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1981
Volume 34, Issue 3
  • ISSN: 1364-971X
  • E-ISSN: 1758-9150

Abstract

This article examines how the interaction between El Camino de Santiago and a late medieval re-enactment in the Castilian village of Hospital del Órbigo motivates a new and promising touristic panorama in current and future Spain. While massive tourism to the Mediterranean coast was a productive tool for the regeneration of the country during Francoism, El Camino de Santiago and its discursive power resulted in the proliferation of lesser-known cultural practices that simultaneously enabled a space to refashion autonomic-local identities. The annual celebration of the legacy of the medieval knight Suero de Quiñones nurtures a neomedieval spectacle in this Leonese region: a look at historical memory and a congregation of multiple postmodern medieval remediations. Ultimately, these neomedieval spectacles in Spain are a valuable instrument to recuperate regional-territorial sentiments within national borders that have been historically neglected, particularly during the Francoist era, yet in present times embodied in the incidence of political conservatism and the emergence of ultra-authoritarian legislators.

Resumen

Este ensayo propone que la interacción entre el Camino de Santiago y una recreación histórica originada en tiempos bajomedievales en la villa castellana de Hospital del Órbigo logra generar un nuevo y prometedor horizonte turístico en la España más contemporánea. Pese a que el turismo masivo hacia el Mediterráneo acaparó el poder regenerativo de un país devastado durante el franquismo, el Camino de Santiago y su capacidad discursiva propagó la creación de prácticas culturales menos reconocidas que a la vez allanaron el camino para moldear identidades locales. En este contexto, la celebración anual del legado del caballero medieval Suero de Quiñones fomenta un espectáculo neomedieval en la vecindad leonesa: una mirada a la memoria histórica sumada a la congregación de múltiples reconstrucciones posmodernas de la Edad Media. Son estos espacios de entretenimiento neomedievales en la España actual los que se instrumentalizan para recuperar sentimientos territoriales históricamente desplazados, en particular durante el franquismo, aunque en el presente personificados en la incidencia del conservadurismo político y la emergencia de legisladores excesivamente autoritarios.

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2021-09-01
2026-04-19

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/content/journals/10.1386/ijis_00044_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): El Camino; el Camino; identidad; identity; León; neomedievalism; neomedievalismo; politics; política; tourism; turismo

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