On Wednesday April 14, 2010 was held at the Aracenaś City Hall, an act where distinctive were delivered "Product Club Iberian Ham Route", by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, to all business people Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche who have participated in this process.
This event was attended by the Mayor of Aracena, Manuel Guerra, President of the Rural Development Group Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche, Felix Soto, the head of department of the provincial delegation of the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Sport, José Román and Assistant Director General for Development and Sustainable Tourism Turespaña, Gonzalo Ceballos.
The Iberian Ham Route is a new tourist product that aims to attract visitors using the resources offered by the Iberian pig, especially the ham, the territory that supports their production of the gourmet products, their processing techniques and culture, offering visitors a complete experience. To preserve the quality of the product have been established a number of requirements to ensure quality and consistency of the same in all establishments, events and destinations that adhere to the club.
The project, led by Turespaña collaboration with Rural Development Groups in areas with Designations of Origin of Iberian ham, seeks both to improve the production of local food products of high quality and give value to natural resources and cultural the Spanish Dehesa, unique historical example of sustainable production of our rural environment. Thus, it seeks to develop new economic activities from a networking strategy, ensuring sustainable development of territories.
During 2009 there has been a pilot deployment Product Club in the region of Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche (Huelva) culminating with the accession of 30 companies from accommodations, restaurants, activities, ham cellar and farms.
To give continuity to this project, the Rural Development Groups that are located within the territory of the 4 Designations of Origin of Iberian ham, among which is the GDR Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche, have submitted an interregional cooperation project to call 2010 the Ministry of Environment, Rural and Marine who has the support of the Ministry of Tourism / Turespaña.