The Perception of the Biocentric Tourist Landscape in “Pueblos Mágicos” According to Inhabitants

Abstract

The “Pueblos Mágicos” program designation, given by the Mexican government to towns that have kept their cultural heritage, as a local public policy makes changes to residents, the economy, and the space. Consequently, it creates a new landscape. To explain the repercussions on the population, their perception is analyzed, a process that allows judgments to be made about the environment. Therefore, the objective is to explain the changes in the perception of the biocentric tourist landscape according to the inhabitants of the “Pueblo Mágico” of Jiquilpan, Michoacán. For the methodology, a quantitative approach was chosen, through a survey on the topics of residents, the economy, and space in the area where tourist goods and services are concentrated. The analysis used was multivariate with a multiple correspondence analysis method. The results are shown through dimension graphs showing the iterations and their contributions, and topics and questions are displayed by their contribution value through centrality schemes. Among the findings, there is a negative perception of the biocentric landscape among the residents of the historic center in Jiquilpan. However, they are in favor of coexisting with tourists and the improvement of public services as well as with good restaurants and hotels. Conversely, they are against the actions that were carried out by public administrations.

1. Introduction

1.1. The Concept of Landscape

Landscape within a geographical perspective allows for an explanation through the incorporation of its elements. It begins with the organization of reality in three dimensions delimited by humans [1]. Next, there is the place, which is the first element for the interpretation of the landscape because it provides a location and a scale, taking into account human description [2]. In describing a position with respect to a course and direction, it is a location, and by relating shapes and sizes (scale), a perspective or experience of conceptualizing the place is validated. Of course, it becomes a spatial appropriation, where its limits are the ability to specify its location and scale. A set of places will be a geographical space, and it is delimited by the details in its description. We approach geographic space as “a specific portion of the earth’s surface that can be considered, at a given scale, as a whole, in each of its places, in its internal relations and in its external relations” [2].

If the appropriation of the place increases and humans can identify with the characteristics of the geographical space, they can particularize it, that is, exercise dominion and control that are used to satisfy their corresponding needs. Hence, through activities, a territory or a living space can be formalized, and it will be restricted by the intensity with which the actions are carried out [3]. All those material or immaterial activities that may characterize the territory and that are mutual in the description of the place become our first element.

The landscape requires a level of understanding of the territory, which is understood based on the structure of two factors: its material and immaterial elements, and humans as a collective. It is through this process that the concept of landscape is conceived. On that account, in our research, it is the product of the interrelation and dynamics of the territory with reference to scale differentiated by units, uses, functions, and perceptions that humans provide within a defined time and space.

1.2. Tourism and Pueblos Mágicos

Public policies are the structured actions of the government aimed at raising the standard of living of its inhabitants [4]. For administrations, tourism impacts the country’s economy by generating competitiveness, a source of income, jobs, and social and cultural development [5]. For the Mexican government, its main advantage centers around the economy [5,6], which is typical of the growth in recent years of developing countries [7], which, by 2022, was estimated to be 14.7% of the GDP related to activities of this nature [8].

Within such a framework, public policies were initiated around local tourism and aimed at domestic tourists in 2001. This is how the Pueblos Mágicos program was proposed, which was supported as a “strategy for tourism development, aimed at structuring a complementary and diversified offer. towards the interior of the country” [9]. Its objectives were to increase the local economy, create employment, and raise the level of well-being of the receiving communities [10] by exploiting their mystical touch. It remains in force after three renewals of its guidelines with 177 localities registered in 31 of the 32 states in the country, although the states of Coahuila, State of Mexico, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacán, Puebla, Querétaro, Veracruz, and Zacatecas include 60% of the total registered municipalities.

On the other hand, tourism is an activity that involves travel. Its etymology derives from the French tour: a ride or a walk. From this comes the term tourist, one who makes a trip, one way and back without obligation, for leisure [11]. When interpreting leisure as free time, one moves away from occupations and jobs and moves into actions for amusement or pleasure, and one seeks memorable experiences [11]. It is precisely in the experiences that the association between leisure and tourism is found; in the same way, its synonyms include excursion, recreation, vacation, and trip.

The World Tourism Organization refers to tourism as “a social, cultural and economic phenomenon that involves the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal, professional or business reasons. These people are called travelers (who can be either tourists or excursionists; residents or non-residents) and tourism covers their activities, some of which involve tourist spending” [12].

For tourism, the place where the activities are carried out is essential. Tangible and intangible resources are exercised in a living space [5] in such a way that changes only appear where human actions are intense to such a degree that they change the configuration of the territory. The opening of new spaces for tourist use is fundamentally based on the beauty of the landscape, its demographic and climatic advantages, and the accessibility of services and urban infrastructure [5].

1.3. Perception

Perception, according to Rivera (2018), is a process that receives, analyzes, and interprets information, with a sensory, cognitive, and assessment experience [13]. Such interpretation helps us observe the territorial and social dynamics [14]. Likewise, Santos (in Gallegos, 2021) pronounces: “perception is a creative act, influenced by the physiological characteristics of the human being, their character, personality” [14]. That is, sensations allow us to recognize and interpret the territory experienced and therefore the landscape in which it operates.

The vast majority of perception studies with tourism themes are of an exploratory or descriptive type and are developed with theories of both exchange and social representation [15]. Both lines refer to the assessment that an individual makes of a specific situation in an environment. These social representations are what allow us to build and visualize scenarios in which we orient ourselves [15].

From the living space, which is determined by the quantity and quality of its actions, it is possible to find an expression of the population’s knowledge about the landscape, which is supported by the knowledge of the process when studying a landscape.

1.4. Concept of Biocentric Touristic Landscape

The landscape that is created with the Pueblos Mágicos public policy is unique within the landscape itself. Its characteristics are to exhibit the actions of the residents’ living territory as unique, and the policy seeks to impose activities. Similarly, it is possible to analyze the magical touch of the Pueblos Mágicos as a way of adapting to the geographical space. Another particularity of said landscape is tourism from the experience of responsibility and association with the environment of the place and that emanates from the landscape. This landscape seeks to ensure that the benefits impact equitably with rational assessment processes that come from the geographical space. As such, the Pueblos Mágicos Program is conceived as a generator of a biocentric tourist landscape.

Given the diversity of the tourism concept, the interest of this article is the geographical approach of the territorial flows of tourists and the location of the facilitating or providing services [11]. Within tourism, two large units of analysis are clarified: those who provide the services and those who acquire them [16]. Tourism can be analyzed from two units: from the economic aspect, because it provides financial resources and favors investment, or from the social aspect, because it promotes changes in lifestyles [16]. For our study, we are interested in the resident inhabitants, who measure the change of the landscape from the social in their perception. It is precisely the characteristic of collectivity that supports a study of social representations and the social interpretation of the landscape, that is, the influence on the community’s perception of the landscape and the influence of the landscape on the community [17]. In this way, it results in a direct relationship where the actions carried out by a community change the landscape, just as the landscape changes the community it contains. Therefore, it is possible to identify the changes in the biocentric tourist landscape through the perception of the inhabitants of the municipality.

The designation of Pueblo Mágico was delivered on 27 November 2012 to the municipality of Jiquilpan. The negotiations began two years earlier by creating a citizen committee, which requests entry into the program from the Ministry of Tourism. The aforementioned landscape can be analyzed 10 years after its creation in Jiquilpan.

The programs of institutional bodies focus on supporting tourism in an exorbitant manner, an aspect that subsequently hinders traditional daily practices and makes them disappear [18]. To what extent is the perception of residents changed with new criteria for planning the development of their community? What is the residents’ appreciation of the biocentric tourist landscape?

For the purposes of planning public policies in tourism, understanding the perception of residents is an important element because these policies can contribute individually or collectively to their well-being [19]. Of course, there is no study that denotes the behavior or desire of the inhabitants of the Pueblo Mágico ten years after their incursion, which requires a response. The analysis of a case would help in planning based on results of how to implement tourism in a landscape. The objective of this work is to explain the perception of the biocentric tourist landscape according to the inhabitants of Jiquilpan in relation to the public policy of Pueblos Mágicos.

1.5. Description of the Study Zone

The municipality has a temperate subhumid and semi-warm climate with rain in the summer [20]. It is located in the east of the state of Michoacán in the Chapala swamp region (Figure 1). Its beneficial location on the road between Pátzcuaro, Nayarit, and Mexico City has been used since the year 1250 with the trade of salt and dyeing fabrics, as confirmed by the findings on Otero Hill [21]. During the viceregal era, it was the cultural and religious center of the region under the Franciscan order. In this period, they carried out significant works, such as the first hospital and temple in the region, and the order used it as a “tributary site and guideline for community and inter-community life” [22].

By the 20th century, Jiquilpan was guided by a liberal conviction promoted by organizations that tried to protect political, intellectual, and artistic lineages [22]. As proof of this, the first chapel to the Virgin of Guadalupe was converted into a public library, the temple of the Sacred Heart of Jesus into a theater, the curate of the temple of San Francisco into a socialist school, although the latter two were restored for ecclesiastical use [22].

With the post-revolutionary boost, Jiquilpan positioned itself in the region, and the role of Lázaro Cárdenas del Río, who was president of Mexico between 1934 and 1940 and was born in the town, as a transformer of the city through road works, image improvement, and cultural and tourist equipping stands out [23]. To such changes is the creation of a typical town image attributed, which today is an attraction for tourism.

Figure 1. Location of Jiquilpan. Source: INEGI 2020 [24].

Figure 1. Location of Jiquilpan. Source: INEGI 2020 [24].

1.6. Study Zone

This study was carried out in the historic center to arrange the largest number of tourist services. The delimitation of the historic center of Jiquilpan is supported by the Partial Urban Development Program of the Historic Center dated 2013. It extends 3.51 hectares in 16 blocks, where “158 relevant civil works, 2 religious buildings, 2 plazas are located” as well as monuments, portals, gardens, kiosks, and fountains that are restricted to being dated between the 16th and 19th centuries [21]. The sources of cartographic information were based on Martínez (2016); in his thesis, the territory occupied by the first Spaniards and indigenous people between 1522 and 1650 covered an area of 12 hectares. It started from the temple of San Francisco and currently contains 19 blocks of space [25]. For the H. City Council, in its works carried out between 2015 and 2018, an area of 13.4 hectares was demarcated, which is divided into 16 blocks [26]. And, for the Urban Development Program of the Historic Center of the year 2013, it contains 18 blocks. For the purposes of our investigation, the study area was delimited by the overlap of two or three of the layers based on the information sources. Consequently, our study area was delimited with an area of 9.46 hectares and 14 blocks (Figure 2).

Tourism goods and services enable tourism activity and satisfy the needs of tourists [27]. Tourist activity refers to the actions and behaviors of people in their capacity as travelers or tourists, provided that statistics can be obtained [12]. Therefore, it groups together all those tasks that are offered to satisfy the requirements of tourists during their stay.

With INEGI (Mexican National Institute of Statistics and Geography) as a source, the existence of goods and services derived from tourism in our area in 2020 was verified. For our research, only the existing ones were delimited [24] and grouped into three groups: goods, services, and food and beverages (

Table 1. Touristic goods and services in Jiquilpan.

Concept	Outside Historic Center	Within Historic Center	Total
1. Goods
1.1 Crafts and others	0	12	12
2. Services
2.1 Travel agency and other reservation services	0	5	5
2.2 Cultural services	0	3	3
2.3 Sport and recreational services	0	2	2
2.4 Accommodation services	2	6	8
2.5 Financial services	0	6	6
2.6 Health services	2	1	3
3. Food and beverages
3.1 Restaurants, bars, and nightclubs	3	4	7
Total	7	39	47

and Figure 3).

It is notable that the area with the greatest influence of tourism in Jiquilpan is distributed by percentages in and with reference to the municipal head city, and the historic center contains 85% of the goods and services.

2. Materials and Methods

The phenomenon is analyzed through its inhabitants, who, based on tourism, are divided into two large units of analysis [28] to observe: the residents, who offer the services, and the tourists who carry out the activities. Given our unit of analysis, residents are conducive to obtaining collective or group knowledge [29]. A resident for INEGI is that “person who normally lives in the home where, in general, they sleep, prepare their food, eat and protect themselves from the environment. It includes people who at the time of the interview are staying in the home because they have no other place to live” [24]. Therefore, our study focused on the residents of Jiquilpan, both those who offer tourist services and those who do not.

2.1. Type of Investigation

To distinguish the logic of the research, they are discerned from the assumptions about the procedures for analyzing reality, the purpose of scientific research, the logic and intentionality of the discovery, the position of the researcher towards the object, the direction of the methodological process, the validation criteria of the theoretical models built, and the selection of samples [30]. In the present study, the phenomena are capable of being measured as the reality that is represented through magnitudes, quantities, and attributes that can be quantified. Another point is to be able to discover necessary laws that allow describing, explaining, and predicting phenomena and verifying the veracity of theories by determining their agreement with empirical facts. The hypothetical deductive method questions the objects from the question constructed by the researcher, the theory predominates over the data, and it uses the conceptual–empirical model to achieve representativeness and generalize the data and the use of statistical sampling [30]. Consequently, this research leans towards quantitative logic.

Questionnaires were carried out; depending on their form, they were closed questions or with specific answers with gradation in the response alternatives for their effectiveness in determining the intensity of a feeling, the degree of involvement, or the frequency of an event.

2.2. Type of Research Approach

According to Hernández (2014) [31], there are two types of approaches in any research: quantitative and qualitative. Their differences and the bias to be selected are represented in their characteristics and process.

Therefore, the present study leans towards a quantitative approach because it offers “the possibility of generalizing the results more widely, providing control over the phenomena, as well as a point of view based on counts and magnitudes. Also, it provides a great possibility of repetition and focuses on specific points of such phenomena, in addition to facilitating comparison between similar studies” [31].

2.3. Delimiting the Population, Sample Selection Method, and Required Size

The term population refers to the “data set where procedures are used to develop the detailed study” [32]. Knowing the number of people who reside in the historic center of Jiquilpan, it becomes a finite population. The study or sampling unit was the residents of the historic center of Jiquilpan over 15 years of age due to the reliability of the information. Within the 14 blocks of our study area, 365 cohabit. Minors between 0 and 14 years old were subtracted, resulting in 293 inhabitants [31] (

Table 2. Inhabitants of the study area by five-year groups.

Block	Totals	0 to 14	15 to 29	30 to 59	60 and Older
1	58	13	12	20	13
2	17	3	3	3	8
3	33	5	15	9	4
4	91	21	20	23	27
5	17	0	0	5	12
6	0	0	0	0	0
7	0	0	0	0	0
8	21	6	3	7	5
9	3	0	0	3	0
10	0	0	0	0	0
11	46	7	9	15	15
12	3	0	0	3	0
13	40	6	10	16	8
14	36	11	6	11	8
	365	72	78	115	100

).

The sample is “a subgroup of the population of interest about which data will be collected, and it must be defined and delimited precisely, and it must also be representative” [31].

To obtain the finite sample, we relied on Cabezas et al. [32]:

$$n\frac{N\times Z^2\times p\times q}{\left(N-1\right){\times e}^2+Z^2\times p\times q}$$

(1)

• n = target sample size;
• N = population or universe size;
• Z = confidence level;
• e = maximum accepted estimation error;
• p = probability of the event occurring;
• q = (1 − p) = probability of the event not occurring.

The population size was 293, with a confidence level of 96% and a probability of 50% of being carried out. The result was 166.46, and, since they were people, rounding was applied for a total of 166. And, for our stratified random sample, we relied on Aguilar [33]:

$$ni=n\left(\frac{Ni}{N}\right)$$

(2)

• ni = target sample size;
• n = sample size;
• Ni = Number of sample units in stratum i;
• N = Number of sampling units in the population.

This result was stratified according to 15-year age groups while subtracting the group from 0 to 15 years as it was not the focus of this study. For the group from 15 to 29 years old, with a proportional weight of 27%, 44 questionnaires were assigned. In the case of 30 to 59, its proportional weight is the highest in the sample, with 39% or 65 questionnaires assigned. The group of 60 and over corresponds to 34% and an application of 57 questionnaires.

2.4. Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA)

The results were obtained through multivariate analysis. For Bech (2019), it is the “set of methods or techniques designed in order to examine and interpret the information contained in a set of variables, without losing the interaction or degree to which they affect each other” [34]. That is, it allows you to simultaneously analyze several dimensions of the study’s objects.

Among the options, the multiple correspondence method (MCA) was chosen, as it allows for analyzing the relationship between variables and their intensity. Greenacre (2008) describes the MCA as “dealing with the relationships between a set of variables; In general, homogeneous variables in that they refer to the same topic, and the response scales are also the same” [35]. For Husson and Josse (2014) [36], their objectives are set on studying the similarities between objects from a multidimensional perspective; evaluating the relationships and links between the variables and their categories; and characterizing the objects that use the variables by studying the objects with the variables.

2.5. Delimitation of Topics and the Questionnaire

The validation of the topic occurred two times. We conducted two previous questionnaires (pilots) in the study zone after the analysis [37,38]. The topics in the surveys were about the social, economic, and spatial interaction that was created in the research period among residents in general within closed questionnaires (

Table 3. The questionnaire’s topics and questions.

Topics	Questions
Resident	Do you know Jiquilpan is a Pueblo Mágico? What do you think is the reason why Jiquilpan is a Pueblo Mágico? What do you think is the most emblematic historic site in Jiquilpan? What do you think is the most emblematic character in Jiquilpan? What do you think of the tourists coming to Jiquilpan? How often do you interact (speak, trade, relate to) tourists in Jiquilpan per week? How do you interact with tourists? What importance do you give to tourism in the development of the city?
Economy	Is your occupation/job related to tourism? Since becoming a Pueblo Mágico, what do you think about tourism offering new jobs in Jiquilpan? Do you know jobs or employers that are related to tourism? What do you think of the quality of services that exist in Jiquilpan for tourists? What do you think of the quality of hotels that exist in Jiquilpan for tourists? What do you think of the quality of restaurants that exist in Jiquilpan for tourists?
Space	What do you think of the rehabilitation works on the roads in the historic center of the city since it became Pueblo Mágico? What do you think is the best rehabilitation of roads in the historic center of the city since it became a Magical Town? What do you think of the remodeling of properties in the historic center of the city since it became Pueblo Mágico? What do you think is the best remodeling of properties in the historic center of the city since it became Pueblo Mágico? What do you think is the best work-space re-inhabited in buildings in the historic center of the city since it became Pueblo Mágico? What do you think about tree planting on sidewalks? Would you increase the number of trees on the sidewalks? Would you change the species of trees on the sidewalks? Which public service has not improved since Jiquilpan became a Pueblo Mágico? Which public service has improved since Jiquilpan became a Pueblo Mágico?

; Appendix A).

3. Results

In the complementary variables, there are differences in the responses by sex, the age groups between 15 and 59 years and those 60 and over, and also the division between work occupations, including merchant, employee, housewife, professional, and retired (Figure 4).

In the 15 to 29 age group, the first two dimensions represent 48.5% of the variance. The responses that contribute the most are on the topics of resident and space, with contributions corresponding to 2.8 on a scale of 4, which indicates a large number of different responses (Figure 5). In the resident theme, it focuses on the role of the municipal administration, and in the economy theme, they focus on the quality of tourist services in the municipality; in both, they opt for ambivalence. To a lesser degree of contribution, regarding the issue of space, the responses focused on where the best resource has been used and the best rehabilitation in the squares and parks of the historic center. In the last economic issue, they consider that there are few jobs that tourism has offered, but the existing tourist services are good.

In total, 39% of the respondents represent the group of 30–59-year-olds; in its first two dimensions, they contribute to 24.1% of the accumulated variance (Figure 6). The highest contributions of the group and within this study are in the resident theme, on a scale of four out of four. The questions were about the frequency and way in which one interacts with tourists, where the negative prevails. In terms of contribution, 3.5 out of 4 are 3 regarding the space, and the questions are about their opinion of the best rehabilitation in the road rehabilitation programs and the tree planting through pots on the sidewalks of the historic center, both of which are described as bad. Finally, in terms of economy, they have knowledge of people who are directly related to tourism and disfavor the perception of the municipality’s hotels.

In total, 34% of those surveyed belong to the age group of 60 or more, where their first two dimensions collaborate with 26.6% of cumulative variance (Figure 7). The most predominant issue is the space, in which public services and the best rehabilitation work in the public spaces of the historic center are discussed in a good way, giving the drinking water service the worst and Diego José Abad roads the best qualifications. Also, they are in favor of the resident issue in relation to the actions of the municipal government and they are in favor of increasing tourist information. In economics, they believe there is a direct relationship with tourism, although it does not seem to them that there will be more jobs due to the incursion of the biocentric landscape in the study area.

In a second complementary variable, regarding the current occupation of the respondents, there are six categories: housewives, merchant, employee, student, retiree, and professional. Housewives represent 8% of the respondents, presenting a contribution of 3 on a scale of 5. The first two dimensions correspond to 43.1% of the accumulated variance (Figure 8). The important theme in this group was space, with negative denotations regarding the evaluation of the works carried out, except for the whereabouts of Francisco I. Madero and, as the best government action, the painting on facades of the historic center. With a second topic of interest, the group reflects on the economy in a direct relationship with tourism; in reference to tourist services, hotels, and restaurants, they give a bad opinion. In the third topic that was valued, resident, they interact every day with tourists through trade, a fact that reinforces their point of view on the benefits of tourism in the reciprocity of their actions.

The merchant group represents 43% of the respondents, and the first two dimensions contribute to 20.2% of the accumulated variance (Figure 9). The resident issue, with a negative opinion due to the actions of the municipal administration, reinforces this thinking by educating about it and due to the limited scope in the relationship with tourists. The second issue of interest was space; they consider within public services that the improvement is in garbage collection and its degree due to the execution of public works, but they are not pleased with the tree planting on the sidewalks. The topic with the least contribution is economy; this category has a direct relationship with tourism and with poor quality in restaurants and hotels.

The employed group represents 11% of the respondents of the accumulated variance (Figure 10). The greatest consideration is towards the resident issue, which manifests a continuous relationship with tourism and carrying out tourist activities. They also assign responsibility to the existence of the biocentric landscape in Jiquilpan and the poor tourism promotion of the municipality. In their assessment, after resident, they place the issues of space and economy, where they do not approve of the way in which resources are provided by the administration in the historic center and they would like the resources to be applied in parks and gardens in the study area. From their perspective, there is little increase in jobs due to tourism, though they recognize that regular inhabitants have jobs that are related to tourists.

In total, 5% of the respondents are students, and the first two components contribute to 60.4% of the accumulated variance and a contribution of 3 out of 5 (Figure 11). The topic of most interest was residents, with negative responses to the government’s actions and in favor of their training. Then, in contribution to the space issue, they spoke in favor of the changes in the remodeling of buildings and roads and the public service that, if it presents improvements, is public lighting. In terms of relevance, the last topic was the economy, where the group announces poor quality in tourist services but enough hotels and restaurants with a direct relationship with tourism.

With only 3% of the respondents being retired, the first dimensions represent 76.0% of the accumulated variance, but it is the lowest contribution among their responses (Figure 12). The most predominant theme was space, which is shown in favor of interventions in the historic center, including sidewalks, roads, and squares, especially painting on facades, in addition to seeing an improvement in the public lighting service. In second order are the questions about residents, which point out a low importance of tourism in the development of the city and poor performance on the part of the municipal government, in addition to maintaining a low interaction of providing information to tourists. In the economy, they speak positively about the number of hotels and regular restaurants, as well as the number of jobs since the introduction of the Pueblo Mágico public policy.

Practically a third, 31%, of those surveyed are professionals, and the first two dimensions reached 32.1%, with a contribution of 3.5 out of 5 (Figure 13). The issue that has the greatest contribution is the space, where they see the works that the administration has carried out in the study area as detrimental. The second repeated theme is the economic one, being the only group that is said to have a direct interaction with tourism (followed and continuous interaction from providing information to trading) with good tourist services in the municipality. Regarding the resident issue, they report poor tourism promotion by the municipal administration and no interaction with tourists, and as the best government action, they report the incorporation of signage in the historic center.

The third complementary variable is gender. The female group comprises 62% and the first two components contribute 21.8% (Figure 14). The most important issue was the theme of resident, with negative denotations in the frequency and manner in which it interacts with tourists, as well as reporting a low importance of tourism in the development of the city. The actions in public spaces, which are second in order, they do not like, but they agree that tree planting on the sidewalks increases the trees. The next topic, the economy, reports direct dealings with tourists, and they know regular employees or employers who interact directly with tourists and distinguish the number of hotels in the municipality as good.

On the part of the male group, it makes up 38% of the respondents, and the first two dimensions represent 27.6% of the accumulated variance (Figure 15). The issue with the most impact was space, with a negative response to the actions in the historic center, the rehabilitation of roads, the remodeling of buildings, and tree planting on sidewalks. As a second issue, in the theme of resident, they consider the work performed by the administration since the biocentric landscape began as good, although they are in favor of training. Finally, for the economy, they pronounced the number of restaurants as good and directly related to tourism, and they have thought about finding new jobs in Jiquilpan since the creation of the biocentric landscape in the study area.

4. Discussion

The information regarding specific areas where tourism made an impact requires an understanding of consequences, and the most important study survey perception is recognizing the greatest satisfaction of the participants [37]. In spite of this understanding, the impact of the development on host people is necessary for successful planning [38,39]. Any local policies should be implemented to promote the particularities of the communities, and the needs of local communities should be taken into account. The positive and negative acts of tourism (consequences) may increase or devalue the area along with the reasonable actions between the government and the population. The assets of a tourist place are nourished by information from academia. In this process, change and actions must be in line with values.

4.1. Resident

According to the data that were collected, the residents of the study area do recognize that they are living in a Pueblo Mágico, but half do not know the reason that led to their registration. The most enthusiastic group towards being a Pueblo Mágico is the group aged 15–29. There are two ways to understand this: the pleasure of being in a tourist area and the unacceptable role of municipal administrations.

In the words of Ramírez (2006), “a historic center acquires symbolic, identity and urban value for the city and its inhabitants when it is perceived and recognized as a heritage, historical-cultural and social-economic resource worthy of preservation” [40]. Of the responses with a medium to high degree of contribution, it was the painting on facades in which there is a direct link with the residents; therefore, it is evident that the actions that are most accepted are individual. The way in which the interventions are carried out is divided into two blocks: the commercial–administrative block and the residential block. [41]. The second block has implications regarding the memory load of places and becomes a lived space: “the territory constricts space and memory expands time. Both […] signify and resignify each other, derived from a code that is only deciphered by those who reproduce it through appropriation, which leads to a type of identity” [42]. Understanding the identity of the resident within a biocentric tourist landscape is a form of dialogue where the sensations of daily life are present and their opinions are perceived as an invasion.

The interactions of this study show a negative aspect in the perception of the administration regarding the promotion and importance of tourism development. The local government in an area with the characteristics described can take on the growing importance of civil organizations, where the interference they demand is greater in the application of resources but not in planning or management [43]. Cooperation, including the region’s academies (the universities and centers of research), as a means of validation against the wear and tear of the three-year administrations could formalize cooperation beyond the cycles of election of officials [41]. For the administration, it will mean honesty and clarity in actions by placing responsibility on and delegating management processes to the academy, as well as legitimizing decision making for residents and involving them in maintenance.

4.2. Space

Presenting the findings on perception allows us to show the diversity of the values in the survey. There is a premise about tourism that “it has an impact on the local community by being present” [19], which, in Jiquilpan, becomes an exception. In accordance with the survey, the impact that is most experienced regards the issue of space.

The historic center has been modified since 2008, with actions similar to those in other centers with tourist use; that is, to obtain the designation of a Pueblo Mágico. The four actions questioned were painting on facades, rehabilitation of streets and sidewalks, rehabilitation of squares, and tree planting on sidewalks. The painting on facades is well-received by residents and has been carried out three times since 2017. The last amount applied was close to MXN 300,000.00 [44] under the Rutas Mágicas de Color Program in 2022 involving the three levels of government (federal, state, and municipal). That program delimited the areas and the number of houses to be painted, while, for their part, the residences only chose the color.

Before obtaining the designation as a magical town, in the historic center, more than MXN 20,000,000.00 were already spent [45]. The figure has increased with each public administration, and it has reached MXN 70,000,000.00 [26], but there are no positive responses, pointing out a unilateral way of managing, creating, and executing projects and using a stone from the state of Guanajuato, which is outside of the identity of the municipality. The above is outside of the small-town image or the “intentionality that is linked to Cárdenas’s policies in relation to the rural, the indigenous and tourism” [46] that is so representative of the Pueblos Mágicos Program.

The issue of planting trees in the historic center is perceived as bad. It was an action proposed by the Pueblo Mágico Committee, who approved the pot model, with individual contributions from the residents. From 2017 to date, about 10% of the trees that were placed survive, and residents blame a lack of maintenance by the administrations, which resulted in forgetfulness and apathy for the premises in the study area. The lack of collaborative planning between citizens and the government gives us an idea of how subsequent public policies could be managed.

With reference to interventions in the public space of historic centers, according to Velasco [41], there are four types of ways to carry out the conservation of a site. The first is from its meanings to maintain the relationship between object and meaning. A second changes the values of the original meaning to demand in market terms. The third type ignores principles and resolves rehabilitations in consideration of immediate satisfaction. In a final type, historical–traditional spaces are seen as waste.

In accordance with classifying the study area, the values are instead to be reordered according to the general image of the Pueblos Mágicos for the attraction of tourists (the market); that is, the execution of public works does not achieve the connection between the objects and their meanings, and it was a decorative change.

4.3. Trade

Tourism is presented as an economic activity in which trade is one of the main instruments. Within this study, a medium to low impact is perceived on the residents’ economy, and the tourists’ influence has not yet reached their pockets. For restaurants and hotels, it is seen as good quality. Gastronomy is a topic that was frequently mentioned during the application of the survey, as is notable in the region. In the case of merchants, they blame an absence of actions on the part of the administration, specifically in supporting the development of their businesses. In terms of gender, those who try and say they know the services are women; public policies can be supported or directed based on their knowledge and work within tourist services.

If, based on the distinctiveness of the area, trade in relation to tourism in Jiquilpan was to grow, the four phases could be completed in the order mentioned by Méndez (2002): creation of social climate, local cooperation networks, presence of institutions, and formation of resources humans [47]. In its first stage, a mobility towards local development with innovation is distinguished; that is, a permeability and a new scenario capable of breaking inertia. The creation of the social climate appeared with the registration of the Pueblo Mágico and its resident committee.

The realization of common projects occurs under the establishment of local cooperation networks. In this second point, the direct chain of factors emerges without sectors but in a synergistic way [48]. The development of the southern part of the city that was analyzed was proposed with a view to tourist use; however, a chain of actions was not carried out as they were divided and did not appear in order.

Public planning policies and strategies are exercised by institutions and linked to negotiation or civil agreements. With this, the participation of society will increase with the formulation of the problems, as the third stage describes. In this case, within the management of registration to the tourism program, there were short- and medium-term projects without involving the locals.

In the final phase, it is sought to add quality to the process, starting with human resources and with the appropriate training adapted to local demands and knowledge. This has not been carried out after 10 years of its designation.

5. Conclusions

According to the results, the perception of the biocentric tourist landscape is negative among the inhabitants of the historic center in Jiquilpan. They recognize themselves as magical villagers, although they do not distinguish their origin; this part is left to the municipal administration. They express themselves as isolated from the process, although they are pleased to coexist with tourists. Conversely, the changes generated in the space with the aim of attracting tourists are not well-received. The parks, squares, streets, and sidewalks that were converted do not satisfy the residents. However, they are pleased with the improvement in public services, except drinking water. Tourist activities as a means of development do not affect all residents; therefore, they do not express a benefit from the Pueblo Mágico policy. On the other hand, they say they enjoy good restaurants and hotels, but they feel wary of the actions of the municipal government, which they state they deserve.

But, who has benefited from the emergence of the biocentric tourist landscape in Jiquilpan? With the analysis that was presented, for the residents, there is no economic profitability in the benefits of tourism, nor is part of the magic felt or known. In their opinion, this points to those who head the administrations and the Pueblo Mágico committee. So, in what direction can such a landscape be directed in our area of analysis? We highlight the values of heritage as well as restructuring the sequence of development based on the uniqueness of Jiquilpan.

Furthermore, the program of the Pueblos Mágicos has not had financial resources since 2019, so the possibilities of carrying out its proper functioning are the responsibility of the municipal government. According to the political cycle, the first step is to obtain data regarding the actions performed. In that case, in the analysis with academics and population group, it is essential to prepare actions in the last trimester or each year. For the evaluation, they should invite authorities for the estate and federation to reformulate the potential actions. They can prepare the consequence-based results to announce them in a simple form to the resident people.

Finally, the lines of research that can be derived from this study are the taxonomy on the adaptability and irritability of the biocentric tourist landscape.