This is what a green transition means for villages of the Sierra de las Nieves

It is known for being a paradise of contrasts. A natural paradise in which no matter the day or time of day you can appreciate the more than 1,500 types of plants that coexist in it. Located in the extreme southwest of the Betic mountains, the Sierra de las Nieves National Park in Andalucía, southern Spain, has a strategic geographic location, and every year work is done to promote and conserve it. It is located behind Marbella and to the east of the road to Ronda from the Costa del Sol.

This is why the association of municipalities of the Sierra de las Nieves has many different objectives, such as a green transition and "the need for reactivation and greater economic sustainability", as the president of the organisation, José Miguel Marín, told SUR.

Since its foundation in 1955, the aim of the organisation has been to promote a model, which is now working to transform the current tourism model of the towns in the area by focusing on green transition, improving energy efficiency, digital transition and tourism competitiveness. They have come up with 16 projects with an investment of more than 1.2 million euros, of which some are already under way and others are in the tendering process.

Of the total investment, 893,297 euros have already been awarded and are being spent, while the rest is in the tendering process. Currently, the Mancomunidad is in charge of the direct management of some 33 initiatives. The Mancomunidad is a public consortium offering shared services to eleven municipalities on the western stretch of Malaga province: Benahavís, Benalmádena, Casares, Estepona, Fuengirola, Istán, Manilva, Marbella, Mijas, Ojén and Torremolinos.

"This strategy emphasises action on the destination itself and takes into account its special needs and characteristics, addressing the whole of the destination's specific tourism ecosystem, including the regional and local public institutions that operate in it, but also social entities and the business sector," Marín said. "Sustainable tourism is not a tourism product, but a way of managing that should be applied to any type of tourism product and destination, as recommended by the WTO and other international organisations," he added.

The first of the central objectives of the strategy for sustainable tourism in destinations is to support tourist destinations - regardless of their scale and the type of demand to which they respond - in their transformation. On the other hand, the second established parameter is to achieve greater territorial cohesion, which not only links the supply and destinations of each location, but also creates connections between the destinations of various regions.

The more than 30 actions the association is carrying out in the region are divided into four areas: the green and sustainable transition, the improvement of energy efficiency, the digital transition and the competitiveness of tourism. Within the first of these are projects to create an accessible path in Istán, as well as adapting a footpath in the municipality of Parauta. There are also other projects such as creating pedestrian walkways with spaces for bicycles in Tolox and Yunquera and studying possible mountain bike routes, among others.

To improve energy efficiency, there are plans for a study of the installation of electric vehicle charging points, a study of energy efficiency in tourist buildings, a plan to replace and implement efficient lighting in tourist resources in Serrato, as well as installing solar panels in tourist buildings and public car parks.

The digital transition initiative includes various training services for tourism businesses in the region. The Mancomunidad also plans to adapt and improve the facilities of the Conejeras municipal campsite in Parauta and beautify the historic centres of Serrato, Alozaina, Parauta and Monda, as well as create the Los Rondeles ethnographic centre in Casarabonela and a tourist walkway with a viewpoint in Ojén.