The expansion of urban areas around the world and the application of the sustainability paradigm to tourism discourses has favored an increase in the number of people visiting natural protected areas (NPAs) in their leisure time. While tourism is desired to boost the economy of destinations, mismanagement can bring negative consequences for social–ecological systems, particularly in post-conflict rural scenarios. In the context of a broader ethnographic research, we analyzed the perceptions of the local population about tourism development in the NPA Jaltepeque Estuary (El Salvador, Central America) and the establishment of a Biosphere Reserve in the area, using structured questionnaires and Multiple Correspondence Analysis for the typification of social actors. We found that overall, the population regards positively the development of tourism in the area. Fishermen are the only ones who highlight the negative economic consequences of tourism development, claiming disparity in the distribution of benefits and an increase in the cost of living. We conclude that although tourism development is an activity desired by local people, there is a need in the community to discuss how this process of socio-economic transformation should be approached and an evident conflict between two different models: the one desired and offered by the population and the one that is currently being developed in the nearby Costa del Sol corridor.

This essay raises some reflections on the implications of protected areas in the processes of social construction related to the conception of nature, its limitations as a strategy for environmental policies (related to ecosystem connectivity and over the management of human activities linked to its functioning), and its public use (encouraging contemplative and tourist uses over productive activities). This essay focuses on some aspects of protected areas as a territorial management model, with the aim of provoking reflection on their implications to sustainable development.

The perceptions and attitudes of residents in tourist destinations have been a relevant object of research almost since the beginning of academic interest in tourism. This paper analyses the implica‑ tions of the temporary suspension of tourism activity (as a consequence of pandemic control strategies) on the attitudes and perceptions about tourism of residents in a mature, mass tourism destination with very low seasonality. A quantitative methodological approach is proposed, based on a survey of 749 residents in Tenerife. It is argued that the experience of an environment without tourists for the first time in decades has facilitated processes of re‑symbolisation of the qualities of the surrounding tourism system, facilitating significant modifications. Likewise, in accordance with the literature, the influence of variables related to the involvement in the tourist system and its valuation by residents, especially the receipt of economic income from this activity, has been detected. Given the high economic dependence on tourism on the island, it was expected that the halt in tourism would lead to a greater recognition of its importance and value. However, the results showed that the opposite was true.

The interactivity of internet 2.0 and conversations arising in the virtual environment social networks can be considered as representative of the average opinion of citizens and tourists, and analysis thereof, therefore, constitutes a valid tool with a view to exploration. We consider the fact that the constant presence of discourses relating to the heritage of certain destinations, the island of Tenerife and Fuerteventura in this case, can be used as an indicator of the achievement of objectives in the reorientation of heritage-based tourism. The text analyses discourses relating to cultural and natural heritage of Tenerife and Fuerteventura in the social network Facebook. We performed a qualitative analysis of the recorded comments, photographs and videos in an attempt to study themes such as the relevance of heritage in the image shared through this medium in connection with the potential tourists, the type of heritage promoted and the differences among users according to the references to heritage elements in their discourses.