Agricultural Land Use in the Iberian Peninsula

The proposed map shows the different agricultural and agricultural land uses in designated portions of the Iberian Peninsula. The mixed farming with livestock referred to in the first question is for northern regions, i.e., Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, and the Basque Country, along with the western part of Leon and Zamora. Also included in this group is a large part of Portugal. The main reasons are:

• Weather: This is the domain area of the Atlantic climate, with abundant and regular rains throughout the year, and smooth annual temperatures without large oscillations. This type of climate is ideal for the development of meadows and forests, and therefore, for cattle.
• Relief: This is a mountainous area of broken relief, with little flat land suitable for cultivation.
• Historic tradition and the land system: In the area dominated by smallholder subsistence agriculture, which is in decline compared to cattle.

With all this, however, agriculture does not disappear completely from the area, mainly due to its rich, developed soils.

Forests and Grasslands in the Iberian Peninsula

The second question concerns the extent of forests and grasslands. We can see from the map how these areas remain almost millimeter lines of the great peninsular mountain ranges, i.e., areas that, for reasons of topography and climate, cannot be used for agriculture: Cantabrian, Pyrenees, Central System, Montes de León, northern Sierras of Cáceres, Montes de Toledo, Sierra Morena, Béticos Systems, the Iberian, and Catalan Cordilleras. In all cases, the highest altitudes are under forest, and as altitude is lost, grasslands appear.

Irrigated Agriculture in Spain and Portugal

With respect to irrigated agriculture, it is found scattered throughout many areas of the map: Valencia, Alicante, Murcia, the Guadalquivir Valley, small areas of Extremadura, the Portuguese Algarve, Douro Valley areas, and small areas of the Tagus and Ebro Valleys.

Irrigation, understood as a system that allows cultivation in areas that do not receive enough water by natural means, is necessary in Spain, as only 26% of the land is classified as "wet."

Since historical times (Roman and Muslim domination), it has been a technique often used in Spain. In contemporary times, in 1902, the First National Water Works, the Gasset Plan, was approved, which aimed to double the area cultivated by this system. Only partially developed, it contributed, however, to the expansion of crops such as sugar beet and cotton, and it was the basis of the National Water Works of 1933. However, all these projects were met with a serious drawback: the structure of property, basically the extent of landlordism, which prevented any progress. Hence, after the Civil War, the policy of the INC (National Colonization Institute) was heading toward the expansion of irrigation in areas of settlement and land consolidation.

Currently, production from irrigation, like the rest of the Spanish primary activity, is derived from the guidelines of the agricultural policy of the European Union.