Environment (THE_65229); Portugal (PT); Rituals And Festive Events (ICH_1229); SDG 15: Life On Land (ICH_1392); Social Practices; Tourism (THE_202);

https://journals.openedition.org/espacoeconomia/2100

When talking of rural spaces, we usually mean peripheral areas with a range of problems, but whose potential and dynamics for revitalisation are evident. This is the case of the Douro Demarcated Region (DDR), home to an idyllic landscape of countless terraces on slopes laden with vines as well as a unique architectural, human and cultural heritage. Nevertheless, the obstacles to its development escalate, ranging from the environmental and landscape structure to the economic, social and cultural. In this paper, from a wide range of problems afflicting the region, we intend to focus on the cultural component, particularly the intangible one, highlighting the strategic role of the popular festivities and pilgrimages in the rural sustainable development.