La Frontera in El Hierro is now a Starlight Municipality
The canarian population adhered in 2020 to the Starlight Declaration and has had a positive report in the recent audits of the entity.
2023 / 11 / 02
The westernmost town in Spain, La Frontera, on the island of El Hierro (Canary Islands), is now officially part of the Starlight Municipalities after passing the audits conducted by the Starlight Foundation. This certification is awarded to small towns with high-quality skies, which aim to diversify their economy through the development of astro-tourism, in order to promote economic and sustainable growth of the area and prevent depopulation. It is similar to what could be a Starlight Tourist Destination, but on a small scale.
Already in 2020, the municipality of La Frontera adhered in full to the "Starlight Declaration in defence of the night sky and the right to starlight", committing to the protection of this resource.
As the mayor of La Frontera, Pedro Miguel Ángel Acosta, explained at the time, the adhesion was a first step towards the goal of promoting the protection of the night sky, of inestimable value. "A measure for the protection of the landscape and species of our municipality and an instrument for the promotion of star tourism".
After years of work, the certification as a Starlight Municipality of La Frontera has been achieved in the framework of the project "Counting stars. La Frontera Starlight" of the Department of Tourism, which was launched by the City Council of La Frontera with a grant from the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Trade of the Government of the Canary Islands.
From the resource of the sky to the development of the tourist product addressing the protection of the environmental, landscape and cultural values of La Frontera, the councillor of the Area, Mercedes Alvarez, commented that with this project it is expected to create a network that integrates the different business agents and favours both the work in common and the creation of new products associated with star tourism.
For her part, Antonia Varela, director of the Starlight Foundation, emphasised the importance of this first Starlight certification in El Hierro as the initial step in a strategy that will also involve the training of Starlight monitors, astrotourism workshops for the business sector, the creation of unique astrotourism experiences and products and, of course, the creation of bylaws and the implementation of projects for the conservation and improvement of the quality of the sky in La Frontera.
On 7th December, the official Starlight Municipality certification will be delivered to La Frontera.
La Frontera
La Frontera El Hierro/ Credit: lafronteraturismo.com
La Frontera is a Spanish town and municipality located in the western part of the island of El Hierro, in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, autonomous community of the Canary Islands. On the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.
The richness of its vegetation, in the valley of El Golfo, allows the visitor to enjoy the magnificent laurel forests in the high zone, and the wonderful and surprising forest of Sabinas whose peculiar shapes have been modelled for centuries by the violence of the winds and the climatic conditions of the area.
The municipality of La Frontera is formed by the beautiful villages of Sabinosa and El Golfo, where along its rocky coastline you can find several natural pools that have been made suitable for bathing.
La Frontera El Hierro/ Credit: lafronteraturismo.com
