The Tourism Sustainability Plan in the Cabañeros National Park It acts on five work areas: Public use of the Cabañeros National Park, Architectural Heritage, Destination Management, Offer and development of tourism products and Sustainable Promotion.
These are five major axes in which important milestones have been achieved, so throughout this article each of the objectives achieved in the Plan developed during the year 2022 and 2023 and in relation to each work area will be listed. in which it acts.
Public use
Regarding public use in the Park, the Tourism Sustainability Plan in collaboration with the Cabañeros National Park aims to improvement of infrastructure and equipment for public use, as well as universal accessibility; as is the case of the new walkway on the Casa Palillos Botanical Trail, which opened in November 2022, designed for the enjoyment of people with reduced mobility. A performance that added to the improvement of the road between Santa Quiteria and Pueblo Nuevo del Bullaque in Ciudad Real, as well as the rehabilitation of the existing bridge on said road over the Bullaque River, in order to improve communication routes and access to the Casa Palillos visitor center.
In addition to the previous objective, there is the vitalization and conservation of the natural environment through the revitalization of visitor centers, increasing its number of visits and promoting deseasonalization. In fact, The National Park visitor centers welcomed more than 85,000 visitors in 2022, thus positioning the Cabañeros destination as a reference nature destination.
It is also found the valorization of other potentialities, such as wildlife observation through birdwatching, nature photography, guided hiking, horseback and 4×4 routes, astrotourism, workshops and family activities, and gastronomic activities. All these actions have been carried out during the 26th and 27th anniversary of the declaration of Cabañeros as a National Park, anniversaries celebrated in 2021 and 2022 through a broad program of activities in the destination municipalities and which obtained a high participation. In fact, more than 500 people of all ages and from different parts of the country participated in the 27th anniversary.
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is a key concept in the Tourism Sustainability Plan in the Cabañeros National Park, with challenges such as the recovery of local architecture; the beautification of municipalities to improve the quality of life of the inhabitants and the tourist experience; and the preservation of the identity of the town, among which we can highlight direct actions in the municipalities of the Plan, such as the improvements in Retuerta del Bullaque and its district (new health center, street accessibility, new playground or new gym); wave recovery of the ceramic mural façade in the church of Pueblonuevo del Bullaque by the artist Arcadi Blasco, the place where the Provincial Council went in January 2023 to order the intervention of the Conservation and Restoration service, after learning about the progressive detachment of platelets that has been occurring. Specifically, work will be done on the exterior façade, on cornices and eaves, as well as on the roofs, and painting work will also be carried out inside and outside the religious building. An action that is already underway and that involves a subsidy from the Provincial Council that reaches 100,000 euros.
Destination management
In relation to destination management, the Cabañeros National Park has had as one of the objectives the execution of Smart Rural Destination 'Smart Cabañeros', a project already underway carried out by the Ciudad Real Provincial Council. This is an application of the Smart Tourist Destination model applied to the rural area, which positions Cabañeros as a pioneer destination in the region.
In addition, the positioning strategy of the new tourist brand 'Cabañeros, breathe the Mediterranean forest', which was presented in November 2022 with the aim of revitalizing and promoting the National Park area, especially the towns of Alcoba, Horcajo, Navas de Estena, Retuerta del Bullaque, Santa Quiteria, Pueblonuevo and El Robledo, added to the Toledo towns of Los Navalucillos, Navahermosa and Hontar . To this end, and on the occasion of the 27th anniversary of the declaration of Cabañeros as a National Park, a range of activities integrated into the tourist brand “Breathe Mediterranean Forest”.
Offer and development of tourism product
Another of the outstanding axes for the Cabañeros destination is the offer and development of tourism products, with projects such as the celebration of the VII National Nature Observation Tourism Meeting 'NatureWatch'; which took place in the National Park in April 2023, where 50 attendees combined theoretical sessions with recreational and outdoor activities to discover the values of the Park at the level of nature observation tourism.
It has also been key boost to gastronomy and the restaurant sector and local products, through gastronomic events, training for restaurant and accommodation companies. An example of this is the event “The Flavors of Cabañeros”, a program that promotes local gastronomy around the National Park and which was held from February to the end of March 2023, reaching the number of 1000 participants who tasted local gastronomic products through local restaurant companies and local producers.
Sustainable promotion
All this without forgetting the sustainable promotion work area, with the launch of the new web portal of the Cabañeros destination, where the user can learn about all the experiences, tourist services and natural and cultural resources they need to plan the trip; consult and make reservations for the activities of “Breathe Mediterranean Forest” and “Los Sabores de Cabañeros”; as well as being the first to find out about all the news linked to the execution of the Tourism Sustainability Plan in the Cabañeros National Park.
English (UK) 
Español