Regional Identity and Intangible Heritage Related to Saffron Cultivation in Castilla-La Mancha (Spain)

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

It is an interesting work on the analysis of the bottom up process in the valorisation and patroonialisation of the saffron culture. Good analysis of the economic and cultural levers of action and of the human constraints in relation to the resumption of the agricultural exploitations and the transmission of the know-how.

Author Response

The authors would like to thank the reviewer for his comments.

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear authors:

The paper sent, "Regional identity and intangible heritage related to saffron cultivation in Castilla-La Mancha (Spain)", is timely and necessary. Strengthening intangible heritage (in this case tacit knowledge) is essential to maintain local/regional identity and culture in an increasingly globalized world.

The attempt to discover the tacit knowledge of human capital (intangible heritage) is justified because its future depends on a combination and coordination between public policies and the actions of private actors, on implicit rules of behavior, on shared collective representations regarding the future of cultural values.

The problem with research of this nature is that the knowledge to be valued is not codified, it can only be discovered with the participation of those who possess it, that is, the custodians of this cultural heritage. The methodology to decipher them is very simple: get in direct contact with the people who hold them, both to make them known and to incorporate them into a development process.

Well then, the authors work very well on this research, with the appropriate methodology and with concise and achievable objectives. The results are consistent with those objectives and the interesting conclusion.

I simply want to point out or suggest an improvement to the text: perhaps it would be necessary to incorporate some more reference to the theoretical framework and in the discussion of results. Some references of interest could be the following:

De Uña-Álvarez, E., & Villarino-Pérez, M. (2019). Enlazando cultura del vino, identidad, turismo y desarrollo rural en un territorio con Denominación de Origen (Noroeste de España). Cuadernos de Turismo, 44, 93–110. https://doi.org/10.6018/turismo.44.404761

Fernández Quero, J. L. ., & Navarro Valverde, F. A. . (2020). Identificación de recursos turísticos potenciales importantes por criterios de singularidad identitaria y universal. El municipio de Ugíjar en la Comarca de las Alpujarras. Cuadernos de Turismo, 45, 141–165. https://doi.org/10.6018/turismo.426071

de Uña Álvarez, E., & Villarino Pérez, M. (2011). Configuraciones de identidad en territorios del turismo. Condiciones generales en Galicia. Cuadernos de Turismo, 27, 259–272. Recuperado a partir de https://revistas.um.es/turismo/article/view/139941

García-Marín, R., Andrés-Sarasa, J. L., & Espejo-Marín, C. (2016). Conocimientos tácitos, transversalidad turística y desarrollo local. El ejemplo de una ciudad desolada y en proceso de reconversión: Lorca (Región de Murcia, España). Pasos: Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, 14(5), 1093-1107.

Definitely, and from my point of view, this paper is practically ready to be published.

Best regards.

Author Response

The authors would like to thank the reviewer for his comments. All the recommended references have been added in the manuscript.