Quién puede guiar un territorio

Since 2020, the government of Buenos Aires has promoted training programs for residents in two 'workingclass neighborhoods,' certifying them as 'site guides' as part of a series of measures aimed at regulating tourism in these territories. This initiative sparked diverse reactions among professional guides, government agencies, and the trainees themselves, creating tensions around the use of the term 'guide.' This paper examines how the legitimacy of those authorized to guide a territory is constructed, alongside the legal frameworks that endorse it. By analyzing the local tourism board’s role in professionalizing and regulating community guides—through volatile, ever-shifting designations—we argue that such initiatives simultaneously create opportunities for endogenous narratives through local guides and expose underlying uncertainties about how tourism is practiced

Legitimacy · Local government · Narrative · Tourism · Archaeology and Cultural Heritage · Nationalism and Cultural Identity · Urbanism, Landscape, and Tourism Studies