Ecotourism: a new gastronomy experience

For several years now we have various proposals for visitors at La Garrotxa. The commitment of the different services of the region towards sustainable tourism has made it possible for the vast majority of these proposals to be classified as ecotourism experiences. A good mark of this is that at present all the stay tours that are offered from Turisme Garrotxa have the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism (ECST). In fact, these holiday stays are nothing more than the logical consequence of so much work and effort of each one of the participants towards sustainability.

But being a member of the ECST is not only to carry out specific actions for sustainability from a tourist point of view, but also to have a commitment to the environment, understood as the natural area and also the local population. And they are the synergies towards this commitment which make it possible to create new proposals. This new holiday stay experience is the result of the desire to show different cultural values through gastronomy.

From La Rectoria de Sant Miquel de Pineda, Goretti and Roy were eager to develop a gastronomic experience they had already tried with a lot of success: the elaboration of syrups from flowers. Their guests had enjoyed this elaboration process at their rural house, but for a more complete experience, they lacked something else. In this territory we have some good craftsmen of the gastronomy. So, with a lot of teamwork, days of exchange of ideas and especially through appreciation for the craft product, it is how we make a program for a one-week stay.

"Food, Nature & Culture Holiday in the Catalan Pre-Pyrenees" is a holiday stay to discover the territory, its people and culture through the taste of its products and who makes them. So, one day we are tasting chocolate in Ferrer Xocolata with a unique composition and a centuries-old tradition, and another day we taste some La Xiquella cheeses where we can see all the love of the territory concentrated in an exquisite milky portion. But it would not be a complete experience if we do not tread the territory. And it is like walking we discover the culture that is hidden in every corner.

From Trescalia, as organizers of the holiday stay, we did not doubt that a programe born from the territory, with quality products, and with a great appreciation for everything that the culinary artisans do, was a very good ecotourism experience in the region of La Garrotxa.