**5. Conclusions**

The study analyses the effects of public use of National Parks in Spain on the perception of sustainability in their immediate geographical area. The evaluations of indicators associated with three dimensions of community sustainability are compiled: economic and social development and the quality of life of its people. The assessments are carried out by some of the main stakeholders such as the mayors of the villages. One advantage of choosing this type of participant is that we have the opinion of a person with quality information on the reality of each village. The villages selected are those included in what is known as the park's zone of influence, legally defined according to the criteria of geographical proximity to the protected natural area [61]. Both the choice of the respondents and the choice of the villages contribute to what has been done in the previous literature.

According to the results of the analysis, the perception of economic development conditions the perception of the quality of life, not being the same for the case of social development. Likewise, quality of life is influencing the perception of social development. The three dimensions analysed are affecting the community's perception of sustainability, with the social development dimension doing so to a lesser extent. The other two factors have a very similar average impact.

Once the results have been analysed, the park managers are encouraged to improve coordination between the resources of the protected natural environment and its area of influence. That is, greater collaboration between National Park managers, local companies, village authorities and public administrations. This, applied to current funding resources or their possible extension, would lead to the recommendation of the development of new activities and initiatives aimed at making these destinations more dynamic for tourism. Villagers and local businesses should be more involved in such initiatives. In this way, in addition to boosting their economy, it will be possible to develop an attitude and a feeling of pride in the intangible property of the natural resource that will have an impact on the sustainability of the resource and the environment itself.

In accordance with Eagles et al. [44], and Job et al. [54], the goals of sustainable tourism in protected areas include, in addition to offering the contemplation of the natural and cultural heritage of that environment through efficient long-term management, the implementation of managemen<sup>t</sup> practices that minimize the negative impacts of the public use that is made and the maximization of the positive effects at the social, cultural, ecological and economic levels. The above will be done taking into account the evaluation of the indicators of each dimension analysed in this study and other previous ones [38,69].

Some advisable actions aimed at increasing the assessment of the perception of the sustainability of the National Park would be the following:



In accordance with this study, it is essential to stress the need for a sustainable tourism managemen<sup>t</sup> model in Spanish National Parks that combines the perspective of environmental conservation with that of economic and social development and the quality of life of their closest villagers. The managemen<sup>t</sup> model that would be most beneficial for the sustainability of National Parks and protected natural areas, in general, would be one that, from the conservation of natural resources, promotes public use of these areas in order to positively influence the economic growth of their closest area of influence.

Therefore, a more dynamic use of the public area near the park will cause an improvement in the economic indicators and this will be perceived as such by the residents of these areas. Once this improvement in the economic situation occurs, the direct and indirect e ffects on overall satisfaction with the protected area will increase. In addition, better use of public resources that provide infrastructure and communications will increase the quality of life of residents and directly and indirectly increase their satisfaction. This satisfaction will be key to the sustainability of the protected environment.

The results obtained in this paper for the National Parks can serve as an example for the rest of the areas and figures of protected spaces. Parks are the natural spaces with the greatest limitation in terms of public use. Thus, if sustainable managemen<sup>t</sup> of the space is achieved, it will be the best proof that the sustainability of this type of environment can be achieved by generating sustainable development for its areas of influence while safeguarding its biological value.

Finally, the results of this study invite us to improve the work carried out and to continue investigating this interesting subject. It is true that it was decided to send a questionnaire with a few questions in order to ge<sup>t</sup> a high number of answers. Thus, the paper could be improved by increasing the number of items, that is, the detail of the components of each factor. In addition, in order to increase the number of responses, it might have been preferable to conduct a personal interview rather than using the telephone and the web form.

As future lines of work, it is proposed to carry out a characterisation of the managers, entrepreneurs and local authorities in those National Parks or other protected natural environments that are proving to be a successful tourist destination. This will help to focus on funds and e fforts on the development of these characteristics in the National Parks and their nearest villages.

In addition, the perception of sustainability of other very important stakeholders for the sustainable development of these communities taking into account the public use that has been given in recent years and the potential that still presents for the future. Thus, the local business mass or the villagers themselves should be taken into account in future work.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, J.M.P.-B. and V.M.-B.; methodology, E.P.-C. and P.M.-M.; software, E.P.-C.; validation, P.M.-M.; data collection and treatment, V.M.-B.; preparation of the original draft of the manuscript, J.M.P.-B. and V.M.-B.; review and editing of the manuscript, E.P.-C. and P.M.-M.; supervision, E.P.-C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by European Regional Development Fund, European Union "A way of making Europe", and by Council of Economy and Infrastructure, Regional Government of Extremadura (Spain), gran<sup>t</sup> number GR18128.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
