Dark Heritage Tourism in the Iberian Peninsula

Book excerpt: This book seeks to offer a collection of relevant essays dealing with different aspects of dark tourism sites in the Iberian Peninsula, delving into issues related to shared attitudes in the face of death and suffering. Thus, all the chapters explore the ideological readings that may turn dark sites into places of dissonant heritage, and therefore make them meaningful elements in the formation of collective identities. Illustrating the multidisciplinary potential of dark tourism studies, the contributors come from different fields of study, including historiography, literary studies, sociology. This collection reflects on how tourism managers, researchers, academics, policy makers and local communities can mobilize, transition and adapt to cultural tourism fluctuations, as well as mitigate the negative impacts of global crises. It also provides examples of tourist practices which, despite their local scope, have a strong potential impact on collective and social levels, as well as on business and multiple fields of study, research and education.