Socio-spatial dynamics of the festejo mãe do salvador in Magalhães de Almeida-MA in the face of the pandemic context

Abstract

Religious tourism can help boost the local economy and improve the population's quality of life based on its socio-spatial dynamics. The realization of religious festivals alters the city's daily territorialities from the touristification process. In Magalhães de Almeida-MA, the highlight is the Mãe do Salvador celebration, one of the main religious events in the region that had to change its organization due to the coronavirus pandemic. In this aspect, the research seeks to understand the new socio-spatial dynamics resulting from this process in 2020 and 2021. For this, it used bibliographic research and unstructured interviews with a representative of the organizing institution. As a result, it was found that although the celebration had a spatial limitation, as it could not be held in several communities in the interior as in previous years, the need for virtualization of the sacred space so that the faithful had access to the pilgrimage on social networks brought a global dimension to the celebration, reaching a much larger number of people interested in the event. Finally, it is highlighted that the Festejo Mãe de Salvador needs to be seen as a potential attraction for tourism and that it needs strategic planning by the organizers, as it attracts the interest of visitors and local residents who share the sacred space all the years.