Landscape preferences and behaviour of visitors to Spanish national parks

Abstract

During the last decade recreational use of Spanish national parks has grown considerably, and is now posing a threat to nature conservation and the possibility of offering a satisfactory recreational service. There is a great variety of landscapes in Spain's national parks and this is one of the most attractive aspects for visitors to these unique areas. In this article we look at the preferences visitors have for the landscape of the park they are visiting, compared with the landscapes of other parks. Four Spanish national parks were compared. Different visitor types were distinguished by cluster analysis of 50 items relating to behaviour, expectations and attitudes. Landscape preference factors were obtained from a survey composed of random pairs of photographs of landscapes from the four national parks. Visitors expressed different degrees of interest, knowledge and dedication to their visits. Landscape preferences were significantly different amongst visitors to different national parks and, within each park, amongst groups of users. The results show that the landscape preferences of more casual visitors do not correspond to the features of the park they visit when these landscapes do not conform to those generally thought of as ‘beautiful’ (mountains, water and vegetation). The implications of the massive influx of visitors on the state of conservation of valuable areas such as national parks leads us to contemplate the importance of visitor management. Special attention should be paid to those visitors who are more casual and less sensitive to the landscape of the areas they visit.