He wine tourism is booming and it is more and more an experience that It goes beyond wine tasting. The latter is located in an eminently wine-growing area such as Rueda, Valladolid. There it is possible to taste wine in a cellar of medieval origin and at a depth of 20 meters. A unique place located beneath the city itself. This is where part of the Mudejar-style underground galleries formerly used, now open to the public.
In total, the tunnels, originating from the 14th century, are one kilometer long and even preserve access to the town’s houses. Behind this whole project are the cellars of the Yllera Group, a family business founded in 1972 and which already leads a sixth generation of viticulturists and wine producers.
But as they say, it’s much more than wine. The journey between the bottles through the “Ariane’s Thread”, the name with which they baptized this succulent labyrinth, acquires its gastronomic touch with a restaurant which bears the seal of the famous chef Martin Berasategui.
“We have recovered a very important part of the city’s culture,” explains Carlos Yllera, director of the cellars. Yllera defends this project not only as a union between tourism, gastronomy and wine, but also for its commitment to sustainability as a transversal axis. Thanks, in part, to the support of European funds, they managed to operate the cellars one hundred percent with renewable energies and plastic and energy consumption have been reduced, among other measures aimed at reducing the environmental impact of its activity.
The importance of wine tourism in the EU
Wine tourism is a tourist activity that has experienced real growth in recent years. According to the report by the consulting firm Pwc for the European Wine Companies Committee, almost 36 million people sought experiences in wine tourism in the EU which, in turn, is the largest wine producer in the world representing more than 60% of the global share.
Within the world ranking, Spain is the third largest wine producer. In Spain, there are 131 wine growing areas and 4,151 wineries registered in Spain as of January 1, 2019, according to INE data.
According to the latest data from the Tourist Observatory of Wine Routes of Spain corresponding to 2023, the average daily expenditure of the wine tourist is located at €201.8 per person per dayor around two euros more than the 199.99 euros of 2022. This is a “modest, but continuous” increase, underlines this organization, which nevertheless defends that it is a “much higher” figure. to the average expenditure of the national tourist”. , which pays on average €79.09 per day.
The Wine Routes of Spain are a tourism product created by the Spanish Association of Wine Cities (ACEVIN), which represents around a third of the wine tourism market. According to this entity, 2,977,115 people visited in 2023 wine cellars and museums associated with the Spanish Wine Routes, an activity which has seen growth of 18.20% compared to 2022.
