Cuade nos de Tu ismo, 39, (2017), 663-667
Cuade nos de Tu ismo, nº 39, (2017); pp. 663-667 Uni e sidad de Mu cia
ISSN: 1139-7861
eISSN: 1989-4635
GIS ANALYSIS FOR THE DESIGN OF A TOURISTIC
PRODUCT: LOCATING THE HIGHEST VILLAGE AND
MUNICIPALITY OF SPAIN
En ique Mon ón Chi a
José Que eda Sala
Vic o ia Que eda Vázquez
Uni e si a Jaume I. Cas ellón de la Plana
[email p o ec ed], [email p o ec ed], [email p o ec ed]
1. CURRENT STATUS. GEOGRAPHICAL TOURISM
Al hough no ypi ied in he handbooks, he e is a kind o ou ism called geog aphical
ou ism. Amongs o he s, he highes places o a egion o hose in he Ea h a e isi ed, as
well as he sou ce and mou h o he mos impo an i e s, i e and coun ies conjunc ions
and some pa allels and me idians.
Good examples o his kind o ou ism a e he Moun E e es , Moun Teide, he iple con-
luence o B azil, Pa aguay and A gen ina, Finis e e, he sou ces o Eb o and Tajo i e s, he
Equa o , he No h Pole A c ic Ci cle in Ro anieni (Finland), o he G eenwich Obse a o y.
Al hough he e a e some o hem ha dese e ememb ance, o he s a e ela ed o huge
mis akes, becoming ou is ic poin s undese edly. Cape No h and he Cape o Good
Hope a e good examples. These geo- ou is ic e o s a e sp ead in he whole plane , and
ou coun y is no an excep ion. This is he case o Cape Tou iñan in on o Finis e e,
being he mos occiden al poin o he Spanish Peninsula. I s singula i y is ecognized,
howe e , no isi s a e ecei ed. In o he cases, big con o e sies appea which a e no
sol ed o a e di icul o sol e.
Ano he con o e sy is he i le o he highes illage o municipali y o Spain. T é elez
(G anada) is de ined as he highes illage o Spain, acco ding o a ce amic insc ip ion
exis ing in he illage. On he o he hand, Valdelina es (Te uel) is claimed o be he highes
municipali y o Spain.
The Na ional Geog aphical Ins i u e sheds ligh on his ma e wi h i s Geog aphic
Nomencla u e o Municipali ies and Popula ion En i ies and poin s ou o Valdelina es
as he highes municipal co e o Spain (1.695 me e s). The same Nomencla u e, howe e ,
includes 16 en i ies loca ed o e his heigh and a leas 10 o hem ha e popula ion,
acco ding o he da a p o ided by he Na ional Ins i u e o S a is ics.
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Cuade nos de Tu ismo, 39, (2017), 663-667
This s udy aims a p o iding new da a o his ques ion, making use o he sys ems
o geog aphical in o ma ion and he eno mous quan i y o ma e ial a ailable om he
applica ion o he Eu opean di ec i e INSPIRE. We p e end o make a dis inc ion amongs
municipali y, popula ion co e and en i y and o de ine no only he heigh om a speci ic
poin bu also he a e age o he heigh s measu ed in illages and municipali ies, en i ies
wi h a su ace, he e o e ep esen ed by polygons ins ead o poin s.
2. DATA
The e a e many ee da a a ailable a na ional le el. A miles one o his a ailabili y
was Eu opean di ec i e Inspi e, In as uc u e o Spa ial In o ma ion in Eu ope. This
di ec i e ma ked he ules o he se lemen o an in as uc u e o spa ial in o ma ion
in Eu opean Coun ies. The da a used in his s udy show he eno mous e o made om
he applica ion o he Inspi e Di ec i e.
Fi s ly, we ha e he digi al model o land wi h a esolu ion o 200 me e s, MDT200,
a ailable o he di e en p o inces in he web page o he Na ional Cen e o Geog aphi-
cal In o ma ion. The MDT200 has been chosen so ha he olume o da a o handle o
he o e 500.000 squa e kilome es o Spanish e i o y was no excessi e. Howe e , i
is compa ed wi h ano he digi al model o he land, he ASTER GDEM. I is he unique
digi al model o ele a ions ha co e s he en i e plane wi h high esolu ion. The mesh
is 30 me e s.
Rega ding ec o iles, he limi s o municipali ies, p o inces and au onomies ha e
been ob ained om he web si e o he Na ional Cen e o Geog aphical In o ma ion.
Howe e , he de e mina ion o heigh s wi h hese iles showed a p oblem de i ed om
dis inc e i o ial en i ies ha do no appea in he lis s o municipali ies o each p o ince
p o ided by he S a is ic Na ional Ins i u e. To sol e i , he ec o iles o adminis a i e
limi s p o ided by he web page o A cGIS ha e been used. These iles ha e he ad an age
ha each municipali y has i s p o ince and au onomy assigned in he able o a ibu es,
hus making unnecessa y he union by loca ion o hei a ibu es.
Finally ye impo an ly, he nuclei o popula ion p o ided by he web page o he
Na ional Cen e o Geog aphical In o ma ion and ha e been used, comple ed, wi h da a
om he web page o he En i onmen , Food and Ag icul u e Minis y.
3. METHODS
The da a ha e been ea ed and analysed by he so wa e QGIS. In he beginning i
was known as Quan um GIS, i s a ed in 2002 and nowadays i is he leade sys em o
geog aphical in o ma ion o open sou ce o desk op. I is a p ojec o he Open Sou ce
Geospa ial Founda ion (OSGeo), os e ed by olun ee s ha cons i u e a g owing com-
muni y o de elope s. Nowadays, he las e sion is he QGIS 2.12 Lyon.
The i s s ep made wi h QGIS is he union o he di e en pages in o de o gene -
a e a digi al model o he land o he Peninsula and Balea ic Islands on he one hand
and Cana y Islands by he o he hand, as he da a om he as e come om di e en
coo dina e sys ems. La e on, he digi al models o he land as well as he ec o iles
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Cuade nos de Tu ismo, 39, (2017), 663-667
a e mo ed o a sys em o geog aphic coo dina es o la i ude and longi ude ha , com-
pa ed wi h hose om Uni e sal T ans e sal Me ca o , acili a es he ep esen a ion o
he Peninsula and he wo a chipelagos.
The a e age heigh s o he Spanish municipali ies and o he popula ion nuclei
a e acqui ed by means o he ool “Zone s a is ics”. This ool p o ides se e al s a is ics
o heigh o each municipali y: he numbe o pixels included in each polygon, he
municipali ies and popula ion co es, he sum o he alues, he mean and he median, he
s anda d de ia ion, he minimum, he maximum, he in e al, he mino i y, he majo i y
and he a ie y.
4. RESULTS
The i s analysis ocuses on he a e age o he municipali ies. Fo he 31 municipali-
ies wi h mean heigh s abo e 1.800 me e s, he mean heigh s ha e been de e mined o e
a o al o 106.649 poin s in he case o he Digi al Model o he Land wi h a mesh o 200
me e s and wi h mo e han 5 million poin s (5.623.297) in he model wi h a mesh o 30
me e s. This da a a e mo e accu a e han a simple and alea o y loca ion poin .
The esul s change he classi ica ion o he municipal heigh in a adical way wi h
espec o he Geog aphic Nomencla u e o Municipali ies and Popula ion En i ies and
show a clea domain o he alles moun ain anges o Spain, he Py enees and he Be ic
moun ains. 29 o hese 31 municipali ies a e loca ed in hese moun ain anges. Only wo o
hem do no belong o his domain, he O o a a in San a C uz de Tene i e and Valdelina es
in Te uel, which is he las municipali y o he able. Fi een o hem o e come he 2.000
me e s, including, o cou se, hose ha a e included in he podium: T e élez and Capilei a
in G anada and Benasque in Huesca. The h ee o hem ha e he bene i o coun ing o ally
o pa ially in hei land wi h well-known peaks: he Mulhacén and he Ane o. In he same
line, he unique cana y municipali y in he lis , he O o a a, has he highes moun ain o
Spain, he Teide. Wi hou any doub , i is a singula municipali y as i also includes coas ,
hus being he municipali y wi h he highes d op o Spain.
Wi h he aim o p o iding a bigge accu acy o he esul s, he mean alues a e ecal-
cula ed wi h he mos accu a e digi al model o he land, he ASTER GDEM. The e a e
no signi ican changes in he main municipali ies, hus con i ming he eliabili y o he
MDT200.
Rega ding he owns, he heigh s o he popula ion nuclei a e calcula ed wi h he aid o
he ec o iles ex ac ed om he Na ional Cen e o Geog aphical In o ma ion and he
En i onmen , Food and Ag icul u e Minis y and he Digi al Model wi h 200 me e s mesh.
The i s 31 municipali ies a e hose whose owns a e loca ed a a heigh abo e 1.435
me e s. This numbe is simila o ha shown o he municipali ies, in o de o help he
spa ial compa ison. As was o be expec ed, he dis ibu ion is o ally di e en . The hypso-
g aphic weigh o he alles peaks disappea , as he illages do no show hypsome y and
p e e alleys and hillsides. The e o e, he bigges moun ain anges p ac ically disappea
o he map and he p edominance is o he municipali ies loca ed in mo e modes uni s:
Cen al and Ibe ian Moun ain anges. The popula ion illages om Te uel a e he mos
impo an , summing 14 bo h om he A agon land and om he Cas ile land. The Cen al
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Cuade nos de Tu ismo, 39, (2017), 663-667
Moun ain ange includes 11 popula ion nuclei om A ila and Somosie a om Mad id.
F om he Py enees and he Penibe ic a ea, only some illages a e included in he ank-
ing, in Gi ona, Huesca and Lleida, on he one hand, and in G anada, on he o he hand.
Rega ding Cana y Islands, no municipali y has popula ion nuclei abo e 1.435 me e s.
This di e ence is well shown in he Honou Roll. In con as wi h T e elez om
G anada, he highes illage is Valdelina es in Te uel. The nex illages also belong o
Te uel, G iegos and Gúda . No hing o see wi h he municipal podium, sha ed by places
om Huesca and G anada.
The compa a i e wi h he Geog aphic Nomencla u e o Municipali ies and Popula ion
En i ies gi es ise o small di e ences. The Nomencla u e ob ains only one heigh o he
main popula ion nuclei, in con as wi h ou sys em, which collec s all he poin s o he
popula ion nuclei, showing some di e ences in he case o municipali ies wi h dispe se
popula ion o wi h an impo an opog aphic d op.
Once sol ed he con on a ion be ween he highes illage and municipali y om
Spain, we make p o i o he a ailabili y o da a o sign he highes illages and munici-
pali ies o each au onomy. As in he p e ious case, many di e ences a e ound when
compa ing hem wi h he Nomencla u e.
The da a o e impo an clues o he Spanish elie . In he no h, he less en i y o
he Py enees belonging o Na a a is obse ed in con as wi h hose belonging o A agon
and Ca alonia, due o he lack o symme y along he moun ain ange. The Basque limi ,
wi h he lowes heigh , gi es ise o he Can ab ian ange, which ends wi h he heigh s in
As u ias, succeeded by he ele a ions in Galicia, which close he ableland o he Ibe ian
Peninsula in he no heas . The e eb a es o Cen al Range ma k he op heigh s o
Ex emadu a, Cas ile – León and Mad id, whe eas he Ibe ian Range is e lec ed in La
Rioja, Cas ile – La Mancha and Valencian Communi y. Sie a Mo ena is shadowed by he
bigges peaks o he Penibe ic ange. In Cana y Islands, he Teide is dominan . Low alues
a e p o ided by he Se a de T amun ana in Balea ic Islands and No heas land o Mu cia.
The da a o he illages a e less signi ican in iden i ying he elie , as adi ional human
occupancy does no ollow any hypsog aphic end. The di e ences a e mo e conside able
in he moun ain anges ha su e ed om glacial e ouches and hose whose hillsides show
highe slopes. The e o e, he con as in heigh be ween he peaks and he alleys whe e he
popula ions a e se led is bigge . Acco ding o his ac , he illage loca ed a he highes
heigh in A agon (and in Spain) is no placed in he Py enees bu in he Ibe ian Range. The
highes one om Ca alonia is o he same le el han ha om Cas ile – Leon, loca ed in
Cen al Range, a uni wi h much less en i y. The highes popula ions o As u ias and Can-
ab ia ha e heigh s below 1.000 me e s, in a simila way o Basque Coun y, in spi e o he
bigge size o i s moun ain ange. Vinieg a de A iba, in la Rioja, a exceeds hem.
5. CONCLUSIONS
This s udy akes ad an age o he Open Sou ce Geog aphical In o ma ion Sys ems and
he a ailabili y o spa ial da a o sol e a ques ion, he highes municipali y and illage o
Spain, ha loods he o ums and social ne wo ks al hough wi hou any scien i ic e e ence
and wi hou any pape in ele an p ess.
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Cuade nos de Tu ismo, 39, (2017), 663-667
Rega ding he esul s, he e is a ma ked spa ial di e si y. In he municipali ies, he
mos impo an ac o is he physical geog aphy and he e o e, he highes ones a e loca ed
mainly in he wo mos impo an moun ain anges: Py enees and Be ic Range. On he
o he hand, in he illages, human mo i a ions appea and hen he popula ion nuclei
escape om he bigges heigh s mo ing owa ds mo e modes moun ain anges.
In he end, he main municipali ies dispu ing he honou o being he highes one o
Spain, T e élez and Valdelina es, o Valdelina es and T e élez, ha e demons a ed o
ha e hei sha e o eason. Acco ding o his s udy, bo h can dese e he leading posi ion,
al hough he municipal au ho i ies should co ec he iden i ica ion diplomas: he munici-
pali y should be T e elez, he illage, Valdelina es.