The project is part of the 2nd Call Interreg POCTEP (Spain-Portugal) on cultural tourism, and will highlight the extensive legacy of the War of Independence-Peninsular War in Central Portugal and Castilla y León.
The aim is to turn the heritage of the French invasions into a quality and sustainable tourist product that can create wealth and employment in areas of Castile-Leon and central Portugal threatened by depopulation and ageing.
It is a cross-border project implemented by a consortium of 8 Spanish and Portuguese partners and has a total budget of 710,228 euros, with a 2-year duration.
Brussels, 08.07.2019. On 10 July, the NAPOCTEP project will be launched in the town of Buçaco, near Coimbra, with the mission of converting the heritage of the French invasion era into a quality and sustainable tourist product that can create wealth and employment in Castilian-Leonese and central Portugal areas that are threatened by depopulation and ageing. The project is situated within the framework of the 2nd Interreg POCTEP Call (Spain-Portugal) on cultural tourism, and will follow the extensive legacy of the War of Independence-Peninsular War in Central Portugal and Castile and Leon.
It has a total budget of 710.228 euros to be shared between a consortium of 8 Spanish and Portuguese partners: Comunidade Intermunicipal da Região de Coimbra (CIM-RC), Comunidade Intermunicipal das Beiras e Serra da Estrela (CIM-BSE), Turismo Centro de Portugal (TCP), Rota Histórica das Linhas de Torres – Associação para o Desenvolvimento Turístico e Patrimonial das (RHLT), Fundación Siglo para el Turismo y las Artes de Castilla y León (FSIGLO), Fundación Santa María la Real del Patrimonio Histórico (FSMRPH), Fundación Delegación Fundacion Finnova (FINNOVA) and Sociedad Mercantil Estatal para la Gestión de la Innovación y las Tecnologías Turísticas, S. (State Commercial Society for the Management of Innovation and Tourism Technologies).A. (SEGITTUR).
The press conference will be attended by a large group of regional and provincial authorities and cultural representatives. The presentation will be made by the C.I.M. Região de Coimbra in collaboration with the rest of the partnership. Speakers will include Rui Marqueiro (President of the Municipal Chamber of Mealhada), Luís Albuquerque (Director of the Military Museum of Buçaco), José Carlos Alexandrino (President of the C.I.M. Região de Coimbra) and Javier Ramírez (Director of Tourism of the Junta de Castilla y León). The NAPOCTEP project aims to create new tourism opportunities by helping to compensate for the flow of visitors and compensate for seasonality and by creating opportunities for economic development in inland areas affected by population and ageing. In addition, the importance of publicizing and preserving this often unknown legacy will be highlighted.
Thus, the aim is to create a series of Napoleonic routes in an area comprising the central region of Portugal (Beiras and Serra da Estela) and the Castilian-Leonese provinces of the west (Salamanca, Zamora, Valladolid, León and Ávila). The day before the press conference, 9 July, the participants will carry out a technical visit and hold working meetings to launch the programme.
It should be noted that in 2015 the Council of Europe approved the designation of Napoleonic routes in Europe as a European Cultural Itinerary (such as the Pilgrim’s Way to Santiago or the Carlos V route), which is a great opportunity for the area as it gives it an internationally prestigious brand and connects it with other routes in other parts of Europe.