THE PERCEPTION OF TOURISM IN THE WITCHES MARKET – BOLIVIA

The so-called “Market of the Witches”, Is a public space that consists of the following streets: Sagárnaga, Linares, Jiménez, Illampu, Santa Cruz and the church of San Francisco. These streets are part of a set of blocks that are identified in urban heritage cartography as the San Francisco Heritage Complex. Part of this set consists of the market of handicrafts, ritual objects, medicinal plants, coca, alcohol, amulets, talismans, illas, sullu, table or offerings and other magical elements from other cultures and other countries such as Brazil, Argentina, India, Mexico, etc.

The witches sector represents an icon of the city. Within a traditional circuit or basic city tour of the city, this place is prioritized. If a person arrives in La Paz and does not visit the Mercado de las Brujas, it is as if he had not been in the city. The places that comprise a traditional city tour are the Mercado de las Brujas, then there is the Killi-Killi viewpoint, Murillo square, Jaén street and Valle de la Luna. And in this last time the cable car is also incorporated. But the Witches’ Market has always been present, this place is almost visited by one hundred percent of the visitors.

The “Market of the Witches” for its characteristics and its components or cultural elements can be defined as a space of cultural tourism because the cosmovision of the Aymara Quechua cultures is expressed in the urban context as a tradition inherited from the practices of Andean spirituality. Also, in the area there are patrimonial architectural assets such as religious, real estate, handicrafts with identity and social actors such as Chifleras, Amautas, Yatiris, etc. It can also be considered as a tourist destination or a tourist product, that is, it is part of the La Paz and Bolivian tourist complex. Then, the “Market of the Witches”, is a tourist space or a tourist destination for its “exotic” attraction where the famous “witches or sorceresses” that offer amulets, talismans, candles, ritual “tables”, offerings and others products of foreign origin.