Paper short abstract:

Drawing from a multi-situated long term fieldwork in the Basque borderland, this paper addresses recent evolutions of border tourism, from shopping to the consumption of culture.

Paper long abstract:

The border between France and Spain is considered one of the oldest unchanged borders in Europe. It has also been an exceptional witness of the development of border tourism. The border is where stereotypes of the Other materialize: travel literature first and romanticism later portrayed the border as the gate to an exotized Spain by European writers and travellers alike. In the construction of such an image, the smuggler emerged as a key literary figure, whereas smuggling became a major economic activity in the border area. All through the 20th century, smuggling became one of the economic motors in the borderland area.

Indirectly related with this development, border tourism has become at the turn of the century a major economic activity in the area, with the development of huge shopping malls along the border in the middle of the mountains. Together with this highly visible economic development, an interest process of patrimonialisation is taking place at the border: considered a significant part of local heritage, smuggling has been turned into a tourism attraction more directed towards cultural tourism than towards purely shopping oriented border tourism. As such, smuggling tracks and activities have been made visible, turning them into identity markers and tourist oriented consumption products.