Agriculture and Industry in the Valencia Region

Agricultural Landscapes of the Valencia Region

The map shows the types of agricultural landscapes to be found in the Valencia region. We can distinguish between four groups:

• Coastal Areas: In the coastal areas, the most intensive irrigation can be found. Crops include citrus, vegetables, and rice, favored by the mild climate and thermal effects regularizing the sea. These are flat areas such as the Castellón, the central plain of Valencia, or South Alicante.
• Intermediate Territory (200-600 meters): Wooded farming dominates, with carob, olive, and almond trees, vineyards, and small vegetable gardens being the most important. These territories are found in the interior corridors of the Maestrat, Palancia, the high valley, foothills of the Turia, or the Valley of Ayora, Albaida, or Alcoi.
• Higher Elevations (600-900 meters): Agriculture is limited to olive and almond trees due to the more abrupt weather. This unit is in the Serrania del Turia landscape and Requena Plateau.
• Above 900 meters: Only pasture is found. Livestock is very important in these areas. These grasses are found in the deserts of Barraca, or Alpuente, where only grass or agriculture find cereal or potatoes.

Key Features of the Valencian Orchard

The garden features are:

• Smallholding: The sizes of some fields are much lower crop per hectare, which can compromise their profitability.
• Crop Rotation: In the garden, at certain times, we can find areas where changes occur in crops. This depends on soil characteristics, which often adds sand to the beach.
• High Annual Productivity: This is closely linked to soil properties. You can even have up to three crops a year. The fields have unique characteristics, are one of the most fertile, and sometimes it is overexploited.
• Intensive Crops: While it is clear that this reduces to the type of crop that is gaining ground lately, especially the orange.
• Threat to the Garden: Due to urban sprawl that is produced in Valencia, Castellón, from the 60's and 70's to today. From the 60's, Valencia urban growth expands on the entire metropolitan area. From 1960 to the present, there is a difference, there is growing social pressure against the development of the garden.

Paddy Field

The Valencian rice is one of the best in Europe, although rice production in recent decades has been declining. Aterraments Els is to go through baskets of sand covering the Lake Albufera to blind him and have rice fields. The entire perimeter of the park (pag.204) for over two centuries has been slowly filling with sand, in order to have cultivated field. Just keep in mind that in previous centuries, the lagoon was considered a place where he had many infections and where few people lived in unsanitary conditions.

Major Types of Urban Landscapes

The set of crops that are harvested in the Valencia region can be classified into three main types of landscapes:

1. Intensive Irrigation Coastal Plains: These are the lowlands, 200 meters high, with an average annual temperature ranging between 16-17 º and with a very low risk of frost. These conditions are as favorable as possible to find crops such as orange or medlar. It is an area of citrus, vegetables, and rice.
2. Dryland Intermediate Shaft: These are lands that are between 200 and 600 m in altitude. The average annual thermal range between 14 and 16 degrees, but the winters are much colder than in the previous case and the proportion of frost as well.
3. Wine and Cereals: These crops are found between 600 and 900 m in altitude. At this altitude is very difficult to find other crops because the climate is much harder. The most characteristic of this type of landscape are Requena Plateau and the Serrania del Turia.

Valencian Industrial Expansion to the Present

Valencian Industry Characteristics: From 1953 the Franco regime makes an opening to the outside, but the key date is in 1970 when it signed an agreement with the EEC very beneficial where Spanish products come to have choice in Europe. The inflow of foreign capital meant a great economic expansion and the opening of the Valencian capital industry. The population of Valencia from the 70 went from being predominantly agrarian to an industrial and services sectors. From this date the labor force in agriculture will be much lower than the industry, but agriculture will be much more productive because it is machined to introduce new technology. Thus, industrialization begins Valencia, in 1973 the plant was inaugurated d'Almusafes Ford in 1974 was inaugurated the fourth steel blast furnaces closed in 1983 by a restructuring, and from 1960 to 1978 he produced a tourism boom affects the whole sector. In 1975 oil crisis occurs directly affecting the industry in Valencia. In Sagunto plant closes and unemployment rates soar. Subsequently approved the EAFRD and LEADER. And from then until now there have been a crisis of recession in 1993-1997, a recovery phase 1998-2008, and finally a new economic crisis since 2008 until today. The defining characteristics of Valencian industry are:

• Specialization in Goods for Direct Consumption: It occupies 2 / 3 of total production, the most important textile and clothing (13%), food (19%), footwear (7%), furniture (12%), toys (1.6%). Also important is the intermediate consumption of construction material (13%) and metallurgy (14%). These percentages also have to add direct products such as artistic ceramics, glass, and other decorations.
• Prevalence of Indigenous SMEs: The vast majority of Valencian companies are small or medium-sized indigenous constitution, large companies are usually foreign capital. The latter in recent years have increased substantially.
• Export Orientation: Valencian industry like agriculture has always had an export orientation. The export of the car (Ford) is one of the most important, followed by footwear and tiles that have been gaining ground in both domestically and abroad.
• Location of Diffuse and Local Expertise: One of the most curious features of industrialization Valencia is that industries are located in diffuse regions, but each local unit out due to a specific production. Just find a mix of industries when we reached the metropolitan area of Valencia.

Historical Background of the Traditional Valencian Industry

Industrial history in the Valencia region date back to ancient times, but it is in the early Middle Ages is confirmed in manufacturing and exporting Xàtiva paper, glazed ceramic tiles and Paterna and Manises, locksmith Valencia, Alcoi wool industry, Bocairent and Morella, silk fabrics produced in Valencia and Xativa, and leather tanning and manufacturing of Valencia. In Arab times as you enter the tile with the firing of clay. In the XVIth century's most important industries are textile and ceramic. The fabric was divided mainly into four types: wool, silk, flax and hemp. And the pottery was based primarily on the production of tiles (Manises and Paterna). In the eighteenth century the crisis directly affects industrial production, which is why many industries closed. Major industries in this century are the textile and brandy. They also have great importance in the manufacture of woolen cloth in Alcoy (Royal Textile Factory) and the silk of Valencia. Silk is a very important industry in Valencia since the Middle Ages, in fact it was sold by auction by sea silk. A great innovation was the production of paper, which had stalled and almost disappeared and in this century experienced a diffusion. Finally, in the years 1720-1730 created the Real Fábrica de Loza in Alcora, what a great support to the ceramic industry.

Tile in the Plana de Castellón: Origins

To explain the importance of Castellón tile need to be taken of the eighteenth century when the Count of Aranda founded a factory in Alcora renew the purpose of making pottery class (real plants), without But this must be added that in Castellón was the raw material to produce this type of tile (clay). From Alcora expands the nearest town and wave in the nineteenth century the manufacture of tiles replaced. This is when the market expands tiles throughout Spain competing with tiles from Manises. From the 60's importance and the export of tiles increases, pushing the production of artistic ceramics Manises. Over the years, the merger of the companies, investments, and large firms as Todagres Pamesa or Porcelanosa, have enhanced and exports Castellón tile, like the use of the pipeline which meant the end 80's adaptation of natural gas furnaces (much cleaner). The technical and material supply, has resulted in the concentration of auxiliary industries around the tile industry. In fact many of these supporting industries have also been able to get a "reputation" and export abroad.