The French Way of St. James as an Engine in the Invigoration of Rural Municipalities in Galicia

Abstract: The aim of this study is to analyze the invigorating effect of the Way of St. James in the Galician rural areas. To do so, we have chosen as a territorial scope the 14 rural municipalities that the “French Way” crosses in this Autonomous Community. The utilized data come from the Bank of Municipal Data of Instituto Galego de Estatística (IGE). A double approximation on the impact of this route has been made: on one hand, we analyze the behavior of different socioeconomic variables during the last two decades in the selected municipalities. On the other hand, we examine to what extent a more favorable dynamic has been witnessed in similar rural territories that do not have access to this product. Although the results of the analysis should be taken as a first approximation, data point to the existence of a very moderate impact of the Way of St. James, in the sense that the development of tourism activities linked to the Way are not sufficient to reverse the demographic and economic decline of these rural areas.

摘要：本研究旨在分析圣雅各朝圣之路（Way of St. James）对加利西亚乡村地区的振兴效应。为此，我们选取该自治区域内法国之路（French Way）途经的14个乡村市镇作为研究范围。本研究所用数据来自加利西亚统计研究所（Instituto Galego de Estatística, IGE）的市政数据库。针对该路线的影响，我们采用双重分析路径：其一，分析选定市镇在过去二十年间各类社会经济变量的变化态势；其二，对比考察未依托该路线的同类乡村地区是否呈现出更优的发展动态。尽管本分析结果仅可视为初步探索，但数据表明圣雅各朝圣之路的影响十分有限，即与该路线相关的旅游活动发展不足以扭转这些乡村地区的人口与经济衰退趋势。