Más allá de la piel y la máscara: Turismo, autenticidad y prácticas expositivas en el Sacromonte

Abstract

This study analyses how the Sacromonte neighbourhood of Granada has been shaped by an orientalist image since the 19th century, and how that image spread across the international tourism circuit. We explore the use of ethnicity [in this case Gypsy] as a tourist attraction and show how the neighbourhood's configuration and adaptation to the demands of tourism have been considered evidence of its inauthenticity. After a theoretical review of the issue of authenticity in tourism studies, we discuss this orientalist representation and how various local exhibition practices have coloured tourist imaginary of the neighbourhood and its attractions. Finally, criticism that has been directed at Sacromonte's authenticity since it became a tourist destination is analysed, and ethnographic research defended as a useful strategy to get beyond both primordialist and constructivist explanations in debates about authenticity and local identities in tourism contexts.