Valerià Paül

Valerià Paül
University of Santiago de Compostela | USC · Department of Geography

PhD

About

169
Publications
56,774
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1,314
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Introduction
I define myself, first and foremost, as a passionate geographer and traveller. My main research lines are regional planning, focusing on open spaces, protected areas and development; landscapes; agriculture, food and rural studies; peri-urban areas; mountains; political and cultural geography, including the challenging field of border studies; and tourism, namely nature, rural and/or cultural tourisms. I have devoted my work to expand the geographical understanding of my nations (Galicia and Catalonia), Western Australia (which I consider my adoptive country) and wider regions (especially, the Iberian Peninsula, the European Union and Latin America). Please see a video regarding my work in the Trevinca Mountains at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef7LHc0n7yE (with subtitles in English)
Additional affiliations
June 2020 - present
University of Santiago de Compostela
Position
  • Professor (Associate)
January 2015 - June 2020
University of Santiago de Compostela
Position
  • Lecturer
January 2014 - December 2014
University of Western Australia
Position
  • Professor (Assistant)

Publications

Publications (169)
Article
Mountains have been the object of an intense elaboration of national imaginaries. There is a widespread perception of Galicia as a rural and coastal country based on agricultural and seaside landscapes, with mountains being largely ignored. However, a production of local narratives around the Trevinca Massif has recently taken place, which has beco...
Article
In recent decades, an emerging literature on Agricultural Parks (APs) has described and theorized their variations in the different countries where they have been debated and/or implemented. This paper aims to conceptualize an AP in the Spanish context by analyzing case-studies. The review of the existing international literature on APs is followed...
Article
Spain is the country with the most biosphere reserves (BRs) in the world. The aim of this paper is to investigate why BRs have come to proliferate to such a degree in Spain and why there is a gap between UNESCO’s framework and the practicalities observed in Spain. After outlining how a BR is conceived according to UNESCO and reviewing the large vol...
Article
We analyse the theoretical tenets underpinning geographical indications (GIs) and seek to determine whether the number of producers engaged in them matters. To do so, we develop a qualitative methodology to focus on two small-scale cheese productions located in mountain areas endowed with a GI: Cebreiro (Galicia, NW Spain) and Tolminc (Slovenia). I...
Chapter
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In 2015, the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) País d’Art i d’Història Transfronterer Les Valls Catalanes del Tec i del Ter was set up. This EGTC is unique as it was created to allow the extension to south of the border of a French-exclusive label granted by the French Ministry of Culture: Pays d’art et d’histoire. The aim of this...
Article
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La cooperación transfronteriza se ha erigido como uno de los elementos clave de la llamada “desfronterización”. La función tradicional de las fronteras en tanto que límites infranqueables del territorio estatal se ha ido diluyendo, entre otros motivos, por las políticas de cooperación territorial impulsadas por la Unión Europea desde la década de 1...
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The Natura 2000 Network (N2000N) is the main conservation instrument of the European Union. Its implementation for the whole EU territory in the last 30 years has largely been carried out top-down, combining the local level poorly. The Queixa and San Mamede mountain ranges, located in south-eastern Galicia, have been proposed as a single natural pa...
Book
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Un total de setanta-tres autors i autores de vint-i-quatre universitats i set institucions de recerca i de diversa naturalesa oferim les trenta-sis contribucions que s’apleguen en aquest volum d’homenatge i reconeixement al mestre Josep Maria Panareda, geògraf i referent de primer ordre en Biogeografia a Catalunya i a Espanya al llarg de les darrer...
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Mountain-based tourism has been established in multiple ways, and a ski resort is just one of them. Most European snow tourism research has focused on the Alps, where a French Alpine model of generations of ski resorts, which uses the differential urban development of each generation as a marker, has been developed academically. This model has been...
Chapter
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SPATIAL PLANNING OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY AND THE BORDER PHENOMENON: ENCOURAGEMENT FOR COOPERATION OR PERSISTENCE OF THE BARRIER EFFECT? Cross-border cooperation has emerged as one of the key elements of so-called “debordering”. The traditional role of borders as hard limits of the state territory has been diluted by the territorial cooperation polici...
Article
Globally, Padrón peppers are a widely known vegetable. Unknown to most, its origin lies in a small village, Herbón, located on the outskirts of the town of Padrón (Galicia, North West Spain). Local farmers have faced serious problems due to competition with producers from elsewhere commercialising peppers as ‘Padron’. In response, local farmers sou...
Book
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Este libro recoge las 36 contribuciones presentadas al XXI Coloquio y IV Coloquio Internacional de Geografía Rural (ColoRURAL 2022) celebrado en Santiago de Compostela en octubre de 2022. El encuentro ambiciona responder a la pandemia de la COVID-19 como desafío mayúsculo que afecta al mundo y, dentro de él, a los espacios rurales. Ante todo, se tr...
Article
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The Cross-Border Minho River Strategy 2030: Spatial Planning for the Minho River Lower Valley? The Cross-Border Minho River Strategy 2030 was written between 2017 and 2019, a document detailing participative mechanisms for its elaboration. This applied to the area covered by the River Minho European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC), also...
Chapter
Both the city of Vigo and its metropolitan area, understood respectively as a municipality and a functional region, have the largest populations in Galicia: almost 300,000 inhabitants in the first case and more than half a million in the second. However, the boundaries of the metropolitan area of Vigo are ambiguous, with a dispersion of opinions ob...
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Rewilding is growing worldwide as a conservation approach to face the restoration of all natural processes that are suppressed or degraded by human action. After plenty of theoretical discussion and some limited experimental practices, rewilding remained conceptually open and diverse with regard to its operational framework. However, little was dis...
Article
The COVID-19 crisis experienced since early 2020 has been the first time in decades that all the boundaries between European Union member-states have been systematically re-set. This paper examines the economic impact derived from re-establishing the boundary on a particular cross-border region located between Galicia (Spain) and Portugal. The pape...
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p>Los espacios naturales protegidos (ENP) mercantilizan un determinado ámbito territorial en el que algunos de sus valores y elementos adquieren carácter simbólico. Desde este prisma, disciplinas como la geografía crítica o la ecología política postulan la necesidad de evaluar cómo se asienta la idea genérica de conservación en aquellas áreas que s...
Article
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La presente investigación ofrece un análisis de la prensa española con respecto a la imagen del/de la migrante en dos contextos fronterizos: Estados Unidos-México y Es-paña-Marruecos, en concreto, Ceuta y Melilla. A través del estudio del contenido emple-ado por los medios de comunicación observados, se abordan dos grandes cuestiones: la identifica...
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A Leonese Autonomous Community on a Mutating Political Map of Spain? An Urgent Interpretation of the Early 2020 Lexit Under the New Regional Geography At the end of 2019, the development of a process called Lexit was launched, through which, based on motions presented to local councils, it is hoped to achieve a Leonese autonomous community detached...
Article
Critical geopolitics conceives of the internal organization of the state as a relevant geopolitical subfield. In this context, this paper aims to develop a geopolitical interpretation of the covid-19 crisis management in Catalonia and Spain from March 2020 to mid-April 2020. The paper begins by providing an overview of internal geopolitics literatu...
Article
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Metropolitan planning is a fairly new practice that refers, amongst other topics, to open spaces. The objective of this research is to determine the changing role and treatment given to open spaces in successive metropolitan plans through an evolutionary analysis of Barcelona. The paper begins by providing the conceptual foundations of open space p...
Chapter
En Punta Arenas, Chile, se desarrollan aceleradamente programas de vivienda que no van acompañados del debido crecimiento de los servicios. En Oaxaca, México, población indígena ubicada en localidades distantes del centro de la urbe tiene poco acceso a la infraestructura de la ciudad. En Baños, Ecuador, el turismo y la agricultura prosperan, pero n...
Article
Urban cartography enables us to trace the historical and spatial evolution of human settlements, but it also furnishes us with the opportunity to obtain and analyse urban data from the perspective of the present day. Urban plans drafted for the reform and expansion of a city can provide us with valuable urban information about the planned use of ne...
Article
Wilderness is an important concept in the discourses and policies concerning contemporary European protected areas, inherently challenging in terms of sustainability. Since its designation in 1992, the Val Grande National Park, located in northwest Italy, has been portrayed and promoted as a wilderness area, thereby enhancing tourism, whilst disreg...
Conference Paper
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Fragas do Eume make up an emblematic area of Galicia whose protection results from historical environmentalist claims. In line with the “old” conservation geographies discussed by political ecologists, the narratives around this park have experienced over time significant ruptures with the supposed general interest, hence constituting conflicts of...
Article
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TREVINCA MOUNTAINS: UNDERTOURISM IN GALICIA AND OVERTOURISM IN SANABRIA?. The hegemonic paradigm of unlimited growth has encouraged the proliferation of various destinations with overtourism. Alternatively, places with low visitor rates vindicate themselves as undertourism, as an opportunity to offer a more relaxed and respectful tourism. This cont...
Chapter
Agricultural lands in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (MAB) are exposed to enormous urban pressures. Until recently, no single global study has attempted to describe the heterogeneous landscapes (agrarian and non-agrarian) of the Barcelona region in any official way. Since 2007, work has been underway on compiling an official Metropolitan Landsc...
Article
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An increasing number of Transboundary Protected Areas (TBPAs) have been designated in the last decades. Transboundary Biosphere Reserves represent one of the most valued instruments. TBPAs are usually conceived around international borders; however, these devices can be applied to internal boundaries — i.e., for this study, the administrative limit...
Chapter
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The alleged North-Western Iberian urban corridor, mainly covering Northern Portugal and Galicia, is examined. The international boundary between Portugal and Spain is assumed to have a role in the analysis of such a corridor. The theoretical section reviews the literature on urban systems and corridors and shows how they are commonly conceived unde...
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In the Iberian Peninsula, the Alpine juniper (Juniperus communis subsp. alpina) scrub constitutes a Subalpine community associated with the highlands. After some considerations regarding its taxonomy, results are provided through vegetation mapping of two extreme locations where it can be found: Montseny Massif, located south-east of the Pyrenees,...
Article
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Presentació del volum 66/2: Rural Landscapes Beyond the Idyll.
Article
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Scott, Mark; Gallent, Nick i Gkartzios, Menelaos (ed.) (2019)The Routledge Companion to Rural PlanningLondres / Nova York: Routledge, 670 p.ISBN 978-1-138-10405-1
Article
One of the strategies to be followed by companies in the global market is internationalisation, especially if they want to expand and become more competitive. For this, they must concentrate on products and services with higher added value. The incorporation of technological content is critical in this process. Therefore, the technology sector is o...
Article
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Resumen: En el espacio central de la raya entre Galicia y el Norte de Portugal se extiende el Gerês/Xurés. Este ámbito territorial está conformado por dos Parques, uno Nacional en Portugal y otro Natural en Galicia. El presente artículo aporta los mimbres para una geografía histórica de este ámbito, en clave de región transfronteriza. La metodologí...
Article
The literature on the development of tourism destinations neglects to question their precise origins. Thus, it makes sense to research the when, how and why a particular place attracts tourists to the point of being considered an up-and-coming destination. The case of Trevinca-A Veiga (Galicia, Spain), a mountain area which is emerging as a tourism...
Article
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In this article, three central issues present in Antonio Fraguas’ (1953) "Geografía de Galicia" are analysed. Likewise, these issues are diachronically interpreted from 1953 onwards, underlining the role exerted by academic geography at the University of Santiago de Compostela since the late 1960’s. Firstly, the "comarcas", a sub-national Galician...
Chapter
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O Teixadal de Casaio: the Myth and the Forest
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Wetlands, Sand Dunes and Orchards over the doorstep of Barcelona. A Landscape and Heritage Analysis of the Llobregat River Delta Open Spaces
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Cortegada, Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park, between "Relictual Laurel Forest" and "Plundered Island"
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Durante los decenios de 1990 y 2000 se ensayó en Galicia un modelo de comarcalización que pretendió emplear la comarca con el objetivo del desarrollo local, a la vez que como instrumento de coordinación interadministrativa y de ordenación territorial. Así, se apostó por la creación de un entramado institucional compuesto de diversos organismos, per...
Article
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Urban soundscape consists of physical and perceptual characteristics. Its study makes it possible to understand the interaction between citizens and the acoustic environment where they live. This work examines the soundscape of the historic quarter of Popayán, Colombia. 121 measurements of noise and 50 records of perceived loudness in situ were mad...
Chapter
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Se pretende evaluar la incidencia del programa o enfoque LEADER (y, en el pasado, de otros concomitantes como PRODER) en las localidades pacenses de La Nava de Santiago, Cordobilla de Lácara y Carmonita, es decir, la Comarca del Lácara, situada en el centro de Extremadura. Más allá de los varios estudios existentes en España en general, y en Extrem...
Article
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Researchers, planners, and decision makers admit the need to take into account the social conflicts inherent to invasive species management in order to minimize controversy. These conflicts are mainly based on differences in values systems, thus causing antithetical policies in environmental management. On the topic of Eucalyptus plantations, this...
Chapter
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This document assumes Galicia as urban and endeavours to characterise the Galician countryside, acknowledging that it depends on the urban areas; that is, rural areas are the periphery of central urban and metropolitan areas. The text consists of three sections. The first one is devoted to spatial demographics. The next turns to spatial economic is...
Article
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The Meseta Ibérica Transboundary Biosphere Reserve as a transboundary protected natural area: a conservation tool or a promotional brand? Transboundary protected areas (TBPAs) have multiplied in recent years, especially in Europe and Southern Africa. A vast body of research has been carried out on TBPAs by international organisations as well as sch...
Book
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This volume assembles some contributions related to the fieldwork developed in the frame of the 26th Commission on the Sustainability of Rural Systems of the International Geographical Union Colloquium, held in Santiago de Compostela and other rural Galician places in July 2018. As is tradition in the IGU CSRS colloquia, fieldwork is a central part...
Book
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This volume assembles a collection of 61 short papers dealing with the challenging transitions experienced by rural systems in their quest for sustainability across the world. The articles are grouped into six broad themes with an overall aim to bridge some of the existing gaps identified in previous academic discussions. The research documented in...
Chapter
Question of Borders? A Territorial Analysis of the Ribeira Sacra — Candidate to World Heritage — as a Cultural Landscape In 1996 the Ribeira Sacra Candidacy was submitted to the UNESCO tentative list of World Heritage Cultural Landscapes. At least 26 different delimitations of Ribeira Sacra have been proposed. This fluid and changing practice for c...
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Phytogeography of a mythical relict forest: O Teixadal de Casaio, Galicia: O Teixadal de Casaio, a forest of about 400 yews located in south-eastern Galicia, is analysed. This peculiar plant formation is described; the singular nature of this forest is derived largely from the fact that the yew (Taxus baccata) does not usually form forest stands. A...
Chapter
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The laurel forest of Cortegada Island (Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park): a phytogeographical discussion in conservation terms): The laurel forest of Cortegada Island is analysed from a physiognomic perspective, with consideration also given to floristic composition. Three situations are distinguished: monospecific laurel forest, mixed for...
Poster
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Phytogeography of a mythical relict forest: O Teixadal de Casaio (Galicia). O Teixadal de Casaio, a forest of about 400 yews located in south-eastern Galicia, is analysed. This peculiar plant formation is described; the singular nature of this forest is derived largely from the fact that the yew (Taxus baccata) does not usually form forest stands....
Article
Full-text available
Gerês-Xurés: Tourism planning in a transboundary protected natural area: In the border area between Southern Galicia (Spain) and Northern Portugal, several agreements have been signed in order to attempt to set a common framework for the whole protected area Gerês-Xurés, namely with the Biosphere Reserve designation by the UNESCO in 2009. Our stud...
Article
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Landscape in the Geografia de Catalunya of AEDOS: some interpretative readings | The discipline of Geography plays a key role in the framing of landscape as a nationalist ideological construction. This is analysed from a hermeneutic perspective in the Geografia de Catalunya, a multi-volume collection of writings published by AEDOS. At face value th...
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This research compares two location-based methods of evaluating public transport accessibility and applies them in Helsinki. After discussing a series of methodological aspects, the authors calculate the Structural Accessibility Layer (SAL) public transport indicator and the Public Transport and Walking Accessibility Index (PTWAI) for a grid with 8...
Book
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Assembling an inspiring collection of analyses, cases and policy options, this is a book that shows possibilities for the modern-day Boomtown of Perth, Western Australia (WA), on a trajectory to almost double its size by 2050. It provides guidance in developing the vision, foresight and preparedness necessary in planning and managing both the posit...
Chapter
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More Than Twenty Years of LEADER in Galicia: An Analysis of Its Development in A Limia and A Baixa Limia Districts // The LEADER Programme has at this point in time two decades of active presence in certain European rural areas such as A Limia and A Baixa Limia districts, located in Southern Galicia. This paper aims to analyse the development of th...
Article
This paper reviews a tourist planning experience developed for the Couto Mixto in 2007–2008. The Couto Mixto is a small territory of three hamlets situated in Galicia (Spain) and bordering Portugal that, until the end of the 19th century, used to be a virtually independent state of 25 km2. This tourism planning process is compared and contrasted wi...
Article
Transboundary protected areas (TBPAs) have expanded across the world. Academic research, handbooks and guidelines for developing TBPAs have multiplied during the last few years, although a lack of critical analysis as regards to their development is detected. The aim of this paper is to test the suitability of the TBPA framework, as defined by lead...