Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage for sustainable development. The case of traditional salt activity

PurposeThe authors have carried out a research project on artisanal salt activity in the Gulf of Cadiz, providing a new vision of the theories of intangible cultural heritage. The main objective has been to characterise artisanal salt activity in terms of its cultural and sustainable values, a perspective that had not been addressed until now. Moreover, the replacement of this activity by a more industrialised one has contributed to problems in the preservation of this heritage and a transformation of its places.Design/methodology/approachThe research has combined qualitative methodology, based on observation and fieldwork, with a statistical review of the phenomenon under study. Finally, the data has been triangulated to understand the heritage and sustainable value, as well as its historical evolution.FindingsAll this contributes to understanding the importance of artisanal salt activity as an element of the intangible cultural heritage of the region, for the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable ways of life in the marshes of the Gulf of Cadiz, and the possibility of preserving it in the face of the problems of globalisation.Originality/valueTo date, there has been no research that combines sustainability and heritage in the field of salt activity. Likewise, until this study was carried out, there had been no research on salt activity from the perspective of intangible cultural heritage.