Walking the Picos de Europa: An Ethnography of Sporting Uses in a Spanish National Park

This talk invites the audience on a journey through Spain’s first national park, Picos de Europa, tracing its trajectory from its early ties to mountaineering to the present day. Drawing on ethnography, a research method central to social and cultural anthropology, walking is understood not merely as a mode of movement but as a means of acquiring knowledge. Based on long-term engagement with the park's mountains and valleys, and on extended conversations with local residents and visitors, the author explores how this rural landscape has been reshaped over more than a century. Hiking, skiing, running, climbing, and cycling function as embodied research practices that allow for the examination of perceptions, values, and discourses surrounding outdoor sports. By foregrounding the entanglements of sport, heritage, and local development, the presentation reflects on the consequences of specific initiatives, as well as the challenges and tensions currently shaping the management of this protected area.