS-IPTI due to internal and external causes that were already present before the international economic crisis; (3) productive and territorial specialisation in standardised products and quality products that generated the polarisation of the sector; (4) simplification of industrial processes; (5) loss of employment, especially female; (6) external control of companies in the sector which, accordingly, brings about the loss of prominence of local actors in favour of foreign companies, reduced social capital and the progressive loss of ownership of the LPS.

In the context of agricultural post-productivity, rural spaces acquire new functions or reinforce the existing ones. Thus, the production of quality food, as a part of agroindustry, and tourism appear as common activities in rural development strategies. Special attention is drawn to gastronomic tourism and the creation of routes as a creative expression of the integration and structuring of the territories. The Iberian ham is a unique product, known worldwide, produced exclusively in the SW quadrant of the Iberian Peninsula. It is linked to a unique agro-system of the anthropised Mediterranean forest, also known as dehesa4, and comparably limited Iberian pig livestock, which has given rise to traditional culture and industry constituted in Local Productive System in many municipalities, supported by Protected Designation of Origin. The central objective of the research is to analyse existing tourist attraction related to the Iberian ham, its potential and the routes and products that have arisen around it. Having placed the territorial recognition as the starting point, the analysis of the resources and locations of the activities related to the Iberian ham was carried out based on scientific literature and the use of different databases. Secondly, the analysis of the potential tourism activities in the Sierra de Huelva region was implemented based on primary sources, namely surveys and interviews with intervening actors. The following results are obtained: a) the tourist potential of the Iberian pig world; b) complementarity with other tourist activities; c) difficulties in structuring existing attractions; d) multiplication of disconnected and sometimes coincident tourism initiatives; e) scarce participation of private actors in the initiatives launched.