Agricultural and Political Factors Shaping Spanish Farming

Posted on Jan 8, 2025 in Geography

A. Agricultural Factors

Climate: An important conditioning factor, with different types, except for oceanic agricultural landscapes. The arid Mediterranean climate itself is a key condition with thermal contrasts, irregular rainfall, and external meteorological phenomena.
Terrain: Conditions farming on the slope and height by influencing the climate.
Vegetation: Totally removed in farming, eliminated and kept in arboreal herbaceous layer for cattle, or held for forestry.

Historical Factors: Until the twentieth century, agriculture was characterized by a high percentage of the active population, low yields, the dominance of rainfed irrigation, and so on. From 1900-1936, there was a low active population and an increase in cropland and yields. From 1939-1959, due to the weight of agricultural self-sufficiency, there was an increase in homeland consolidation. From 1959-1986, there were major changes based on the stabilization plan. There was an agricultural modernization. Since the entry of Spain into the EU, agricultural activity has been adapted to the objectives and methods of the CAP and a globalized economy, increasing productivity and competitiveness.
Active Population: This started to decrease from the 20th century. It suffered a large decline in the 1960s. The consequences have been the appearance of part-time farming and the aging of the workforce.
Technical Factors: They sought to increase and advance production and reduce labor costs through mechanization, fertilizers, and applied research. Mechanization is at the bottom of the land revolution. Fertilizers and plant protection products have been increasing their presence and importance in line with land development.

Exploitation: The parcel is the minimum unit of operation and is the extension of land that is under the same boundary. The set of plots of the same person is the operator. Due to the modernization process, exploitations have reduced and their average size has increased.
Property: Property is a legal concept that refers to the owner of the land. In Spain, the average size of the property has increased, reducing the number of smallholders despite part-time farming. Land ownership is characterized by the dominance of extreme values and a shortage of medium-sized properties. The implantation of large estates stems from the medieval repopulation in the 12th century and the confiscation of the nineteenth century and has been the basis of the agrarian problem in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The smallholding has the problem of lack of competitiveness and profitability. Solutions include cooperatives, land consolidation, etc.
Trends Toward Regime: The trend is the degree of control over the farm. Direct trend is when the owner and employer match. Indirect trend is when they do not, and can be divided into rent and sharecropping.

Until the CAP: The confiscation meant the passage of private property and repaid it to the individual capitalist. The problem of concentration of ownership was addressed by the Second Republic with land reform, without success. The agrarian policy of Franco left the agrarian reform of a social character and imposed a technical matter, such as land consolidation proceedings or the promotion of irrigation.
After the CAP: From the entry to the EU, the CAP governs our land policy. Objectives: To increase productivity, ensure the population an adequate standard of living, stabilize the markets, etc. To finance the CAP, the EU has the European Agricultural Guidance, and the social guarantee consists of two parts: the EAGGF Guidance Section and the EAGGF Guarantee Section.