The city of Salamanca has decided to change the way it tells its story and the stories of its protagonists. From now on, the sculptures that dot squares, gardens, and monumental corners will become the gateway to a new narrative. audio-guided tour that blends memory, sound fiction and urban walkdesigned both for those visiting the city for the first time and for the people of Salamanca themselves.
This new experience, called “Audio-Guided Route: People and Sculptures of Salamanca,” invites you to be guided by both voice and landscape. Through twelve audio tracks, visitors can pause before statues of key figures in local and world history and learn about them. Who were they, what was their relationship with Salamanca, and how did they contribute to its cultural legacy?, without needing to follow a rigid route or depend on schedules.
A sound route to rediscover the city's sculptures
The Salamanca City Council, through its Department of Tourism, has officially presented this new cultural tourism product. The Councilor for Tourism, Ángel Fernández Silva, explained that the intention is to go beyond the purely monumental appeal and to focus on the people and figures who have shaped the city. Until now, the tourist narrative relied mainly on buildings and historical sites; with this route, sculptures take center stage.
The proposal is structured as follows: twelve audio capsules lasting between six and nine minutes. Eleven of them focus on historical figures with statues in the city, and one more introduces the tour through a fictional character: the so-called "guardian of the statues," who acts as a guide and host of the experience.
As the councilor explained, the route is designed to increase interest in Salamanca and also to to encourage longer stays and higher tourist spendingExpanding the range of experiences available year-round. It's not just about offering more information, but about changing the way people interact with urban heritage: visitors explore the city at their own pace, from statue to statue, with their headphones and mobile phone in their pocket.
The initiative is framed in the Extraordinary Plan for Tourism Sustainabilitywhich promotes projects where technology serves to disseminate heritage in an accessible, sustainable, and engaging way for diverse audiences. The new route falls precisely into this category, combining robust cultural content with digital formats familiar to users.
Twelve voices, eleven statues, and a very special guardian
The heart of the proposal is the twelve audio pieces that make up the route. Each episode places the listener face-to-face with a specific character, but it doesn't simply list dates and biographical details. The chosen approach combines historical rigor and creative interpretation, resorting to sound fiction, in line with other sound adaptations that seek to expand the listening experience.
Among the protagonists are figures closely linked to the intellectual and spiritual history of the city, such as Miguel de Unamuno, Saint Teresa of Jesus, Antonio de Nebrija, Fray Luis de León and Francisco de VitoriaAlso included are names related to music, literature, and artistic creation, such as the composer Tomás Bretón, the writer Carmen Martín Gaite, and Maestro Salinas, as well as the Churriguera family, key to the shaping of the Salamanca Baroque, who are part of the literary legacy which inspires many of these stops.
The route also includes figures who transcend local boundaries but maintain a connection with Salamanca. Among them, Lazarillo de Tormes, an icon of Spanish picaresque fiction, and Christopher Columbus, whose figure is incorporated into this mosaic of stories that explain why the city is a cultural benchmark on a European scale.
The “guardian of the statues”, a fictional character created specifically for the project, is in charge of introduce the route and give cohesion to the journeyHer voice appears as a hostess who invites the listener to look at the sculptures with different eyes, connecting each stop with the next and contextualizing the historical moment and the urban environment.
In several of the audio recordings, the stories are not narrated by the characters themselves, but by voices linked to their environment: a student who admires Unamuno, a friar who explains the importance of Francisco de Vitoria, a music teacher who recalls the career of Tomás Bretón or different voices that rescue the most everyday dimension of figures such as Fray Luis de León, Nebrija, the maestro Salinas or Lazarillo himself.
From QR codes to podcast platforms: how the experience works
One of the most striking elements of the project is its access method. Next to each of the sculptures that make up the route, access points have been installed. QR codes that link directly to the corresponding audioSimply bring your mobile phone close, scan the code and press "play" to start listening to the narration while admiring the statue.
This system allows the route to be enjoyed both spontaneously, during a walk without prior plans, and in a fully planned way. A walker who comes across one of the statues can discover Currently, who is represented, and what role did they play in the history of Salamanca? And what anecdotes are hidden behind that monument, without the need for paper brochures or traditional guided tours.
In addition to QR codes, the content is available on the usual listening channels. Episodes can be found on the Radio Viajera's website and on platforms like iVoox or SpotifySo it's possible to listen to the route from home before traveling, during your stay in the city, or even afterwards, as a way to relive the journey.
For those who prefer a more structured experience, the route is also offered through the free app OnWayPodIt includes a map with all the stops and the option to follow the route using geolocation. This tool allows you to know at all times which sculpture is nearby and which is next, making it easy for the user to create their own visiting order.
The app includes a small additional incentive: people who complete the entire geolocated route can earn a digital badge associated with the route, a kind of symbolic recognition that certifies having completed the entire journey through the characters and sculptures of Salamanca.
Key locations: from the Plaza Mayor to the Roman Bridge
The route not only pays attention to the figures depicted in the statues, but also to the urban spaces where they are foundEach chapter places the listener in a characteristic fragment of the city, so that the environment becomes part of the narrative and helps to contextualize the characters.
Among the locations mentioned in the audio recordings are such recognizable places as the Plaza Mayor, the area around the San Esteban convent, the Roman Bridge or Libreros streetThe itinerary also includes university areas, various historic convents, gardens and other places that help explain Salamanca's identity throughout the centuries.
This combination of voices and spaces allows the audience to weave, almost without realizing it, a mental map of the city in which Monuments, sculptures, and personal stories intertwine, combining art and memory on the urban route.
The series aims to blend inspiration and emotion with a clear respect for historical sources. The goal is that anyone, from a student visiting Salamanca for the first time to a European cultural traveler, can to better understand the character of the city and the mark left on it by its great names.
In this way, the route acts almost like a soundtrack for the historic center, synchronizing the walk with stories that talk about literature, theology, music, architecture or explorations, always with the backdrop of the streets and squares of Salamanca.
Tourism podcast, audio fiction and sustainability
The proposal has been developed in collaboration with Radio Viajera and the production company Podcast2U, specializing in tourism content in audio format. During the presentation, Radio Viajera's commercial director, Míchel Mateos, emphasized that podcasts are a particularly suitable medium for this type of project for several reasons.
On the one hand, audio listening allows the visitor Keep your attention on the city instead of on your mobile phone screen, something that also explores the idea of how books with soundtracks They transform the narrative experience into auditory formats.
On the other hand, the format fits the idea of sustainable tourismBy reducing the need for physical materials, such as brochures or printed maps, and by offering content available 24 hours a day without requiring organized groups or additional travel, the user chooses when and how to listen, adapting the route to their own pace.
The team in charge has opted for the sound fiction as a narrative toolThis, they explained, helps increase immersion and credibility. Instead of having historical figures speak in the first person, third parties recount their lives and contextualize their legacy, facilitating a more believable and nuanced approach.
This approach translates into brief scenes that blend reflections, dialogues, and ambient sounds, aiming to make the listener feel part of the story without sacrificing rigor or clarity. The route is designed to all kinds of audiences, from people with a high interest in history to visitors who simply want to get to know the city better without getting too technical.
With this new audio-guided route, Salamanca adds another tool to reinforce its cultural and heritage vocation. Sculptures that many once saw almost in passing now become meeting points with key figures in local, Spanish, and European history, while the combination of podcast, QR codes and geolocated tour It offers a flexible, accessible and contemporary way to explore the city through its characters.
