Spain's Agricultural Landscapes: A Regional Analysis

Spain's Diverse Agricultural Landscapes

Agricultural landscapes represent the morphology of rural areas, a combination of the natural environment and agricultural activity. The diversity of these combinations explains the variety of existing agricultural landscapes.

The Agricultural Landscape of Wet Spain

This region comprises the north and northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, characterized by rugged terrain with few flat areas and wet oceanic climates throughout the year.

Agrarian Structure

Historically, a large population couldn't be supported by the land, leading to migration and an aging population today. Settlements are dispersed in villages and parishes.

Farmers own small plots (minifundismo) surrounded by hedges, decreasing profitability and hindering mechanization.

Land use is primarily agricultural.

Agriculture

Arable land is limited, mainly located in coastal valleys. Inland, agricultural use is low due to consistent rainfall. Historically, polyculture was practiced, with farmers growing fruits and vegetables, barley on poorer land, and supplementing their income with livestock. Only a fraction of these products were sold.

Today, polyculture is disappearing, replaced by specialized orchard crops and fodder for livestock.

Livestock Farming

Livestock farming is the most important economic activity, favored by the climate, urban demand for milk and meat, and rural exodus.

In Galicia, small and medium-sized family farms still dominate. Along the Cantabrian coast, modernized farms are larger and better equipped, although some struggle with a lack of pasture land, leading to part-time farming.

The prospects are promising, but exports are still small and outdated, with heavy reliance on dairies.

Logging

Logging supports the furniture and pulp industries.

The Agricultural Landscape of Interior Spain

This region includes both uplands and the Ebro basin, characterized by high altitude and a Mediterranean climate with low rainfall and frost risk in many northern areas.

Agrarian Structure

Emigration has caused depopulation and land abandonment in many areas. Settlements are concentrated in villages, small valleys of the Duero and Ebro, and are large and far between in the southern half of the peninsula.

The property system is varied: smallholdings overlook the valleys of the Duero and Ebro, while large properties are characteristic of Salamanca and Burgos.

Land use is varied.

Agriculture

Agriculture occupies 44% of the surface, with clear differences between rainfed and irrigated areas.

Uplands are dominated by moors and meadows, while the valleys of the Duero and Ebro feature irrigated land. Large properties are characteristic of Salamanca and Burgos.