Hydropower landscapes and tourism development in the Pyrenees

Abstract

Since the development of hydroelectric power at the end of the 19th century, most of the high mountain valleys in the Pyrenees have been equipped with hydropower facilities (dams, water intake structures, aqueducts, penstocks, access routes, etc.). Thus, today many landscapes in the Pyrenees bear witness to the exploitation of this renewable resource. But in the classical imaginary world, these mountain areas are seen as the archetype of the beautiful natural landscape, in accordance with aesthetic values inherited from the 18th century, setting Man against Nature. In this model of representations, the cultural heritage of high mountain areas remains in the shadow of their natural heritage. However, since the beginning of the 20th century, it can be shown that the development of mountain tourism has been closely linked with the development of hydroelectric power infrastructures. This runs counter to these prejudices and may well give rise to new ways of looking at these hybrid landscapes. The cross-border comparison of the Neouvielle and Encantats massifs in the Pyrenees reveals that their hydropower resources are exploited in the same way, but that heritage aspects are managed differently: dismantling of ancillary installations at the dams with a view to protecting the so-called “natural” landscapes in the Neouvielle massif, as opposed to rehabilitating and converting this heritage in the Encantats massifs with a view to developing a form of tourism that takes into account the hybrid nature of the vestiges visible in today’s landscape.