ABSTRACT
Additionally to its conventional touristic use, subterranean environments, as the caves, have been used as places to celebrate diverse events, recently called “experiences”. Caves are extremely fragile sites where minimal environmental changes can produce irreversible damages in their ecosystem and in the patrimonial values they hold. This work exposes the case of Nerja Cave (Malaga, Spain), where an International Music and Dance Festival is annually celebrated. The environmental monitoring of the event along years has allowed to know its negative impact in the cave: anomalous increases in the air and rock temperature and carbon dioxide concentrations and high levels of fungi concentration in the air, considered one of the main rock art biodeterioration factor, amongst others. The Nerja Cave Research Institute has designed and implement a specific conservation protocol aimed to prevent or minimize the impact produced by the celebration of this “experience” in the subterranean environment. This protocol could serve as a model for the adequate conservation of other cavities or heritage sites with similar characteristics where this type of activities is celebrated.
