tourist pressure). Thus, high values of this indicator could be given a negative interpretation
(the demand basin for individual assets of limited capacity is high and may create congestion)
but also a positive one (the “economic potential” is high); hence, balance should be sought for
and the level of use from visitors should also be considered. In the case of libraries this
twofold interpretation presents again: few users per library means that people have better
access (but then we don’t have the data on the dimension of the libraries), or may indicate an
“inefficiency” in the provision of library services. The same holds with regard to museums:
few potential users per museum means that the quality of visits is high but also that museums
could achieve better economic results. “Efficiency” data should therefore be taken into
consideration to complement this information.
Those indicators are calculated in absolute numbers or in index form, assigning the value = 100 to
the national average (country total) and analysing regional variations. At this stage, the maps built
according to these three indicators are not integrated at the European level, which will only be
possible when relevant “harmonisation” issues will be addressed and a standard analytic approach
will be decided.
4.2 Pilot mapping of Spain8
Figure 4 Spain, immovable heritage assets in NUTS III regions in absolute numbers.
Source: Ministerio de Cultura de Espana. Data elaborated by A.P. Russo, J. Duch, F. Romagosa
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