Sustainable Tourism Law

QUALITY AND SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT 259 Therefore, it is striking to realize the short-term and reductionist vision in which the Spanish legislators (the state legislator, exceeding even their competencies) have installed themselves with respect to tourism. An approach that can lead us to a situation similar to that of the sixties of the last century, at the height of what the Spanish doctrine has called “desarrollismo económico”. That is why the role of Public Administration and Administrative Law exists, to safeguard the different interests at stake. It can’t consider exclusively the interest of the company or professionals that are going to dedicate themselves, or are already dedicated, to a tourism activity. II. TOURISM AS A COMPLEX PHENOMENON. CONTRADICTORY INTERESTS: THE GREAT PARADOX THAT RESOLVES SUSTAINABLE TOURISM One of themain characteristics of tourismis its complexity.We are facing a polyhedral phenomenon 5 with incidence in different social areas and where conflicting interests converge. In short, there are different legal rights that the law must protect. In this sense, on the one hand we find the interests of the companies and professionals of the sector that exploit the tourist resources and, in a legitimate way, try to maximize the benefits. On the other hand, we have the interests of the population and the territory where the tourist activity is carried out, in addition to the interests of the consumers and users involved. What is really difficult in this case is to find the right balance between both vectors: on the one hand, the economic development of places that, otherwise, are usually stuck in very limited environments from an economic point of view; and on the other, maintain the charm of the tourist resource, that is, preserve it in optimal conditions so that it can generate adequate tourist flows that guarantee its enjoyment in the future. This is the great paradox of tourism 6 . And this is where the public administration is called upon to act. In the maintenance of this 5 TUDELA ARANDA, J., “The law and the regulation in the Law of the Tourism”, Documentación Administrativa , núm. 259-260, 2001. Pg. 124. “It is undeniable that one of the fundamental characteristics of tourism activity is its polyhedral nature” 6 This paradox seems to refer to FERNÁNDEZ RODRÍGUEZ, C., in “The value of the intangible and harmonized in the European tourist quality”, Revista de Derecho de la Unión Europea , no. 24, 2013, p. 343, when she states that “when talking about tourism and sustainable development are relating two phenomena that, in themselves, can be at first sight, contradictory: a phenomenon that from the numerical point of view and quality can be deteriorating environment in which it develops and another phenomenon that precisely pursues the inverse effect: that the development and the environment be maintained in such a point of balance that there is a perfect interaction sustained over time and for the enjoyment of future generations”.