The role of women in spa tourism in Spain: an invisible issue for rural development?

Spa tourism in Spain has not been addressed using a gender perspective. This situation has meant that the role of women in spas has been rendered invisible, and entailed negative consequences for rural development. The aim is to critically analyze, through a gender-based approach, the presence of women in the employment, use, and management/ownership of Spanish spas today, in order to identify the possible social, economic, and regional consequences. We have used a methodology based on triangulation, thus obtaining differentiated and more complete information. The results show a high degree of feminization of spa tourism in Spain, although female representation is unevenly distributed across the different components of the tourism system. We conclude with some strategies to promote the inclusion of women in spa tourism, fostering equality of opportunity and contributing to the development of sustainable and equitable tourism in rural areas in Spain with spas.