The research team of University of Santiago de Compostela and University of A Coruña behind the article — Lucrezia Lopez, Maricarmen Tapia Gómez and Paula Noya Vázquez — has just published a new scientific article on the governance of sunset tourism and astrotourism in Costa da Morte, Galicia.
The research forms part of Atlantic Sunset, a European initiative examining how Europe’s westernmost sunsets can be valorised as a sustainable tourism resource. The project covers sites along the Atlantic seaboard from Ireland to the Canary Islands, and aims to turn the experience of sunset and the night sky into an alternative that helps offset out-migration and diversify local economies, while respecting the carrying capacity of each landscape and community.
The study takes Costa da Morte — a designated “geodestination” within Galicia — as its reference case. On certain dates of the year (24 March and 23 April), the region is among the places in continental Europe where the sun sets latest. According to the authors, this phenomenon combines with a strong symbolic charge: from ancient Celtic solar traditions to their later Christian resignification through the Santiago pilgrimage routes, and the Roman notion of finis terrae, the end of the known world.
The researchers also highlight Starlight Certification as a governance instrument linking dark-sky conservation with tourism planning and destination positioning. They note that Galicia is additionally preparing to host the total solar eclipse of 12 August 2026, with hundreds of viewing points set up across the region.
Using a mixed-methods approach — literature review, statistical data and participatory workshops with local stakeholders — the team concludes that cliffs, beaches and vast horizons create immersive atmospheres capable of fostering emotional attachment to the territory and generating new tourism imaginaries. At the same time, they point to structural fragilities and call for coordinated multilevel tourism governance so that sunsets and stargazing can be consolidated as intangible heritage and affective resources serving sustainable rural development.