Los valores en los primeros guías de los Picos de Europa

Abstract

From! the! middle! of! the! XIXth! century! to! the! beginning of the XXth! one,! there! were! a! few! “tourists”! who came! into! Picos de! Europa! mountains,! but! they! were! always! with! local! people! working!as!guides.!Those!guides!carried!the!luggage, and! drove! the! tourists inside! the! mountains.! Nowadays!we!only have!small!information!on!them. Who!were! they?!Which!was! their! occupation?!How! did! they! carry! out! their! job! as! guides?! There! is not! much!literature!based!on!them. They!were! the!main!architects!of! the!successes!and! failures!of the first! travelers.!While mostly!illiterate,! they!had!no!difficulties!to!get!along!with!French!and! English travelers!(with!low!levels!of!Spanish!language! in!many! cases).!They!were! honest!and! hardworking! (as! “tourists” themselves),! but! also! tough! and! stubborn,! just! as tardy.! But! certainly the! most! appreciated! value! was! their great! climbing! ability! and! the!great! help! rendered,! finding!ways! to!go! on! and always!willing!to!help!when!needed!(with!a!hand! or! even! the! whole! body! “being! a! bridge! if! the! situation!required!it”). In! this! historical! review,! based! on! articles! wrote! by! the!first!tourists,!we!find what!they!think!about!their! guides.! We! will! pay! attention! to! articles! by! those! first! tourist! (especially!G.!Schulz,!Casiano!del!Prado,! and! SaintOSaud)! and! also! the! first! climbers! (Pedro! Pidal,! José! Fernandez! Zabala! among)! of! Picos! de! Europa. We! found! differences! between! first! travelers! and! climbers! relationship! with! their! guides.! These! ones! began! as! good! carriers,! and! became! guides,! almost! friends.