El Palmar: la trasformazione di un antico villaggio di pescatori in rinomata meta turistica gastronomica della Costa di Valencia (Spagna)

El Palmar is a small village in the Municipality of Valencia, about 15 km from the city centre. It belongs to the Natural Park of Albufera, which is one of the most representative and valuable coastal wetlands of the Mediterranean area. The Park is linked to the sea by the Albufera lagoon that makes it a unique place, having great ecological value due to the presence of more than 350 species of birds and plant and animal wildlife as well. The Albufera landscape is also characterised by the cultivation of rice, the most widely used food in the gastronomic tradition of the Community of Valencia. In the past, El Palmar was a fishing village made up of huts, barracas, built with the raw materials of the geographical area: wood, raw earth, straw and reeds. Today, the village is one of the most popular tourist destinations for the natural beauty of the environment that surrounds it and for the high quality of gastronomic offer. Even for Valencians, it is become a reference place to eat a good paella, the star dish of Valencian gastronomy during the weekend. The urban fabric of El Palmar has undergone a radical transformation in recent years. New buildings serving as restaurants and houses have replaced the old fishing barracas. The paper describes the transformations of the village highlighting its fragilities and anti-fragilities according to a holistic vision of landscape that includes natural, cultural and built heritage.