AGRICULTURAL SPACES

Agricultural spaces

• There are the result of human and physical factors:• Environment• Agrarian structure• Population and rural habitat• Agricultural policies

Agricultural spaces

• It is the result of different uses of the soil:• Traditional:

• Agriculture• Livestock• Forests

• New:• Residential• Industry• Others

Use of the soil

• Traditional:• Agriculture and livestock have been

transformed:• Structure:

• specialization, • technics’ introduction • intensification

• Forest exploitation:• Limited production• Deforestation problems.

Use of the soil

• News:• Residential• Industrial• Touristy• Hunting

Influence of factors

• The combination of the former factors may influence in the following aspects:• Agricultural landscapes• Crisis and problems• Policy of organization of the

agricultural space.

Agricultural landscapes

• We can find the following:• Humid Spain (Atlantic)• Interior of the Peninsula (continental

Mediterranean)• Mediterranean• Mountain• Canary

Crisis and reasons

• They may be of these kinds:• Demographic• Economic• Environmental

Policies for organising agricultural landscapes

• These elements are taken into account:• Development and economic

diversification• Improvement of infrastructures and

equipment• Preservation of environment.

Agricultural landscapes in Spain

• We can distinguish the following:• Humid Spain• Interior• Mediterranean Spain• Mountain• Canary

Humid Spain

• Location:• North and North-East of the Iberian

Peninsula

• Physical environment: • Stepped relief• Oceanic climate:

• Warm temperatures, without big contrasts• Abundant rain during the whole year

Humid Spain

• Agricultural structure:• Population:

• Traditionally abundant• Influence of migrations

• Way of settlement:• Spread

• Agricultural property:• Small exploitations• Smallholdings

Humid Spain

• Use of the land:• Agriculture:

• Poly culture traditional (vegetal gardens, corn, potato, and others)

• Nowadays it is specialised in vegetal gardens and feeding animals.

• Livestock• The traditional exploitation in medium and small

property was extensive.• Today it is a mixture and it has bigger size thanks to

modernization.

• Forestry• It is important to produce furniture and paper.

Interior• Location:

• Two Mesetas• Ebro’s depression

• Physical space:• Bleak upland, small mountains

and valleys• Continental Mediterranean

climate (extreme temperatures, hot summers and cold winters, with little precipitation).

Interior

• Agricultural structure:• Population:

• Traditionaly they have emigrated

• Settlement: concentrated• Small towns (Duero and Ebro valleys)• Big towns (South of the Peninsula)

• Agrarian property: contrasts• Smallholding in Duero and Ebro valleys• Estates in Salamanca, Burgos, Castile-Mancha and

Aragon and the dry area of Extremadura.

Interior

• Use of the land:• Agriculture:

• Unirrigated:• High flat areas and grass land with extensive

products• Traditionally wheat, fallow and leguminous in turns• Vine and olive trees, sometimes together.

• Irrigated:• Traditionally near rivers and orchards for self

consumption• Nowadays in bigger surfaces industrial products,

forage and orchards.

Interior

• Use of the land:• Livestock:

• Traditionally extensive:• Meat cows in mountain regions• Sheeps in dry areas• Sheeps, pigs and cows in meadows

• Forestry:• It is important in the area of Soria.

Mediterranean Spain

• Location:• Mediterranean coast• Guadalquivir valley • Balear islands

• Physical environment:• Accident relieves, flat near the coast but

stepped as soon as separating from the coast

• Warm Mediterranean climate, coastal (warm temperatures, hot summers, scarce precipitation and maximum in autumn).

Mediterranean Spain

• Agricultural structure:• Population:

• Traditionally huge numbers

• Settlements:• Dispersed, concentrated in some nuclei.

• Property:• Smallholding in orchards• Medium in Catalonia• Big in Andalusia

Mediterranean Spain

• Use of the land:• Agriculture:

• Irrigated:• Orchard products in open air• Orchard products under plastic• Fruit trees and fruits

• Unirrigated :• Near the coast and in Guadalquivir’s valley• Cereals, vines, olive trees and almond.

Mediterranean Spain

• Use of the land :• Livestock:

• Cows and pig in Catalonia• Sheeps in non irrigated areas• Bulls in the region of Guadalquivir.

Mountains

• Location:• High areas

• Physical environment:• Very stepped• Cold climate, with snow and rain in

winter• Vegetation ordered in different

levels (terrases).

Mountains• Agrarian structure:

• Population:• Low densities• Trend to depopulation

• Settlement:• Disperse in valleys, or concentrated in small regions• Nowadays trend to form bigger centres

• Agricultural property:• Small property is the main one• Mountains and prairies belong to the councils

Mountains• Use of the land :

• Agriculture:• In the valleys (in the North)• Terrases and banks (in the South)

• Livestock:• Extensive: cows and sheep (in the North)• Sheeps seasonal migration in

Mediterranean mountains

• Forestry:• Wood is used.

Canary Islands

• Location:• Accidented volcanic orography

• Physical environment:• Hot weather the whole year,

precipitations are scarce and irregular.

Canary Islands

• Agricultural structure:• Population:

• Agrarian population has decreased• Main population in the Tertiary system

• Settlements:• Concentrated in towns (there are many

with less than 500 houses)

• Agrarian property:• In medium and high regions smallholdings• Coastal irrigated regions big property.

Canary Islands

• Use of the land• Agriculture:

• Coast:• Monoculture irrigated for exportation

(banana, tomato, potato)• Winter products (cucumber, pepper, flowers)• Tropical cultivations (papaya, mango,

pineaple, avocado)

• Interior:• Monoculture unirrigated for self-consumption

(vine, potato, wheat)

Canary Islands

• Use of the land :• Livestock:

• Sheeps are scarce• Linked to agriculture

• Forestry:• Main area producing pine• Gose and laurisilvas to substain coal,

construction and agrarian cultures.