From the Conceived Space to the Lived Space: Who Actually Benefits from the “Transition” of Pyrenean Tourism Areas? The Case of the Ax Valleys in Haute-Ariège

This article analyses the socio-spatial reconfigurations of a specific Pyrenean tourism area, the Ax valleys in Haute-Ariège, within a “transition” context of an economic model that is gasping for life, that of ski resorts. Through the prism of radical geography, namely relying on the works of Henri Lefebvre and David Harvey, it questions the opportunity that this pivotal moment could very well represent in terms of a geographical restructuring of capital which tends to (re)produce a space of its own. Using the results of a field survey carried out among inhabitants of the Ax valleys and actors in the Pyrenean mountains tourism development process, this article highlights the gap between the conceived space, designed by the actors of said planning, and the space that is actually lived by its inhabitants. On the one hand, the conceived space resembles a leisure business in which public and private partners join forces to make the necessary investments in order to run it while also having a tendency to absorb each resource for profit. The image of the territory, its “collective symbolic capital” linked to tourist imaginaries, is also exploited to boost its attractiveness and bring in new tourists, residents and businesses from the cities. We show how this territory acquires a certain centrality, representing a reserve for the city, both in terms of land and in a symbolic sense. On the other hand, the conceived space overrides the lived space by limiting inhabitants’ opportunities to appropriate their territory, especially those who are less privileged. The logics of tourism development challenge the liveability of the territory, especially given the subsequent difficulties of access to housing, but also due to the lack of places for social bonding and collective organisation of the inhabitants.