Análisis de los programas de desarrollo rural en la Comunidad Valenciana (1991-2013). Lectura de los proyectos turísticos

Rural tourism grew fast in the Valencia region (Spain) from the 1990s onwards. This was partly related to the implementation of EU rural development policy, which became a driver of supply expansion in the tourism sector. This study provides a literature review about tourism and rural development policy in Valencia from 1991 to 2006 and carries out a detailed analysis of the projects undertaken during the 2007-2013 term. In addition to considering previous studies on the application of rural policies in the Valencia region, I classify more than 1,200 projects in three groups: a) business creation and expansion; b) creation of touristic products; and c) management and planning actions. This allows me to assess the performance of the LEADER approach. One of the latter's main dysfunctionalities is found to be its contribution to excess supply capacity.