THE PROJECT

About TurismoLiterario.com

This project was born with one goal: to become a go-to place for anyone who wants to discover literary destinations and plan their travels around books.

Why TurismoLiterario.com exists

Literary tourism has grown in popularity in recent years, but for a long time it was largely unknown in Spain, even among people who love literature. And yet, every time I explained what it was about, people reacted with enthusiasm. How was it possible that people didn't even know the term?

The interest was there, no doubt about it. The hard part was finding the information: routes, house museums and fairs were scattered across council websites, leaflets and cultural listings, often out of date. TurismoLiterario.com was created to bring them together in one place and to showcase literary heritage, both the kind that already gets visitors and the kind still waiting for someone to discover it.

That's why, as well as guiding literary travellers to destinations and experiences, we help councils, authors, publishers and tourism businesses showcase that heritage by designing tailor-made literary routes and maps.

Spain is the starting point, but there are already routes and house museums in other countries. And before publishing, we check official sources so that the information is as reliable as possible.

Vanessa Martínez, founder of TurismoLiterario.com, leaning on a pile of books

Vanessa Martínez, founder of TurismoLiterario.com

Who's behind it

My name is Vanessa Martínez and I'm the founder of TurismoLiterario.com.

The first time I did literary tourism, I didn't even know “that” existed, let alone that it had a name. All I remember is being 17, seeing Platform 9¾ appear in front of me at King’s Cross station in London, and feeling for the first time the thrill of discovering that books could “come to life” in the real world.

Since then I've felt that thrill again many times: exploring the Barcelona of The Shadow of the Wind, visiting Cervantes's house or strolling through the Barrio de las Letras listening to tales of the spats between Quevedo and Góngora.

I graduated in Tourism from the Technical University of Cartagena and did a master's in Travel Journalism at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. From tourism I learnt how a destination works, and from travel journalism, how to tell its story. Along the way, my career has also included content writing and digital marketing.

These days I build TurismoLiterario.com from a small village on the Costa Cálida, in the Region of Murcia.

Do you know of a literary place that isn't here?

If you've discovered a route, a house museum or a fair that should be on the website, or you'd like to propose a project to us, write to us.

WRITE TO US