The Sierra de Gata. A Geographical Study of a Rural Mountain Area in Spain by J. Hinderink (1963)

P ro m o to r: Prof. D r. A. C. D E VOOYS

To my wife

(t VOORW OORD

)

Bij de voltooiing van m ijn proefschrift is h et mij een voorrecht alien te danken die to t m ijn academ ische vorm ing hebben bijgedragen.

Hooggeleerde D e Yooys, hooggeachte pro m o to r, veel dank ben ik U verschuldigd voor de steun en stim ulerende belangstelling welke ik van U tijdens m ijn gehele studie heb m ogen ondervinden.

Hooggeleerde H ol, dankbare herinneringen bew aar ik aan U w colleges en excursies die m ijn interesse voor de fysische geografie hebben opgewekt.

H ooggeleerde Van D am , U w colleges en U w gew aardeerde steun waren v o o r mij van grote betekenis. Z onder voldoende kennis van de Spaanse taa l zou het aan deze dissertatie ten grondslag liggende onderzoek niet mogelijk zijn geweest.

G aarne wil ik oo k m ijn d a n k uitbrengen a an U , hooggeleerde Fischer, K ru y t en Thiel vo o r U w aandeel in m ijn academ ische vorm ing.

G rote dan k ben ik verschuldigd aan M ejuffrouw M r. W . M . W . van Lanschot, wier daadw erkelijke steun vo o r mij een grote stim ulans heeft betekend.

D e H eren C. I. W ieland en Baldi D ekker, tekenaars aan het G eografisch In stitu u t der R ijks U niversiteit te U trecht, verzorgden de k aarten en hielpen mij m et hun waardevolle adviezen. A an hen beiden voel ik mij zeer verplicht.

M ijn erkentelijkheid gaat oo k uit n a a r M evrouw I. L. de V ries-Kerruish vo o r de consciéntieuze wijze w aarop zij heeft geholpen bij de correctie van de engelse tekst.

M uchos fu eron los que me prestaron su valiosa cooperación en E spaña durante la preparación de m i tesis. Sería, sin em bargo, im posible no m brar aquí a to d o s los funcionarios de los organism os oficiales, secretarios de ayuntam iento y vecinos de los pueblos de Sierra de G ata, que ta n am a­ blem ente m e ayudaran, p ara agradecerles su colaboración.

Quiero no obstante, a m odo de excepción, m encionar al profesor T erán, de la U niversidad C entral de M adrid, a D . R icardo M agdaleno, del A r­ chivo G eneral de Simancas, y a D . F ernando M artín G onzález, secretario del A yuntam iento de Eljas, con los que perm anezco en deuda de gratitud.

D eseo especialmente dar testim onio de m i agradecim iento a mis buenos am igos D. R icardo y D . N icolás G arcía M orante, de H oyos, y a 1). Vidal M artín Bonilla, de Santibáñez el A lto, que ta n espléndida y

desinteresadam ente m e p restaro n su ayuda en mis investigaciones, y cuya am istad he tenido siem pre en gran estim a.

H et verschijnen van dit proefschrift zou niet m ogelijk zijn geweest zonder de grote financĂ­ele steun van de N ederlandse O rganisatie voor Z uiverW etenschappelijkO nderzoek, w aarvoor ik hier mijn buitengew one erkentelijkheid wil betuigen.

Zeer d an k b aar ben ik tenslotte m ijn vrouw . H a a r voortdurende belangstelling en onverm oeide hulp hebben het mij vooral mogelijk gem aakt d it werk te voltooien.

LIST O F A BB R EV IA TIO N S

fan. ha. hl.

= = = = = = = =

kg(s). km(s). m. mm. psts.

Resp. Gen. =

fanega hectare hectolitre kilogramme(s) kilometre(s) m etre m illimetre pesetas Respuesta(s) G eneral(es) o f the C atastro del M arquĂŠs de la E nsenada

TABLE OF CO N TEN TS INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................

1

I PHYSICAL environment: FAVOURABLE AND UNFAVOURABLE FACTORS AFFECTING HUMAN ACTIVITY...........................................

A. Relief: contrast between North and S o u t h ..........................

B. Geological and pedological character o f the Sierra. . . .

C. Climate and v e g e t a t io n .............................................................

8 8 11 16

II OCCUPATION OF THE SIERRA DE G A T A ...........................................

30

A. Historical o u tlin e ..........................................................................

B. Pattern o f settlement in the Sierra...........................................

C. Types o f farm h ou se.....................................................................

30 40 43

III THE AGRARIAN VARIETY OF THE SIERRA............................................

49

A. The agricultural area o f the R eb ollar.......................................

49 1 Agriculture in the 18th cen tu ry ...........................................

50 2 Present-day farming in the northern S ie r r a ......................

59 B. M onte and Pastos — zone o f transition between the northern and the Southern S ie r r a ............................................

71 1 Traditional exploitation o f monte and p a s to s ..................

73 85 2 Re-afforestation in modern t im e s .......................................

C. The Southern Sierra, olive-cultivation and its economic importance in a mountain a r e a ....................................................

91 1 Greater agricultural variety in former tim e s ......................

96 2 Changed land use in the Southern S ie r r a ......................104 3 Olive-cultivation as a source o f “prosperity” ..................123 IV INVESTIGATION INTO THE AGRICULTURE OF THE SIERRA ON THE BASIS OF AN ANALYSIS OF FARM STRUCTURES...................................142 A. Types o f farm in El Payo, a village in the western Rebollar 151 B. Types o f farm in Villasrubias and Robleda, two examples o f eastern m unicip alities.............................................................159 C. Types o f farm in Hoyos, a small municipality specializing in o liv e -g r o w in g ..........................................................................

165 D. Descargamaría, types o f farm in an accidented Sierra m u n ic ip a lity ..................................................................................

171 E. Agrarian forms o f subsistence in the olive- and graingrowing municipalities: Santibáñez el Alto and Eljas . .

177

Y

VI

AGRICULTURE AND DEMOGRAPHICAL DEVELOPMENT.........................190 CONCLUSION. THE SIERRA DE GATA AS A PROBLEM AREA . . . .

214

GLOSSARY OF SPANISH T ER M S ............................................................. 220 b ib l io g r a ph y

: G eneral w o r k s .........................................................223

W orks w ith special reference to the Sierra de G a t a .......................................................................... 226 LIST OF DOCUMENTS CONSULTED; STATISTICS AND MAPS . . . .

226

IN T R O D U C T IO N O n the b o rd er o f the tw o provinces Cáceres and Salam anca, in the west o f C entral Spain, stretches a m ountain-range the m ost w estern p a rt o f which is called Sierra de G ata. T o the east this “ Sierra” is bounded by the H urdes, three deep parallel valleys stretching northw est-southeast, separated from each other by m ountain-ridges; fu rth er eastw ards the H urdes change into the steep m ountains o f the Sierra de F rancia, which after the fault-zone o f the Béjar valley are continued in the m ountains of the Sierra de G redos and Sierra de G u adarram a. On Portuguese territory the Serra das M esas, Serra G ardunha, Serra do M oradal and the m assif o f the Serra da E strela are the w estern continuation o f the Sierra de G ata.

O ther parts o f the m ountain-range too, however, have often wrongly been called “ Sierra de G a ta” . Thus in the “ N ouvelle G éographie Universelle” o f Elisée Reclus 1 the whole m ountain-region from the Béjar valley to the Portuguese b o rder was called Sierra de G ata, which m eans th a t both the Sierra de F rancia and the alm ost inaccessible H urdes w ould be included in it. O n the other han d D antín Cereceda, in his “ Resum en Fisiográfico de la Península Ibérica” , m akes a clear distinction between the Sierra de F rancia and the Sierra de G ata, b u t leaves the question undecided as to w hether the interjacent H urdes belong to one o f these m ountain areas or should be regarded as a separate area w ith characteristics entirely o f its own 2. The latter view is taken by Legendre in his study o f the H urdes. In his opinion the m ountain-ridge which form s the connection betw een the Sierra de G ata and the Sierra de F rancia should n o t be considered as belonging either to the first or to the second m ountain area. “ N i le terrain, ni la végétation, ni les conditions de la vie hum aine ne se ressem blent, de ce pays aux Sierras de F rancia et de G ata respectivem ent. . . La zone interm édiaire, celle qui nous occupe, n ’est pas habitée; á peine est-elle un lieu de passage . . . Elle n ’a pas de nom ” 3.

This is why only the m ountain-range extending over a distance o f nearly fifty kilom etres from the Portuguese border to the Bolla-massif, which forms the transition to the H urdes, can rightly be called Sierra de G ata.

The territory which in this study is regarded as belonging to the abovem entioned m ountain area thus includes seventeen “ southern Sierra 1 “ Nouvelle Géographie Universelle”, Elisée Reclus. 1876, part I, pp. 675, 676.

2 J. Dantín Cereceda, “Resumen Fisiográfico de la Península Ibérica”, 1948. p.

86. In his “Ensayo acerca de las regiones naturales de España” (1922, Tomo I, pp. 306 ff.), however, the Hurdes are considered as belonging to the Sierra de Francia.

3 M. Legendre, “Les Jurdes, étude de géographie humaine”, 1927. pp. 12, 13.

1

m unicipalities” — w hich com e under the jurisdiction o f the Hoyos district — and eight m unicipalities situated n o rth o f the m ountain-ridge 1, an area o f m ore th an 1480 sq. kilom etres and — according to the Padrón o f 1959 — having a to tal o f over 39,800 inhabitants. *

*

* Even in olden times the Sierra de G a ta was a rem óte area, although n o t as isolated as the adjacent H urdes. It is true th a t the Sierra de G ata was traversed by the oíd “ Via de la D alm acia” which ran in a northsouth direction, linking the tow ns o f C oria and Ciudad R odrigo (Augustobriga) and m ore to the south joining up with the fam ous R om án highway, the “ Via de la P lata” (also called “ Via L ata” o r “ Via de la G uinea” ), w hich ran from Salam anca through G ranadilla to Cáceres and M érida.

However, the turb u len t times o f the R econquista, followed by the wars w ith Portugal, and the increasing im portance o f the eastern Via de la P lata as a trade and traffic route, were the reason why this road could n o t become an artery o f im portance. M oreover, neither the areas situated no rth o f the Sierra de G ata, such as the C am po de A rgañán and La Berzosa, ñ o r those south o f the Sierra were prosperous agricultural districts, which m eant th a t passenger- and goods-traffic in western Spain m ainly used to concéntrate on m ore eastern centres — Salam anca, Béjar and Plasencia — which is indeed still the case today. The route via the Lower H urdes, linking the Sierra de G ata and Sierra de Francia, was o f even less im portance. Its ñam e, “ C am ino M orisco” , points to its M oorish origin; m ilitary considerations probably played a m ore prom inent p art in the construction o f this road than com m ercial ones, as com m ercial intercourse between the tw o m ountain areas was negligible, whereas during the R econquista-period the Sierra de G ata as well as the Sierra de F rancia — also because o f the fortifications constructed by the M oors — form ed for a long tim e the n orthern boundary o f the territory occupied by the M oors.

U p to the beginning o f this century there were in the Sierra de G ata — ap art from the Via de la D alm acia, which had becom e a mere local country road — only narrow , w inding p aths and roads, often hardly passable, connecting the villages. It was n o t until the rule o f Prim o de Rivera (1923— 1930) th a t m any o f them were replaced by wider and 1 The Southern Sierra municipalities are: Acebo, Cadalso, Cilleros, Descargamaría, Eljas, Gata, Hernán-Pérez, Hoyos, Perales del Puerto, Robledillo de Gata, San Martín de Trevejo, Santibáñez el Alto, Torrecilla de los Angeles, Torre de Don Miguel, Valverde del Fresno, Villamiel and Villasbuenas de Gata.

The eight northern villages concerned are: Herguijuela de Ciudad Rodrigo, Martiago, Navasfrías, El Payo, Peñaparda, Robleda, El Saúgo and Villasrubias.

2

m etalled roads, called according to w hether they were o f greater or lesser im portance “ cam ino com arcal” or “ cam ino vecinal” , although even today the condition o f these roads leaves m uch to be desired.

The m ap on page 4 shows the road-netw ork and gives an im pression of the situation o f the Sierra de G ata in relation to the nearest larger population centres. F rom this it will be seen th at the stations nearest to the Sierra-area, which is totally devoid o f railways, are C iudad R odrigo in the north and C añaveral in the south. The m ost im portant highway is still the oíd Via de la D alm acia, which is partly unpaved n o rth o f the m ountain-ridge, and m acadam ized in the south. A second connecting ro ad o f m ore th an local im portance is one which, running along the Southern slope o f the m ountains, links Valverde del Fresno with H ervás.

The other Sierra roads are far less im portant th an these tw o “ arterial ro ads” ; although the Southern p a rt is m ore opened-up th an the northern part, here, too, sandy or stony, and often steep roads do n o t m ake for regular and well-developed traffic.

A p art from bad roads, there is another factor which has n o t been stim ulating for trade, viz. the predom inantly agrarian character o f the Sierra villages, which in m any respects are still self-supporting. Except for some illegal trafficking with P ortugal — which provides some inha­ bitants o f the frontier-village o f Valverde del Fresno with an extra incom e — there is no trade a t all with this very near country. Com m ercial exchanges w ith the surrounding regions mainly consist o f agricultural p ro d u c ís; for goods n o t produced in the Sierra itself the inhabitants have to depend on C oria, C iudad R odrigo, Station-C añaveral or Cáceres, at respectively 30, 45, 56 and 100 kilom etres’ distance from H oyos, the centre o f the Southern Sierra Any non-agrarian industries in the Sierra de G ata are m ostly dependent on agriculture. In the Southern Sierra — where in co ntrast to the n o rthern p a rt one o f the m ost im p o rtan t sources o f income for the population is olive-growing — the bulk o f non-agrarian industries are oil-mills, in some cases com bined w ith a soap-m anufactory, generally o f lim ited size and capacity. However, the “ alm azaras” , as these oil-mills are called, are in operation only during and shortly after the olive harvest (January and February) and do n o t offer em ploym ent for the other m onths o f the year 2. The few small tile-works, saw-mills, flour-mills and the three 1 Because of the bad condition of its connecting roads and the poor bus-services Plasencia is, for most of the Sierra villages, of little importance as a supply-centre.

2 An exception to this is a combined oil-mill and soap-factory at Valverde del Fresno where after the olive-oil has been extracted and the making of soap has ended, making woollen blankets takes place as a secondary industry.

3

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6

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pow er-stations m ainly serve to m eet the needs o f the village where they are located and the surrounding villages; ap art from a brandy-distillery in Cilleros and a small distillery fo r crude resin in the village o f R obleda in the n o rthern Sierra (though it only operates w hen the resin is being collected), there are hardly any large industrial enterprises o f m ore th an regional im portance to be found in the Sierra de G ata.

The m o u n tain area itself has no distinct centre. In earlier days it was G ata which to some extent occupied this position, b u t with the disappearance o f the weekly Sunday m arket and the transfer o f the D istrict C o u rt to the village o f H oyos, which is in a m ore favourable position, G ata has becom e less im p o rtan t as a “ natu ral centre” . The m ost im portant places now adays are Valverde del Fresno, the largest village o f the whole Sierra w ith a busy annual fair on F ebruary the 3rd, b u t to o o u t o f the way to be a district-centre, and H oyos. H oyos is the capital o f the “ P a r­ tido Judicial” o r Legal D istrict o f the same ñam e; it has two banks, several bus-lines converge there, and it is a m arket-centre on A ugust the lOth and Septem ber the 23rd; b u t as it is small it cannot replace G ata as a n atu ral centre either.

W hen there is no w ork to be done, life in all these villages concentrates around the relatively num erous “ bares” and “ tab ern as” , the church, and (if there is one) the cinema. The highlights o f Sierra life are: the ceremonies held during H oly W eek and the annual fairs — which, besides those already m entioned a t H oyos and Valverde del Fresno, also include the “ F erias” on July 25th and 26th in G ata, on F ebruary 3rd and on E aster Sunday in Cilleros, as well as the “ F erias” o f M artiago and R obleda (respectively on 16— 17 Septem ber and on 15— 16 M ay) — together w ith the “ C orridas” , the bull-fights, and the village festivals connected w ith them .

The econom ically active p o p ulation o f the Sierra de G ata is chiefly com posed o f sm all farm ers — owners as well as tenants — and agricultu­ ral labourers, so th a t in this m ountain area o f E xtrem adura a m inifundia rath e r th a n a latifundia problem can be said to exist. A p art from a few people such as the m ayor, tow n-clerk, doctor, priest, teacher(s), café owners and craftsm en1, and except fo r the few labourers em ployed outside agriculture, th em ajo rity o f the inhabitants o f the Sierra are em ployed in agriculture.

The predom inantly agrarian character o f this area is the reason why in the present study attention has m ainly been given to the agrarian m eans

i S ie r r a d e G a t a

Situation of the Sierra de Gata in relation to the nearest large population-centres.

1 Yet they, too, generally possess some land or livestock.

o f subsistence. C onsequently this study is not a m onograph in which as m any aspects o f econom ic and social life as possible are dealt with, but rath er an attem pt a t a m odest geographical in terpretation o f the agrarian form s o f subsistence in this area. A t the same tim e it tries to examine those changes which have taken place in the past and are still taking place today, as well the influence they have on man. ** * U nlike the H urdes on which, ap art from m any articles, a very detailed thesis by a French geographer, M aurice Legendre, appeared in 1927, the adjacent Sierra de G ata belongs to those regions on which up till now hardly any, o r no research a t all, has been done by geographers. The literature on this m ountain area is confined to a short dissertation on som e local legal custom s by Berjano Escobar, entitled “ Costum bres jurídicas de la Sierra de G a ta ” (1901), a short essay by M. G uerra H ontiveros “ A puntes históricos acerca de la Villa de G a ta ” (1897), three historical investigations by G ervasio Velo y N ieto “ Escaram uzas en la Sierra de G a ta ” (1952), “ El Castillo de Santibáñez el A lto” and “ Coria, R econquista de la A lta E xtrem adura” , both published in 1956, an d a geological article on western Spain in G eotektonische Forschungen (1945) by P. Schm idt T hom é: “ Palaozoisches G rundgebirge und junges D eckgebirge im westlichen Z entralspanien” .

A p art from these, and two linguistic-geographical studies by W. Bierhenke (“ D as D reschen in der Sierra de G a ta ” , in V olkstum und K u ltu r der R om anen 1929/1930 and “ Lándliche Gewerbe der Sierra de G a ta ” , in Sach- und W ortkundliche U ntersuchungen 1931), there is a study

by O. Fink on the dialects o f this area (“ Studien über die M undarten in der Sierra de G a ta ” , K u ltu r und V olkstum der R om anen 1929).

A num ber o f articles were also published in some regional papers, such as “ E xtrem adura” , “ Cáceres” and “ A lcántara” , where this m ountain area or some o f its villages are briefly described.

T hus the reason for em barking on this geographical study o f the Sierra de G ata, a w ork started in 1957, was the scarcity o f literature and the scarcity o f geographical data.

The d ata given by the Servicio de C atastro de la R iqueza R ústica and those by the Delegación N acional de Sindicatos-Junta N acional de H erm andades ab o u t the twenty-five Sierra m unicipalities have been o f great valué in this study. O n the other hand great difficulties aróse in studying the socio-econom ic structure o f the various villages o f the Sierra, because o f the inaccuracy o f statem ents with respect to the 6

social structure o f the population, and the com plete lack o f any F arm Census.

The inquiry conducted during the autum n o f 1958 and the sum m er o f 1960 in a num ber o f villages in the Sierra de G a ta was therefore indis­ pensable to a better understanding o f the n ature o f the agrarian form s o f subsistence.

The present study has been planned on the following lines: the first chapter gives a survey o f the chief physical characteristics o f the area, such as relief, geological and pedological conditions, climate and vegetation.

F rom this a clear contrast betw een the northern and Southern p a rt o f the Sierra becom es evident, a contrast th at has n o t only left its m ark on the agrarian m eans o f subsistence in b o th parts, b u t has also had a great in­ fluence upon the population and occupation o f the Sierra de G ata, as sketched in outline in the second chapter. N ext the variety o f agriculture in this m ountain area is treated a t great length, historically as well as spatially, the d a ta supplied by the C atastro del M arqués de la E nsenada having been indispensable for the study o f the agrarian situation in the eighteenth century. O n d ata supplied by farm structure-analyses in a num ber o f representative villages the fourth chapter deais a t greater length w ith the character o f agrarian occupation and the changes which have tak en place during the past few years due to external factors. P rior to the conclusión, the fifth chapter is an attem pt to connect the dem ographical developm ent with the agrarian situation in the various Sierra m unicipalities.

7

I

PH Y S IC A L E N V IR O N M E N T : FA V O U R A B L E A N D U N F A V O U R A B L E F A C T O R S A F F E C T IN G H U M A N A C TIV ITY

A. Relief: co n trast betw een N o rth an d South As p a rt o f the C entral Sierras, the “ spine o f the Iberian Península” , which divides the Iberian block from north-east to south-w est into two p arts o f ab o u t the same size, the Sierra de G ata is the m ost westerly p art o f this división on Spanish territory between the basins o f the rivers D u ero and Tagus.

The central parts o f this block were fragm ented and raised due to the alpine orogénesis in the T ertiary P eriod; in the east they were th ru st up to m ore th an 2000 m., in the west to 1200— 1700 m. These elevated parts have since then form ed a m ountain-chain, the Southern slope o f which was accentuated by a fault.

A clear exam ple o f this is the Sierra de G ata. F rom an orographical p o in t o f view this m ountain-range can be subdivided into a western and an eastern part. This distinction is o f im portance in so far th a t — in con trast to the m ountains o f the eastern part, which in direction at least form p a rt o f the ridge o f the H igh H urdes and the Sierra de F rancia stretching north-east/south-w est — the m ountains o f the western p a rt from the Serra das M esas in P ortu g al to the pass o f Perales — the depression between Jálam a and Jañ o n a — stretch in a distinct east-west direction.

The river A gueda, which rises in the n o rth o f this western p a rt o f the Sierra de G ata and flows practically parallel with the m ountain-ridge from n o rth to east to beyond the m unicipality o f M artiago, form s the n o rth ern bord er o f the area which has to be considered as belonging to the Sierra de G ata. The river valley, however, runs outside the m ountain area p ro p e r: a b o u t ten kilom etres from its source the stream becomes a deep-cut plateau river. This is n o t surprising, in view o f the fact, already m entioned above, th a t the n o rth ern slopes o f the Sierra de G ata fairly rapidly merge into the plateau.

T he area lying betw een the m ountain-ridge and the A gueda has n o t m any interesting features as far as relief is concerned; it is a rolling plateau, rising gradually from the A gueda, fenced o íf on the south by the highest Sierra peaks, w hich rise in m ost places no m ore th an three to four hundred m etres above the plateau. A ccording to H . L a u ten sac h l, this peneplain, w hich is 800— 900 m etres high, corresponds to the pliocene erosion1 H. Lautensach, “Spanien und Portugal”. Bd. Südost- und Südeuropa, Handbuch der Geographisclien Wissenschaft, 1931. p. 547.

8

level o f the N o rth ern M eseta; P. Schm idt Thom é, however, w onders w hether this peneplain m ight n o t possibly belong to a later pliocene age or be of an even m ore recent date This rather uniform area is cut through by some sm all rivers which flow from the m ountain-ridge in a northerly direction and finally discharge into the A gueda. As the distance between the m ountain-ridge and the river A gueda is no m ore th an ab o u t ten kilom etres, while the river cuts deeper and deeper into the slate-plateau, the valleys o f the trib u tary stream s on the right-hand side further dow nstream , tow ards the east, acquire the character o f deeply incised gullies.

The low m ountain-ridge in the south and these gorge-like river valleys are the only interruptions to be found in this m onotonous northern territory, called R ebollar, which is “ M eseta” ra th er th an “ Sierra” . * * * If, as one comes from the north, the Sierra de G a ta gives the im pression o f being an elevated escarpm ent o f the N o rthern M eseta, seen from the south it rises — as a result o f a tertiary fault-line 2, o f which the throw is from 600 to 700 m etres — as a high solid wall o f m ountains rising steeply from the tectogenetically form ed M oraleja-plain.

As a result o f the absence o f the 800 to 900 m. high peneplain in the south, because o f which the Sierra on this side passes abruptly into the abovem entioned plain, a broad valley belonging to the basin o f the river Tagus, the south side o f the m ountains has suffered m uch m ore seriously from erosion and has acquired a m ore com plicated relief th an the n o rth side 3.

Various side-branches curve off in a southerly direction from the main chain and divide the Southern part of the Sierra into a number of depressions. The westernmost depression is enclosed to the west and north by the Sierra de Malvana and the main chain o f the Sierra de Gata; the granite rocks stretching south o f the Jálama — Barrito Blanco, Cerro Moncalvo and Sierra de Santa Olalla — form the eastern boundary and are at the same time the separation from the central depression.

1 P. Schmidt Thomé, “Paláozoisches Grundgebirge und junges Deckgebirge im westlichen Zentralspanien”, Geotektonische Forschungen, 1945. Heft 6, p. 57.

2 P. Schmidt Thomé, op. cit. pp. 67, 68, 71.

3 Relief-forms as a result of glacial erosion have up till now not been found to exist in the Sierra de Gata. This is not surprising, since the highest peaks of this moun­ tain area, which is low in comparison with other parts of the Central Sierras (Sierra de Guadarrama, Sierra de Gredos, Sierra de Béjar and Serra da Estrela), hardly rise above 1500 metres. H. Lautensach, in “Eiszeitstudien in der Serra da Estrela” (Zeitschrift für Gletscherkunde, Bd. XVII, Heft 4— 5, p. 366, 1929), estimates an altitude of 1620— 1650 metres as the limit of etemal snow in the Würm-period for the rainy Serra da Estrela; Solé Sabarís, in “Geografía de España” (p. 190), mentions an altitude between 1800 and 2100 metres as the limit o f etemal snow in the Central Sierra during the Würm-period.

From the Barrito Blanco another lower mountain-ridge, called Cerro de la Manta and Cachaza, branches off in a south-westerly direction, dividing this western de­ pression into two valleys. The valley north o f this mountain-ridge is the basin of the Río de la Vega and the upper course of the Río Eljas. In this valley the municipalities of Valverde del Fresno, Eljas, San Martín deTrevejo and the hamlet of Divina Pastora, belonging to the municipality o f Eljas, are situated. The Southern valley is traversed by the Rivera de Trevejana and its side-streams, and here are the villages of Villamiel and Trevejo.

East of the western depression and separated from this, as pointed out before, by Barrito Blanco and Moncalvo, lies a second depression, the basin o f the Rivera de Gata with its tributary, the Río Cervigona or Guadancil and numerous rivulets. This central bowl-shaped depression is also encircled by much eroded, steep mountainslopes, but in contrast to the first western depression the mountains of the main chain, which here too form the northern limit o f the depression, tend to lose height. The mountain area between the higher granite massifs of Jálama (1492 m.) and Jañona (1367 m.), known as “Las Cabezas de la Cervigona” (941 m.) and “Las Cabreras” (1076 m.), represents the low and very desiccated slate-zone that is the best approach to “Castilla”, i.e. the northern Sierra. The “Puerto de Castilla ”or pass o f Gata, which is seldom used nowadays, was used at the time o f the reconquest by the armies invading the Southern Moorish región; the “ Puerto de Perales”, which is now traversed by the road from Ciudad Rodrigo to Cáceres, was even in Román times an important link with the Via de la Dalmacia.

This central depression, which is smaller and more accidented than the one lying to the west of it, includes the municipal territories of the villages of Hoyos, Acebo and Gata — each safely tucked away in its separate valley — and also the lower-lying and less sheltered villages of Perales del Puerto and Villasbuenas de Gata.

East of this depression, separated from it by the granite back of a branch of the Jañona and the slate-stone mountains Salido, Aliseda and the granite fortressmountain of Santibáñez el Alto, lie the valleys of the rivers Arrago and Traigas.

The river Arrago rises in the mountains of the Bolla-massif and flows on in a South­ west direction through a narrow, deep valley, bounded on each side by high mountains running parallel with the valley. The main chain of the Sierra de Gata, which is the western boundary of the valley, changes at the end of it into the massif of the Bolla.

This enormous slate-formation is a centre where several mountain-chains meet: the main chain of the Sierra de Gata continúes after the Bolla in the Sierra de la Canchera, stretching also in a north-east direction. The Sierra de la Canchera is a part of the High Hurdes, forming a link with the Sierra de Francia. Another mountain-ridge, composed of the slate-mountains Vela and Chorro, curves off from the Bolla-massif in a south-west direction, and forms the eastern mountain-wall o f the valley of the river Arrago; at the same time it is the partition between the mountainous country of the Sierra de Gata and the area lying to the east o f it, the isolated and very thinly populated slate-stone area of the Hurdes.

This mountain-ridge turns quite abruptly in a north-easterly direction at the village of Cadalso, forming as Sierra de los Angeles the northern side of the valley o f the Traigas. This valley, which is broader than that of the Arrago, is bounded to the south by the Sierra del Gorrero, which runs almost parallel with the Sierra de los Angeles and joins it at the end o f the valley. The Dios Padre mountain might be regarded as a continuation of the Sierra del Gorrero, but on account of its odd position, far from the mountain-country proper and practically isolated in the plain, it cannot really be considered as belonging to the Sierra de Gata.

The western and central depressions mentioned above, surrounded by mountains, are both clearly defined; although they are subdivided into smaller valleys, yet each of 10

them forms a distinct unit. In contrast to this, the eastern depression — as the relief map shows — consists of two separate river-valleys, those of the Río Arrago and Río Traigas. At Cadalso the valley of the first, which is about twelve kilometres long, widens into a kind of plain which is blocked off in the south-west by the fortress-mountain of Santibáñez el Alto.

The Traigas joins it, making it a broader, sloping valley, thus forming a sort of Vshaped depression. From this depression the river Arrago flows round the Santibáñez fortress-mountain into the larger and fertile plain of Moraleja, a plain that promises to become an important agricultural district, due to the reservoir of Borbollón. Past Moraleja the Arrago absorbs the Rivera de Gata, thus forming the most important outlet of the Sierra de Gata. The main river of the western depressions is the Río Eljas, which in its lower course forms the frontier between Spain and Portugal and, like the Arrago, belongs to the basin of the river Tagus.

To sum up, we can say that the most distinguishing features o f the Southern Sierra are three depressions south o f the serried mountain-crest, separated from each other by ridges stretching vertically towards the main chain.

The m unicipality o f Cilleros, which lies eccentrically, form s the transition between the western depression and the plain o f M oraleja. T hough a large p art o f this extensive m unicipality does in fact belong to this plain, yet because o f its position at the fo o t o f the Sierra de Santa O lalla and its m any similarities with the other m ountain villages, Cilleros m ust be considered as belonging to the Sierra de G ata.

B. G eological and pedological character o f the Sierra The w estern p a rt o f Spain, to which, as has already been stated, the Sierra de G ata also belongs, in contrast to the eastern parts o f the Castilian plateau (the massive block which form s the fundam ental core o f the Iberian Peninsula), was n o t covered by the seas during the T ertiary Period and is very different in geological character from the eastern section o f the Castilian plateau, which is covered by sediments o f a m ore recent date. To the west granites, gneisses and palaeozoical sedim ents are m ainly found, and although this región was subject to erosion after the hercynian foldings at the end o f the Palaeozoicum , and has been reduced to a peneplain, yet it does n o t display the flatness which is such a characteristic feature o f the tertiary sedim ents o f the N o rth ern and Southern M eseta. F rom a geological p o int o f view, therefore, the Sierra de G ata does n o t present a very varied p ic tu re : slates from the C am brium 1 and granites are the only rock-form ations th a t are to be found. The m ap 1 The Cambrium age of the slates found in the Sierra de Gata has not been proved by fossils and is merely founded on hypothesis. According to P. Schmidt Thomé the palaeozoical rock-formations in this area might well be of earlier date. P. Schmidt Thomé, op. cit. pp. 38, 39, 42.

I1

reproduced below shows th at the granite rocks do n o t cover a continuous area, b u t can be subdivided in to a num ber o f zones, surrounded by slate-areas.

0

«--- «--- 1--- 1---1---25 km I S IE R R A DE G A T A II H U R D E S

I I I S IE R R A D E F R A N C IA I V S IE R R A DE B É JA R

g ra n ite s w ith c o n ta c t-z o n e o f m e ta m o rp h ic a lly a lte re d ro c ks UJJ y o u n g p o rp h y ritic g ra n ite s

-5—jj¡— c o n g lo m e r a te s a n d s a n d -s to n e o f 0 * * I e o c e n e o r ig in * * * “ f r o n t ie r w ith P o r tu g a l

s la te (s ilu r ia n )

p r o v in c ia l b o u n d a r y b e tw e e n C á c e r e s a n d S a la m a n c a

d ir e c tio n o f fo ld in g o f s la te s ( C a m ­

te r tia r y fa u lt-lin e (c o n tin u a tio n to th e

b r iu m ? ) w ith in p la c e s g r e y w a c k e

s o u th -w e s t is u n c e r ta in )

Geological map o f western Central Spain.

(Chiefly taken from P. Schmidt Thomé, “ Palaozoisches Grundgebirge und junges Deckgebirge im westlichen Zentralspanien” , Geotektonische Forschungen, 1945. p. 70).

A striking feature o f the m ap reproduced here is the great discrepancy betw een geological structure and relief as previously described. The granite intrusions in the Sierra-area show a cióse connection w ith the oíd hercynian foldings, stretching north-w est / south-east, crosswise to the present-day direction o f folding o f the m ountains. This is clearly seen in the “ granite saddles” o f N avasfrías, G ata and Acebo.

These granite intrusions have probably been synorogene with the main phase of the hercynian foldings, in contrast to the younger intrusions of porphyric granites in the more easterly Sierra de Béjar.1 1 P. Schmidt Thomé, op. cit. pp. 65 and 75.

12

In other parts of the Sierra little further trace can be found of the oíd hercynian folding-structure; erosion and the alpine movements of the Tertiary Period have completely changed the oíd pattern.

The western granite intrusión, consisting of finely granulated granite with a high proportion of quartz — in Acebo it is also rich in muscovite — extends over the muni­ cipalities o f Eljas, San Martín de Trevejo, Villamiel, Hoyos and Acebo, and also over some smaller parts of Valverde del Fresno and Cilleros. North and east of this western intrusión, and separated by a narrow slate-belt, lies a second granite intrusión which covers the greater part o f the municipalities of El Payo and Peñaparda, both in the northern Sierra (the small intrusión 1 km. west of Robleda must also be considered as belonging to this second intrusión). As the Sierra de las Jañonas it penetrates into the Southern municipality of Gata. South of Gata the granite appears in two other places, in the fortress-mountain o f Santibáñez el Alto and in the Peña del Fraile, situated between Torre de Don Miguel and Hernán-Pérez.

The rem aining p art o f the Sierra, which does n o t consist o f granite, is com posed o f easily-weathered, soft and flaky slate, in some places alternating w ith h ard layers o f greywacke. As a result o f the rapid disintegration o f the exposed rocks the original dark-blue colour has changed to hues varying from yellowish brow n to d ark red. In the zone o f contact with the intrusions the slate has undergone a great m etam orphosis; P. Schm idt T hom é has dem onstrated th a t where the granite ends there is a seam o f “ hornfels” which has resulted from contact-m etam orphical change. * * * The pedological character o f the Sierra de G ata is to a considerable extent influenced by the geological structure as it was briefly sketched above.

The soils o f this m ountain area belong to the type o f soils found in the whole o f w estern and south-w estern Spain from Z am ora to the river G uadalquivir 1: m eridional brow n forest soils, acid or non-acid (“ tierras 1 According to “Los grupos principales de suelos de la España peninsular” pu­ blished by Cayetano Tamés in 1957 as part of the Mapa Agronómico Nacional and meant as a “Memoria descriptiva” to map 1: 1,000,000, the combinations of soils mostly found in this mountain area are: a acid meridional brown forest soils with non-calcic red mediterranean soils. b acid meridional brown forest soils with meridional brown forest soils. c lithosol o f silicic rocks, either combined or not combined with a residual layer of meridional brown forest soils.

The characteristics of the meridional brown forest soils (which according to the Me­ moria should be classed with the intrazonal soils) are very similar to those of the brown Shantung-soils, classed with the zonal soils.

After H. del Villar and W. L. Kubiéna, each of whom has written a separate study on meridional brown forest soils, in which they distinguished these soils from the Shan­ tung-soils, Tamés has also followed this distinction in his “Mapa de los Grandes Grupos de Suelos”. Cayetano Tamés, op. cit. pp. 29 and 36.

13

pardas m eridionales”), alternating w ith the non-calcic red m editerranean soils (“ tierras rojas no calizas m editerráneas”).

In those places where the underlying rock consists o f granite, poor, sandy and often stony soils predom ínate. These soils are the result o f physical as well as o f chemical disintegration. On account o f their loose structure, the thin residual layer and the lack o f lime, these sandy soils generally have a low n atu ral fertility. As a result o f erosion soil can hardly form on the steepest and highest p arts o f the Sierra; consequently in m any places the slopes are only covered by boulders and fragm ents o f rock, while elsewhere the soil is partly hidden from view by sparse

sandy brow n soils on top of g ranitic rocks lo am y brow n, b ro w n-red or red soils upon slate sandy and sand y-lo a m y brow n or re d -bro w n soils upon slate bare ro ck o r thin residual la ye r on steep slo pes a e ria l photographs

ALTO

Pedological survey o f the Sierra de Gata.

(Chiefly taken from C. Tamés, "Los grupos principales de suelos de la España peninsular”, 1957).

vegetation. O n the other hand, soils form ed on to p o f slate are loam y, less perm eable and o f a m ore com pact structure than the sandy soils, 14

b u t are also rath er infertile on account o f their stoniness and lack o f lime.

A part from the división into sandy-granitic and loamy slate soils, a distinction between soils on m ountain-slopes and soils in depressions and valleys is also o f great im portance for an agricultural study o f the Sierra de G ata.

The soils o f the m ountain slopes, know n as “ pastos-soils” , are m ostly no m ore th an a thin residual layer full o f stones, w ith directly underneath the underlying rock, either granite or slate-stone. Only where terraces have been constructed to fight and prevent erosion is the residual layer deeper. The soils o f the lowest terraces, situated around the villages, are for a large p a rt artificial. A t the expense o f great effort these terraces were built by the people o f the Sierra; m any o f them probably date from M oorish times!

The soils o f the higher terraces are o f inferior quality; in earlier days they were intended for viniculture but now they are largely waste or planted w ith pines. D espite their poverty and stoniness they are nevertheless better th a n the “ pastos-soils” , owing to the fact th at low walls have prevented excessive erosion.

In the sloping northern part, in the bro ad Traigas valley and in the rolling country o f the m unicipality o f Cilleros the soil has greater depth on account o f the land being less accidented, so th a t only a small p a rt o f the residual layer has been washed away.

In order to understand w hat the brow n and red (non-calcic) Sierrasoils are, a short pedological com m entary is necessary. The soils mentioned have an A (B) C profile and are generally deficient in hum us, while the chemical structure shows a lack o f nitrogen, potassium -carbonate, phosphoric acid and above all o f lime, a lack clearly dem onstrated in the low yields per hectare in the Sierra de G ata. A m ong these soils Tam és also distinguishes the so-called acid m eridional brow n forest soils, which diífer fundam entally from those m entioned above in their strong acid reaction, which — as the ñam e indicates — characterizes these soils. In his opinion this high degree o f acidity m ight be either a lithogenetic quality, derived from the underlying rock, or a result o f podzolization in the “ deeper” soils, since the structure o f the soils is often sandy and a wet period occurs each year >.

T ogether with the brow n forest soils, brow n-reddish to red soils are found in the Sierra de G ata. In the Sierra they are chiefly to be seen on to p o f slates and, as has been said before, they differ from the sandy granite soils in their m ore com pact structure; after a long period o f drought they 1 Cayetano Tamés, op. cit. p. 36.

15

become h ard an d are difficult to w ork, w hich is also true for the brow n soils w ith a loam y structure th a t are also found on slate.

T he difference between brow n and red soils is o f m inor im portance: the soils differ chiefly in colour. The red colour is due to ferric hydroxide; in order fo r this colour to result, the presence o f a certain am ount o f iron in the underlying rock is a necessary condition.

Red soils m ust be clearly distinguished from “ térra rossa” , which is calcareous and is found on lim estone, especially in the eastern p a rt of Spain, w hereas the red soils, a colour variant o f the m eridional brow n forest soils or “ tierras p ard as” , are found on silicious non-calcic subsoil.

T o sum up, we can say th a t in general the soils o f the Sierra de G ata, on account o f their stoniness, shallowness and lack o f lime, hum us and other essential qualities, are n o t very fertile and affect agricultural productivity to an extent which is n o t to be underestim ated.

tem perature o f 11.4° C, and Villamiel in the Southern Sierra with a m ean annual tem perature o f 15.5° C 1.

U nlike N avasfrías, however, where the m onthly tem perature averages for the m ost p a rt correspond w ith those o f the other villages o f the R ebollar, the figures given for Villamiel cannot be regarded as representative o f the Southern Sierra, because this village lies considerably higher th an the other settlem ents in this area. Therefore the difference between the average annual tem peratures o f the n o rthern and Southern parts o f the Sierra de G ata is greater th an the figures noted a t N avasfrías and Villamiel w ould su g g est2.

C. Clim ate and vegetation

REBOLLAR: Herguijuela de C.R. Martiago Navasfrías El Payo Peñaparda Robleda El Saúgo Villasrubias

797 m.

811 m.

902 m.

934 m.

860 m.

829 m.

823 m.

849 m.

S. SIERRA:

604 m.

438 m.

437 m.

481 m.

530 m.

636 m.

444 m.

510 m.

441 m.

576 m.

610 m.

653 m.

476 m.

559 m.

498 m.

733 m.

429 m.

The Central Sierras play a prom inent p art in the climate o f the Iberian Península: they divide the M eseta, the central plateau, into a northern p a rt with a m oderately coid clim ate, and a Southern p art with a m oderately w arm one.

A lthough the clim ate o f the Sierra de G ata, because o f the Sierra’s rath er westerly position, is affected to some degree by the atlantic climate o f neighbouring Portugal, here to o a clim atic difference between the north ern and the Southern p a rt is evident. This difference m akes for a different kind o f vegetation in the tw o parts o f the Sierra; in this respect the Sierra de G a ta is very sim ilar to the other parts o f the “ C ordillera C arpeto-V etónica” or C entral Sierras, the large m ountain-w all which Spanish geographers aptly cali “ Sistem a C entral d iv iso r io ” .

A ccording to J. D an tín Cereceda, the average annual tem perature o f areas w ith a m oderately coid clim ate ranges between 10°— 14° C ; o f those with a m oderately w arm clim ate between 14°— 18° C l . The lower average annual valúes in the m oderately coid zone are largely due to the considerably low er w inter tem peratures as com pared w ith those o f the regions w ith a m oderately w arm climate.

These differences in tem perature can be clearly seen on the graphs below, which show the average m onthly tem peratures a t the only two m eteorological stations in the Sierra de G ata th a t supply d ata on tem p eratu res: N avasfrías, situated on the n o rth ern plateau w ith an average annual i 16

J. Dantín Cereceda, “Resumen Fisiográfico de la Península Ibérica”, 1948, p. 215.

1 Regular observations from 1947 in Navasfrías, irregular observations from 1952 in Villamiel.

2 Altitude of the various villages in the Sierra de Gata

Acebo Cadalso Cilleros Descargamaría Eljas Gata Hernán-Pérez Hoyos Perales del Puerto Robledillo de G. S. Martín de Tr. Santibáñez el A. Torrecilla de los A. Torre de D. Miguel Valverde del Fr. Villamiel Villasbuenas de G.

It appears from the table giving the altitudes of the various Sierra villages that the average height of the northern municipalities is 850 metres, in contrast to that of the Southern villages which does not exceed 532 m. Data taken from the Mapa Topo­ gráfico 1 : 50,000, sheets 550, 551, 572, 573, 574, 596.

17

T e m p e ra tu re ¡n 0 C

m eter on this 800— 900 m etres high plateau m ay drop to ten degrees below zero; even in M arch tem peratures o f — 6 °C have been reco rd e d 1.

The high hum idity in this season, due to frequent westerly winds, m akes the w inter here m ore unpleasant; other winds which blow frequently over the area lying open to the n o rth during w inter are the coid, dry “ burgalés” , blowing from the north-east, and the “ cierzo” , a biting, snow-bringing n o rth wind.

In sharp contrast to this coid w inter o f the R ebollar is the w inter o f the Southern Sierra: there is no w inter here in the real sense o f the w ord, b u t m ostly a kind o f prolonged autum n. Even in the high-lying village o f Villamiel the average m onthly tem perature o f D ecem ber, January and F ebruary is above 7° C ; the therm om eter does n o t fall below —2° C, and there are m any w inters w hen there is no frost at all. P ro o f o f the m ild w inters in the Southern Sierra is the fact th a t there are orange-trees in some o f the villages, trees th a t cannot survive constant tem peratures below 0° C. The m ountain-chain th a t fences oíT the depressions and valleys on the n o rth protects them against the coid n o rth winds which m ake the northern Sierra so uncom fortable. This shows th a t the relief is a determ ining factor for tem perature in both p arts o f the Sierra!

24

22

20

18

16

14

12

11

V IL L A M IE L

8 6

N A V A S F R IA S

4 2

0 j

f

m

a

m

j

j

a

s

o

n

d

Average monthly temperature graphs of Navasfrías and Villamiel (Cf. source p. 22).

Allowing for the fací th a t the tem perature averages o f Villamiel are too low for the Southern Sierra, it appears th a t the m ean m onthly tem peratures o f July and A ugust — in con trast to those o f the northern plateauarea — exceed 20° C. The sum m er m onths in the Southern Sierra are extrem ely w a rm ; in the wide depressions lying open tow ards the south, where the heat lingers a t night, there is a subtropical heat as a result o f the intense glare o f the sun. Especially in July and A ugust tem peratures here can rise to 36c— 38° C! In the n o rth sum m ers are shorter an d less hot, the m áxim um tem peratures reaching between 28°— 30° C in July and A ugust, while the daily fluctuation a t this tim e o f the year is often m ore th an 10° C. W inters in the n o rth ern Sierra are long and severe. The winter-cold starts in N ovem ber and often lasts till the end o f A pril; night frost at the beginning o f O ctober is no exception and it sometimes even occurs at the end o f M ay. The average tem peratures o f the m onths o f December, Jan u ary and F ebruary are below 5° C ; during these m onths the therm o18

*

*

*

U nder the influence o f the nearby area o f high pressure over the A tlan­ tic O cean there is a zone o f high pressure over w estern Spain during the w inter m onths, a zone th a t disappears rather suddenly as a result o f the rapid fall in pressure in spring, so th at the barom eter reaches its lowest point as early as M arch. M oreover, on the N o rth ern M eseta a second period o f high pressure can be observed during sum m er followed by another m ínim um , n o t quite so low, in the autum n. The heavy rains during the sum m er m onths, which are a great m enace to the ripening grain, are due to small centres o f low pressure which crop up locally from time to time.

Especially in spring and autum n, the atlantic air-currents bring ab o u t predom inantly westerly and south-westerly winds in the Sierra de G a ta ; m oreover in A pril and M ay there sometimes blows a hard, dry wind from the north-w est in the n o rthern Sierra, know n as the “ gallego” . This wind is feared by everyone engaged in agriculture, as it is dangerous for the young crops. W ith the exception o f the “ gallego” , the o ther w inds th a t have been m entioned are rainy ones, although the m ore westerly m oun1 The ñame “Navasfrías”, meaning “coid plains between mountains”, is significant.

10

tains in Portugal, especially the m assif o f the Serra d a Estrela, take m uch o f the m oisture from these winds by forcing them to rise.

Map of precipitation o f western Spain.

(Taken from H. Lautensach. “Niederschlagskarte der Iberischen Halbinsel” 1:1,500,000; Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen, 1951. 95. Jahrgang, Heft 3, Tafel II).

20

The difference in quantity and distribution o f the precipitation between the n o rthern and the Southern Sierra is n o t so m arked as the difference in tem perature. Because o f its relief the Sierra de G ata, as far as clim ate is concerned, presents a different picture from th a t o f the low er situated p arts o f the provinces o f Salam anca and Cáceres. The m ap on page 20 shows clearly th a t this m ountain area, as fo r its average annual precipi­ tation, still belongs to “ rainy Spain” : in a way the Sierra de G ata form s an eastern offshoot o f the rainy western p art o f the península.

The stations with the highest m ean annual precipitation are H oyos, w ith 1235 m m ., and N avasfrías, w ith 1210 m m .; less rain falls in the Southern villages San M artín de Trevejo, Valverde del Fresno and Villamiel, which have respectively 1093 mm., 1090 m m ., and 1010 mm., while M artiago, in the extreme north-east o f the R ebollar, w ith an average yearly rainfall o f 574 m m ., has m ore the kind o f precipitation o f the M eseta th a n th a t o f the Sierra As com pared w ith an average o f over 2800 m m . in the w estern Serra da E strela these figures are low, b u t in pro p o rtio n to the figures o f Salam anca an d Badajoz, respectively 276 mm. and 422 mm., the average annual precipitation m easured at the various m eteorological stations in the Sierra de G a ta is still con­ siderable 2.

However, figures like those o f average annual precipitation tell after all very little. In order to get a better understanding o f the distribution over the different m onths o f the year, some graphs are given o f five m eteorological stations, viz. N avasfrías and M artiago, situated in the extreme south-w est and north-east o f the R ebollar, and Valverde del Fresno, H oyos and V illanueva de la Sierra, villages representing the type o f precipitation found in respectively the western, central and eastern p arts o f the Southern Sierra. It is true th a t V illanueva de la Sierra falls outside the area considered in this study as belonging to the Sierra de G ata, b u t because o f the lack o f m eteorological stations in the eastern Sierra, and because this village is cióse to the m ountain area concerned, use has also been m ade o f d ata from this station in the following discussion.

i The data of the meteorological stations mentioned here are not all of equal valué.

The most reliable figures are those given by Hoyos and Navasfrías, which respectively from 1926 — with an interruption from 1936 till 1940 — and from 1944 on have regularly made their observations. Martiago started in 1947 with precipitation data, while the observations of the other stations go back to 1948.

1 J. Dantín Cereceda, op. cit. pp. 233 and 234.

21

p r e c ip ita tio n In m m .

W hen we com pare the graphs reproduced above it appears th a t al­ though the m onths o f July and A ugust do have some rainfall, the sum m er has a definitely dry character. In general July is the m onth w ith the least rainfall, though H oyos and Villanueva de la Sierra are exceptions in th at here A ugust is drier than July.

As regards precipitation the Sierra de G ata — ap art from the higher annual average — is different from the adjoining N o rth ern and Southern M eseta in that, except in M artiago, m ost o f the precipitation does n o t fall in N ovem ber and M ay, b u t in M arch, and in th a t the m ain rainy season is w inter, a fact which becomes very clear from the diagram s below, where the precipitation per season in N avasfrías and the Southern Sierra village San M artín de Trevejo is given. The diagram showing precipitation in M artiago serves as a contrast, from which it appears th a t in the distribution o f precipitation over the seasons, too, this village form s the transition to the N o rth ern M eseta, as far as climate is concerned.

p r e c ip it a t io n in m m .

p r e c ip ita tio n in m m .

p re c ip ita tio n in m m .

p r e c ip ita tio n in m m .

(Taken from data of the “ Resumen de las observaciones meteorológicas de 1935— 1949. and the “Boletín Mensual Climatológico” covering the period 1949— 1959).

22

(Cf. source p. 22).

23

A lthough, w ith the exception o f M artiago, the average annual precipi­ tatio n recorded by the m eteorological stations o f the Sierra de G ata is m ore th a n 1000 m m ., the num ber o f really rainy days in a year is n o t p articularly high. The following table shows th a t despite a m áxim um precipitation in winter, spring generally has the m ost rainy days, a factor th a t favours agriculture in the Sierra.

Stations

Martiago

Navasfrías

Villamiel

Valverde del Fresno

San Martín de Trevejo

Total o f days with snow and rain in the last 10 years

Average days with snow and rain per season in the last ten years

Rainy days

Snowy days

Rainy days

556

52

22.9 5.6 11.8 15.3

735

740

724

675

93

37

49

32

26.9 7.9 17.5 21.2 25.1 8.0 19.7 21.2

p r e c ip ita tio n in m m .

HOYOS

240

( 3 3 ,8 )

220 p r e c ip it a t io n in m m .

Hoyos

24

658

841

36

15

M A R T IN D E T R E V .

180

Seasons

160

Snowy days 1.3 — —

3.9 1.7 —

0.2 7.4 0.2 — —

3.5

24.9 7.0 18.2 22.3

0.7

24.4 6.7 15.2 21.2

0.5

24.1 3.5 16.4 21.8

0.2

28.0 7.6 20.0 29.5

0.2

— —

4.2

— —

2.7

Spring Summer Autumn Winter Spring Summer Autumn Winter Spring Summer Autumn Winter Spring Summer Autumn Winter Spring Summer Autumn Winter

S

p r e c ip ita tio n in m m .

O

N

D

M A R T IA G O

100 t

(3 7 ,4 )

80

60 i m o n th ly p r e c ip ita tio n •< 40

20

Villanueva de la Sierra

$

200

— —

3.4

— —

1.3

Spring Summer Autumn Winter Spring Summer Autumn Winter

m e a n m a x im a l p r e c ip ita tio n in 2 4 h o u rs ^

J

F

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

Relation between the mean maximal precipitation in 24 hours and the average monthly precipitation over the last ten years. The figures in brackets show the percentages of the precipitation of the days with most rain in proportion to the total annual precipitation.

(Cf. source p. 22).

25

The mild winter in the Southern part is cause o f the light snowfall in this area, but the number o f days with snow in the Rebollar is strikingly small in spite o f the rather low winter temperatures and the relatively long periods o f frost.

The rainy days o f sum m er chiefly occur in the m onth o f Ju n e ; very often n o t a single d ro p o f rain falls during July and A ugust. Therefore m any brooks are dry during these m onths, and only the rivers A rrago, Traigas, Rivera de G ata an d R ío Eljas still have w ater at this time. The sum m er rains are m ainly caused by thunder-show ers: often a whole m o n th ’s precipitation falls in a single shower!

In order to trace the influence th a t a m áxim um m ay have on the m o n th ­ ly average, the diagram s above are designed to show w ith small variations the significance o f the showers falling from June to O ctober and the m ore regular distribution o f the precipitation over the other m onths i.

Average figures alone, however, are n o t sufficient to get a real idea o f the clim atological situation in a particu lar area, because they give the im pression o f great stability and conceal the wide fluctuations, especially where precipitation is concerned. A bove all in agriculture, a form o f p roduction w hich is very closely connected w ith the geographical m akeu p o f an area, m an in his activities has to reckon w ith the continual variability o f the w eather conditions he has to face. The variation in precipitation in the Sierra de G a ta can be considerable, as is clearly shown by the observations o f the m eteorological station in N avasfrías during the period from 1949 up to and including 1958, where the annual precipitation varied from 800 mm. to 1972 mm. i The following figures refer to the mean máximum precipitation per 24 hours as percentages of the mean monthly precipitation.

Martiago

Hoyos

S. Martín de Trevejo

26.6% 31.7% January 39.9% 34.1% 31.4% 32.6% February 27.7% 26.3% 31.0% March 47.1% 35.4% 25.1% April 32.4% 27.6% 25.5% May 37.4% 49.0% 47.0% June 77.9% 89.8% 77.6% July 69.6% 48.7% 76.8% August 47.5% 40.8% 53.5% September 45.8% 45.2% October 42.1% 23.6% 37.1% 43.5% November 30.0% 34.6% 30.4% December Data taken from the instalments of the “Boletín Mensual Climatológico” of the Servicio Meteorológico Nacional del Ministerio del Aire covering the period 1949— 1959.

26

O bservations o f the station a t N avasfrías (average annual precipitation 1210 mm.)

1949 1950 1951 1952 1953

800.0 1084.4 1545.7 1232.9 1379.2

mm. mm. mm. mm. mm.

1954 1955 1956 1957 1958

847.4 1820.7 1803.0 1045.4 1972.3

mm. mm. mm. mm. mm.

Y et the to tal am ount o f precipitation falling each m onth also fluctuates considerably: while spring can be extremely rainy, the autum n-rains, which generally start at the end o f September, sometimes do n o t fall until early N ovem ber, w hich is, o f course, a great handicap for agriculture.

The figures below, taken from d ata supplied by the m eteorological station in H oyos, give the distribution o f precipitation per m onth over the years 1954 and 1955, representing a “ dry” year w ith 822 m m ., and a “ w et” year with 1694 mm.

Observations o f the station in H oyos (average annual precipitation 1235 mm.)

1954 January 31.1 mm.

February 21.2 mm.

M arch 252.7 mm.

A pril 77.2 mm.

M ay 74.0 mm.

June 28.8 mm.

July 0.0 mm.

A ugust 0.4 mm.

Septem ber 0.0 mm.

O ctober 2.3 mm.

N ovem ber 268.9 mm.

Decem ber 65.7 mm.

1955 January F ebruary M arch April M ay June July A ugust Septem ber O ctober N ovem ber D ecem ber

289.1 246.8 112.6 20.3 87.2 42.8 4.1 31.7 8.4 117.8 481.4 252.2

mm. mm. mm. mm. mm. mm. mm. mm. mm. mm. mm. mm.

W hereas in the grain-grow ing area o f the R ebollar the am ount o f rainfall in the spring is o f the greatest im portance for the succes o f the harvest, in the Southern Sierra, where olive-culture is m ore im p o rtan t th an cereal-culture, the au tu m n rains are vital fo r a good yield. Owing to the proxim ity o f the A tlantic O cean, to the frequency o f the west and south-west winds and to the relief (which forces these winds to rise), the 27

rainfall in the Sierra de G ata, however, is less variable th an in the less accidented and m ore eastern p arts o f the Spanish interior. Y et, although the precipitation-figures in this m o u n tain area are for Spain exceedingly high, blue, unclouded an d crystal-clear skies are a characteristic feature o f the Southern p a rt in particular. *

*

*

The difference in clim ate, especially in tem perature, brings with it a clearly m arked difference in vegetation between the tw o parts o f the Sierra.

The slopes o f the Southern Sierra are covered w ith “ pastos” , p o o r natu ral pastures, and w ith the evergreen and fragrant “ m ato rra l” , which does n o t cover the ground com pletely and is a m ixture o f small trees and low brushw ood: dw arf-oak, laurel, thym e, rosem ary, broom an d holly. In m any places, however, extensive pine-w oods (Pinus pinaster) — for the m ost p a rt recently planted — have taken the place o f the pastures.

Low er down, in the hollow s o f the valleys, the deep-green colour o f chestnut-trees alternates w ith the ash-grey, silver-green hue o f the olives.

The variety o f colours o f cork-trees, palm s and fig-trees, o f yellow maizefields along the bro o k s an d o f sm all vineyards on terraces high up on the m ountain-slopes give the Southern Sierra with its cloudless blue sky an d bright sunshine a subtropical aspect.

T he highest p arts o f the m ountains, where they are n o t w ooded o r entirely devoid o f vegetation, are b o th on the no rth and the south side thinly covered w ith fern and heath. In the n o rthern Sierra there are no olive-, orange- or fig-trees at all, on account o f the low w inter tem peratures. Low oak-brushw ood, extensive fields with “ brezo blanco” (Erica arbórea, which often grow to a height o f m ore th a n a m etre) and countless kinds o f herbs and grasses, alternating w ith oak-w oods, recently planted pine-w oods, small potato - an d grain-fields m ake for a different landscape here.

T he presence o f oaks is especially striking: th a t is why this area is called “ R ebollar” , for this m eans “ spot planted w ith oaks” .

M ore to the n o rth , where the Sierra alm ost im perceptibly merges into the plateau, the heathland and oak-w oods give way to extensive grainfields, only here and there interrupted by a clum p o f trees or a strip o f m eadow alongside a brook. This n o rth ern p a rt o f the Sierra, which closely resembles a C entral-E uropean landscape in its vegetation, presents 28

a sharp contrast, because o f its severity o f form and colour, to its Southern counterpart, the sunny and colourful olive-growing area. *

*

*

Taking all this into consideration, it is surely no w onder th a t the possibilities fo r the developm ent o f hum an activity in the two parts of the Sierra are entirely different. W hereas it seems th a t the coid, high n o rthern p a rt only lends itself to a lim ited grain-culture, the south gives the im pression, as it were, because o f its m ild clim ate and relief, o f becom ing a prosperous olive-district in com parison w ith the n o rth .

Physical factors, however, need n o t be all-determ ining: they are only “ n atu ral conditions” w ith which m an indeed m ust reckon, b u t owing to his civilization and the techniques th a t are at his disposal he is n o t en­ tirely bound by them.

29

Very little is know n ab o u t the Sierra de G ata during the period preceding the R econquista. It is quite certain, however, th a t at the tim e o f the R om án conquest this m ountain area belonged to the territory o f the V e t o n e s a Celtic people into w hich elem ents o f an older native p o p u ­ lation had probably been absorbed 2.

T he región occupied by the Vetones was situated east o f the area inhabited by the Lusitanians, and extended from the main course o f the G uadiana in the south across E xtrem adura and w hat is today the province o f Salam anca — where Salm antica (Salam anca) and A ugustobriga or M irobriga (C iudad R odrigo) were im p o rtan t V etonian centres — as far as the D uero in the n o rth 3. The stronghold o f Coria, thirty kilom etres south o f the Sierra de G ata, which was in m edieval times the principal centre in the part o f E xtrem adura n o rth o f the river Tagus b u t which has now been superseded by Plasencia and Cáceres, was, under the ñam e o f C aurum , an im p o rtan t settlem ent in the región inhabited by the Vetones.

In R om án tim es this tow n — then called C auria V etona — was a link o f the Via de la D alm acia, the route th a t crossed the Sierra from north to south 4.

A ccording to M. R. M artínez, the Sierra de G ata proper was inhabited by th e V etonian tribe o f the A rragones from whom the river A rrago m ust get its ñam e 5. A ccording to the same au th o r another reminiscence o f the V etonian times is the ñam e o f G ata, which he assumes to be derived from C átobriga or C áetobriga, a fortified settlem ent lying on the site

where the village o f G ata lies today i. It is, however, w orth n o tin g th a t neither P. Bosch G im pera ñor Paulys Real-Encyclopadie der Classischen A ltertum sw issenschaft m ention such a place in the Sierra.

P. Bosch G im pera, in his “ E tnología de la Península Ibérica” does refer to C ottaeobriga, bu t this settlem ent lay north-w est o f the Sierra de G ata, near the river C oa on the site o f w hat is now A lm eida in P ortugal 2; in Paulys Real-Encyclopadie the ñam e C aetobriga o r Caetobrix only indicates a place in the Coastal región o f L usitania, where now the P ortu­ guese tow n o f Setubal is to found 3.

M ore has been preserved from the period o f the M oors, w ho at the tim e o f the R econquista had widely settled this area, a fact to which m any ñam es like “ Salto del M o ro ” , “ Pozo de los M oros” , “ Cercado de la R eina M o ra” , “ A lm enara” , “ A talaya” etc. still testify. Some o f the Sierra villages even date back to this M oorish period, and the great m any ruins o f castles and w atch-tow ers indícate w hat an im p o rtan t function this frontier district had in the turbulent tim es o f the reconquest o f the country by the Christians from the M oors.

The Southern p art o f the Sierra especially, w ith its deep clefts, steep slopes and intricate pattern o f valleys, was an ideal territory for the warlike Berbers, w ho had conquered this area 4 and w ho stood their ground for a long tim e during the R econquista, owing to the relief o f the area, an ingenious system o f w atch-tow ers and observation-posts (“ A talayas”), fire signáis (“ A lm enaras” ) and a num ber o f fortified settlements.

According to G ervasio Velo y N ieto their chief m eans o f subsistence were stock-farm ing and agriculture, especially irrigated agriculture, to which the m any rem ains o f wells and small irrigation-canals, now for centuries no longer used, still testify 5. It is very probable th a t they devel-

1 Henee the ñame “Cordillera Carpeto-VETONICA” given by Spanish geographers to the Central Sierras, of which the Sierra de Gata forms a part.

2 P. Bosch Gimpera, “La formación de los pueblos de España”, 1945, pp. 128, 151.

3 M. Konrad Mannert, “Geographie der Griechen und Rómer, aus ihren Schriften dargestellt von . . .”, 1788, pp. 312, 330, 331.

Paulys Real-Encyclopadie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, 1958, Band V illa, p. 1874.

4 Matías R. Martínez, “Historia del Reino de Badajoz”, 1904. pp. 127, 229.

5 In his work “Coria, Reconquista de la Alta Extremadura” (1956, pp. 18, 19) Gervasio Velo y Nieto records that at the point where this river meets the Río Traigas or Trasga is the site of former Laconimurgo, which was probably destroyed in the fifth century A.D. by Vandals or Alanés. P. Bosch Gimpera, in his work “Etnología de la Península Ibérica” (1932, pp. 504, 506, 532), however, assumes that the location o f Laconimurgo or -murgi corresponded with the place where nowadays the village o f Puebla de Alcocer is situated, that is in the extreme east of the province o f Badajoz.

1 Gervasio Velo y Nieto, however, believes that the ñame Gata — as well as Agueda — is a simplification of (Santa) Agata, to whom — it is said — after the re­ conquest a chapel on the Jálama-mountain was dedicated, although not the slightest trace of such a building is now to be found (,,Coria, Reconquista de la Alta Extrema­ dura” p. 4).

In his “Viage de España” Antonio Ponz mentions the great many excavations that look like mine-shafts around the village of Descargamaría in the eastern Sierra.

According to him they were originally quarries and the ñame Gata refers to the agates once found here. Antonio Ponz, „Viage de España, en que se da noticia De las cosas mas apreciables, y dignas de saberse que hay en ella”, 1784. Tomo VII, Carta VIII. 2 P. Bosch Gimpera, “Etnología de la Península Ibérica”, 1932. p. 530.

3 Op. cit. Band III (1899), p. 1322.

4 M. R. Martínez, op. cit. p. 57; Gervasio Velo y Nieto, op. cit. p. 23; C. E. Dubler, “ Ueber Berbersiedlungen auf der iberischen Halbinsel”, Romanica Helvetica, vol. 20, 1943, p. 186.

5 Gervasio Velo y Nieto, op. cit. pp. 23, 24, 26.

II

O C C U P A T IO N O F T H E S IE R R A D E G A TA

A. H istorical outline

in

11

oped olive-culture in this area, although it is quite possible th a t even before the M oors oüve-groves were to be found in the Southern Sierra.

G. Velo y N ieto assum es1 th a t m any high-lying terraces, often impossible for any plough to reach and for the greater p art overgrow n with weeds, date from this M oorish period. It is possible th a t these terraces — real w orks o f a rt — were laid o u t to meet the needs o f a growing population, b u t its seems m uch m ore likely th a t these terraces were only used temporarily, when the C hristian arm ies from the n o rth by frequent raids forced the popu latio n o f the m ountain area to stay for longer periods in their fortified villages and castles in the m ountains, in which case they can only have existed on the produce o f the im m ediately surrounding land, since they lacked all other econom ic resources. Perhaps stock-farm ing was in those days o f even greater im portance th a n it is now, since livestock was a kind o f w ealth which could be transported to other places a t times o f danger.

The Sierra de Gata and surrounding región in the twelfth century.

(Chiefly taken from Gervasio Velo y Nieto, “Coria. Reconquista de la Alta Extremadura”, 1956).

i

32

ibid. p. 25.

The m ap above gives an im pression o f the situation in this area during the R econquista in the twelfth century. A t this tim e the territory south of the river D uero was called “ E xtrem adura” , a ñam e used for the unsafe región bordering on the M oorish country. Very probably this ñam e was derived from “ extrem a D u rii” , the región south o f the D uero which had n o t yet been definitely brought under the authority o f the C hristian Kings l. By the side o f the term “ E xtrem adura” the ñam e “ T ranssierra” or “ T rassierra” was found, a ñam e denoting the zone be­ tween the m ountains (Sierra de G ata, Sierra de F rancia and Sierra de Béjar) and the right ban k o f the river Tagus.

The chain o f castles, w atch-tow ers and fortified settlem ents, which was a powerful defensive system, was for a long tim e a restriction on further expansión and “ conquistas” on the p art o f the K ingdom o f León. It is true th at the Sierra de G ata before the final reconquest had several times been in C hristian hands 2, the C hristians having taken advantage o f the quarrels am ongst the M oors themselves, b u t again and again, after a short time, they had had to hand over the territory to the M oors, whose forces were superior.

U p to the second p a rt o f the tw elfth century — the time when the socalled “ M ilitary O rders” carne into being: groups o f noblem en, o f a religio-m ilitary character — León had n o t felt pow erful enough to embark on a definite reconquest o f the Sierra de G ata 3. The Leonese forces restricted themselves to raids on Saracen territory, helped by the fact th a t entrance to the m ountain-passes from the n o rth was easy. The higher situated pass o f G ata, now adays practically unused, was the p rin ­ cipal approach for the C hristian arm ies 4, m ore so th an the P uerto de Perales.

Up to this tim e the R econquista had n o t been m uch m ore than a desire for expansión on the p a rt o f the various C hristian Kings, who were also at war with each other 5. N o t until the rise o f the M ilitary O rders — the 1 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, “La Reconquista Española y la Repoblación del País”, 1951. Chapter I by A. de la Torre, p. 38; M.R. Martínez, op. cit. p. 120.

2 It can be determined with certainty that in the years 860, 914, 1037, 1050, 1077 and from 1166 till 1172 the mountain area was subjugated by the kings of León.

M.R. Martínez, op. cit. pp. 57, 77, 107, 139, 228, 229, 240.

3 M.R. Martínez, op. cit. p. 220; Gervasio Velo y Nieto, op cit. pp. 34, 70, 71.

4 Gervasio Velo y Nieto, op. cit. p. 16; by the same author “El Castillo de Santi­ báñez el Alto”, 1956. pp. 17, 32.

5 “Coria, Reconquista de la Alta Extremadura”, p. 28.

3

33

O rder o f A lcántara, the O rder o f Santiago and the O rder o f the K nights T em plar — was a regular arm y form ed, inspired w ith the religious spirit which m arks the later period o f the R econquista: the expulsión o f the M oors and restoration o f the C hristian faith th roughout Spain.

The n o rth ern Sierra, m ade unsafe by the m any raids from the n o rth and h ard to defend, had gradually become depopulated and becam e a kind o f no-m an’s lan d ; the Southern part, however, rem ained inhabited, although here too the pop u latio n declined greatly in n u m b e r s T h e final reconquest o f the Sierra in the year 1212 by Alfonso IX did n o t m ean the end o f the defensive function o f the Southern Sierra; only the front-line h ad m oved to the south, and the belt o f fortifications and castles now served as a stronghold against the original occupants: the M oors.

The conquest o f this area, which was so im p o rtan t from a strategical point o f view, m ade it necessary to proclaim “ fueros” , or privileges, in o rder to increase the p o pulation in the frontier area and to ensure its occupation 2. This “ post-R econquista period” was characterized by an influx o f people from Z am ora, Segovia, A vila and León and to a lesser extent also from A sturias, attracted by the freedom and privileges th at were offered. P robably at the same tim e G alician colonization took place: the separate dialect o f Valverde del Fresno, Eljas and San M artín de Trevejo, quite different from C astilian and Extrem enian, spoken respectively in the n orthern and Southern Sierra, and very sim ilar to G alician, m ight be attributed to this colonization by “ G allegos” 3.

The repopulation to o k place b o th by “ individual settlem ent” — th a tis to say und er royal protection, the K ing fixing the territory to be populated (Realengo) and granting the settlem ents therein separate rights — and by the “ Encom iendas” , or C om m anderships o f the M ilitary O rders, which had com e into existence in the conquered territory 4.

In the north ern Sierra the im m igrants established themselves in newly founded settlem ents on the plateau, although it appears from an oíd agreem ent ab o u t freedom from tolls between some o f the Sierra villages th a t the oíd M oorish settlem ent o f Perosín or Pedrosín, which is situated near the m ountain-ridge an d has been deserted for m any centuries, was

1 “Coria, Reconquista de la Alta Extremadura”, p. 69.

2 ibid. p. 70; M. R. Martínez, op. cit. p. 219.

3 It is also possible, however, that this dialect developed under the influence of neighbouring Portugal, but then the question remains as to why we do not come across it in other villages also lying near the border.

4 M. R. Martínez, op. cit. pp. 219, 220, 230.

34

still inhabited in the year 1376 L Those new and usually characterless villages, where no trace is to be found o f any form er fortifications, never had any im portant m ilitary function, b u t were from the beginning mere rural settlem ents. N avasfrías, w hich used to form p art o f w hat is nowadays the Portuguese village o f Sabugal b u t which was later on assigned to the O rder o f A lcántara, is the only village differing som ew hat from the re s t: besides being a rural settlem ent this village on the Portuguese b o r­ der m ust also have been a fortified stronghold in the post-R econquista period 2.

In the accidented Southern Sierra the castles, w atch-tow ers and settle­ m ents have been preserved. The ancient M oorish fortresses o f Eljas, Trevejo, A lb a ra n e s3 (once cióse by the present village o f G ata, b u t now no longer in existence), M áscoras (Santibáñez el A lto) and Salvaleón, which in later times becam e a “ despoblado” , were n o t destroyed after the reconquest, b u t becam e settlem ents for the reconquerors, the newly arrived im m igrants and those m em bers o f the original p o p ulation th at rem ained here after the reconquest.

P ro o f o f the fact th at n o t all M oorish inhabitants were driven away during the R econquista is the existence o f “ M oriscos” in the year 1589 — m ore th an three and a h a lf centuries after the final reconquest o f the Sierra from the M oors — in the villages o f C adalso, Cilleros, G ata and Torre de D o n M iguel, while eight years before there were also M oors living in Santibáñez el A lto, Valverde del Fresno and V illam iel4. All o f them , however, had been converted to the C hristian faith and were assim ilated to the im m igrants in such a way th a t they escaped the expulsions o f the years 1609— 1614 5.

In order to consolídate the possession o f the Sierra and to fortify it as a strong front-line, the K ing assigned vast parts o f the Southern m ountain area to the M ilitary O rders, who took in hand the colonization o f the Com m anderships they had founded. It was they w ho had the jurisdiction over the people and who had the right to levy taxes and a t times 1 “El Castillo de Santibáñez el Alto”, p. 66.

2 “Coria, Reconquista de la Alta Extremadura”, pp. 151, 152.

3 Analogous to the place-names mentioned by C. E. Dubler in his study of Berber settlements on the Iberian Península (op. cit. p. 195), the ñame Albaranes, too, is possibly derived from “Beránes” or “Bernes”, a branch of the Bargawáta tribe, be­ longing to the larger group of Majmüda Berbers.

4 Henri Lapeyre, “Géographie de l’Espagne morisque”, 1959, pp. 141, 264.

5 ibid (p. 264) “se las agregaron al comisario 35 casas que ay en las Brozas y Sierra de Gata, las quales se an balido de las ynformaciones de buenos cristianos, por lo qual esta parado el dispacho de todos estos . . . ”

35

to requisition lab o u r and anim als for all kinds o f w ork l. A round (San Ju an de) M áscoras, which later becam e Santibáñez el A lto, a fortress situated on a steep hill which was first in the hands o f the O rder o f the K nights Tem plar and later allocated to the O rder o f A lc á n ta ra 2, a prosperous Com m andership developed. A p a rt from w hat is now the m unicipal territory o f Santibáñez el A lto, this E ncom ienda also com prised the areas now adays belonging to the m unicipalities o f G ata, T orre de D on Miguel, Cadalso, H ernán-Pérez, Torrecilla de los Angeles, Villasbuenas de G a ta an d the “ despoblado” Fresno, along w ith some m unicipal territories th a t do n o t belong to the Sierra de G a ta 3. Eljas, the fortified settlem ent in the w estern Sierra, which a t first as “ aldea feudatoria” was under the jurisdiction o f the oíd See o f Coria, also carne under the O rder o f A lcántara in 1340 4 and becam e “ cabeza” , i.e. capital, o f a smaller Encom ienda, which did n o t only cover the area around Eljas, b u t also the area o f N avasfrías on the n o rth side o f the S ie rra 5 and was bounded on the south by the Encom ienda o f T orre de la M ata, which belonged to the O rder o f the K nights Tem plar, ju st as the fortress o f Trevejo.

In order to m ake the oíd settlem ent o f Salvaleón, which was probably founded by the R om ans as a “ castru m ” , prosper, K ing A lfonso IX endow ed this place w ith the fuero o f C oria in 1229, b u t shortly afterw ards Salvaleón also passed in to the hands o f the O rder o f A lcántara w ho m ade it cabeza o f an Encom ienda extending over the villages o f Cilleros, Valverde del F reno an d w hat is now the despoblado La G enestosa, n o rth o f N avasfrías 6.

A fter the front-line o f the R econquista had m oved further southw ards an d peace and order h ad been restored, the oíd fortresses and the villages, founded by the M aestres, the grand-m asters o f the O rder, and by newly arrived im m igrants to the areas o f the different Encom iendas, gradually 1 “El Castillo de Santibáñez el Alto”, pp. 66 and 68; M. R. Martínez, op. cit. p.

275.

2 “El Castillo de Santibáñez el Alto”, pp. 34, 39; “Coria, Reconquista d éla Alta Extremadura” pp. 86, 144; M. R. Martínez, op. cit. p. 264.

3 “El Castillo de Santibáñez el Alto”, pp. 49, 50; “ Coria, Reconquista de la Alta Extremadura” p. 225; M. R. Martínez, op. cit. pp. 280, 379, 421.

4 Antonio Nieto and Carlos Rivera, “Historia de Eljas, recopilación histórica”, Archivo Municipal de Eljas. Pascual Madoz, “Diccionario geográfico, estadístico, histórico de España y sus posesiones de ultramar”, 1845— 1850. Tomo VII, p. 469.

5 “Coria, Reconquista de la Alta Extremadura”, p. 152; M. R. Martínez, op. cit. p. 275. « Only the ruins are still to be seen of this once so important place; it fell into decay at the end of the Middle Ages and became uninhabited. The former arable lands and pastures o f Salvaleón were later added to the villages of Cilleros and Valverde del Fresno, which have since formed the largest municipalities of the Sierra de Gata.

36

acquired m ore rights and freedom s and succeeded in developing into independent centres with their own territory. The despotic behaviour o f several com m anders, however, restricted developm ent. The complaints o f villagers about the abuse o f pow er on the p art o f the com ­ m anders and the resulting depopulation o f settlem ents — especially G a ta and the cabeza Santibáñez el A lto — forced the grand-m asters to restate m ore clearly oíd rights, custom s and freedom s and to grant new privileges. Thus the grand-m asters did away w ith the requisitioning o f poultry, draught-anim als and anim als for slaughter by the com m anders and granted dispensation from the obligation to m end roads and to perform all kinds o f w ork for the com m anders w ithout any pay or com pensation. M oreover they gave various villages pastures o f their own and approved o f the existing agreem ent between the Southern villages o f Santibáñez el A lto, G ata, V illasbuenas de G ata and the northern ones o f R obleda, P eñaparda and Pedrosín concerning exem ption from paying tolls !. G ata, the settlem ent founded near A lbaranes and inhabited by C hristians, which by the year 1251 had supplanted the lower situated M oorish village o f A lbaranes in im portance 2, was particularly favoured by the grand-m asters o f A lcántara: in 1341 it was granted extensive rights, one o f which was the right to hold a weekly m arket on each Sunday o f the year, a privilege th a t resulted in the village developing into a m odest district centre. L ater on the place was also granted the so-called “ carta de exención” , o r exem ption from being subject to Santibáñez el A lto; the only tie th at was kept with the Encom ienda was the obligation to deliver a certain quantity o f goods per year 3.

In the same way the other settlem ents in the Encom iendas brolce away m ore and m ore from their subservient position to the cabezas and their com m anders, and increasingly becam e independent com m unities where a population o f small farm ers, w ho were m ore or less free and inde­ pendent, were occupied with stock-breeding and agriculture, in particu­ lar viticulture and olive-growing.

Besides the Encom iendas there were also some seigniories in the Southern Sierra; A cebo, H oyos and Perales del Puerto belonged to the “ Señorío” o f the D uke o f Alva, w ho possessed seignorial rights here, while Descargam aría belonged to the jurisdiction o f the C ount o f O ropesa. A lthough the obligations o f the inhabitants o f these seignorial villages were different 1 “El Castillo de Santibáñez el Alto” pp. 59, 64, 66, 69.

2 M. Guerra Hontiveros, “Apuntes Históricos acerca de la Villa de Gata”, 1897.

3 “El Castillo de Santibáñez el Alto” pp. 64, 65, 68; Pascual Madoz, op. cit. Tomo VIH, p. 330.

37

from those o f the Encom ienda-settlem ents 1, in a social-economic respect there were no im p o rtan t diíferences, as in the seignorial villages, too, the heads o f the family who possessed their own farm s supported themselves by agriculture and stock-farm ing.

As m ilitary requirem ent lessened after the com pletion o f the reconquest so the reason for the existence o f the Com m anderships also d im inished; a t the end o f the fifteenth century the G rand-m astership o f the O rders reverted to the C row n and the splendid castles, which were still inhabited by the com m anders o f the Encom ienda in the first centuries after the conquest o f the Sierra, slowly fell into decay 2. The adm inistra­ r o n o f the large Encom ienda o f Santibáñez el A lto was entrusted in later tim es to the low er clergy o f the O rder, whilst the reven ues from it, which h ad been reduced as the result o f the num erous privileges th at had been granted to the villagers in the course o f time, were no longer used to renovate and strengthen the fortifications, b u t for the upkeep o f the “ Colegio M ayor” which the O rder possessed in Salam anca 3.

Yet, after the troubled times o f the reconquest, the Sierra de G ata passed through turb u len t times, caused by the w ars w ith Portugal during w hich the village o f Puñoenrostro, situated in the valley o f the A rrago between C adalso and D escargam aría, was destroyed and becam e dep opulated 4 and econom ic life in the Sierra was tem porarily disrupted.

This was the reason why Philip IV decreed in 1661 th a t those th a t lived less th a n five miles from the Spanish-Portuguese b o rd er should be exempted from taxes, since these people suífered enough from the w ar and the stationing o f troops 5.

These wars, however, were only tem porary and they did n o t have any deep influence on the p attern o f small an d m edium-sized agrarian settlements, w hich developed after the reconquest. In the south these settlements 1 It appears from the “ Respuestas Generales” of the Catastro del Marqués de la Ensenada (1753) o f Acebo that, besides the tithes and “Alcabalas” (sales taxes) which the villagers had to pay yearly to the Duke o f Alva, this Duke also owned the “derecho de Salín y Martiniega” because of which the village-community was obliged to pay him the amount o f 104 Reales every St. Martin’s Day and as an “extra” (adehala) yellow wax to the valué of 400 reais (copper coins). Moreover the Duke received annual revenues from notarial actions.

In Descargamaría the villagers were exempt from paying taxes on houses and stables, but were obliged not only to pay tithes but also to contribute to a yearly “appeal”.

2 “El Castillo de Santibáñez el Alto”, pp. 46, 47.

3 ibid. pp. 51, 83.

4 Pascual Madoz, op. cit. Tomo VII. p. 379.

5 M. Legendre, “Les Jurdes, étude de géographie humaine”, 1927. p. 6. Even the inhabitants o f the Hurdes, lying to the east of the Sierra, tried to prove that they lived less than five miles from the frontier, in order to take advantage of this exemption.

IR

gradually w ithdrew themselves from the “ guardianship” of the E nco­ m iendas, while in the n o rth the m ajority o f them had from the beginning greater independence. These no rth ern villages owed this greater independence to the fact th a t m ost o f them were “ Realengo” , i.e. they belonged directly to the C row n, so th a t the inhabitants only paid taxes to the K ing and were n o t tied to the Encom ienda regulations or subjected to the whims o f com m anders.

N avasfrías and Villasrubias were the only villages which belonged to an Encom ienda. F rom the Respuestas G enerales it is clear, however, th at in the year 1752 the Encom ienda regulations no longer were an oppressive econom ic burden for the inhabitants. The only obligation which the “ vecinos” 1 o f Villasrubias, a village under the jurisdiction o f the O rder o f San Juan, had to conform to was the annual delivery o f tw o hens or “ 30 cuartos o f grain” to the com m ander, while the five “ C apitulares” or voting m em bers on the m unicipal council were exempted from this obligation 2. In N avasfrías, w hich form ed p a rt o f the Encom ienda o f Eljas, the inhabitants were in an even m ore favourable position, because they were allowed to tend their livestock and to cultívate land w ithin the bounds o f the Encom ienda w ithout having to pay for i t 3.

W hat it could m ean for a village to be non-R ealengo or n o t to come under the regulations o f the Encom iendas, which were relaxed in the course o f years, is seen, according to the C atastro de la Ensenada, from the dispute between El Payo — one o f the few seigniories in the northern Sierra — and the M arquis de la Espeja because the said M arquis, w ithout any legal grounds, had suddenly raised taxes so m uch th a t the villagers unanim ously refused to pay them 4.

The desam ortization in the last century changed the situation which had developed in the course o f centuries in the Sierra de G ata to such an extent as to strengthen the individualistic tendencies in agriculture: the periodical putting up o f arable land for lots — still custom ary in the eighteenth century in some m unicipalities — becam e a thing o f the past; 1 In the Respuestas Generales o f the Catastro del Marqués de la Ensenada not the number of inhabitants is recorded, but the number of “vecinos”, that is to say those possessing “their own hearth in the village and contributing to the taxes”.

2 Resp. Gen. 2, Villasrubias. L513, f. 112.

3 “sin pagar arrendamiento ni terrazgo”, Resp. Gen. 23, Villa de Navasfrías. Libro 146, fol. 87.

4 “. . .que dicho Marques pide y ha pretendido desde el año de cuarenta y nueve (1749) se le pague mas que las dichas canttidades . . . . a que se ha resisttido desde dicho año esta Villa y nada ha pagado de dos años a esta partte pues no se saue ni le consta a esta Villa que causa o titulo tenga para que se le pague lo que pide . . .

Resp. Gen. 2 de la Villa de Payo, Libro 512, folio 172. Catastro de la Ensenada.

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the “ C om unidad de Pastos” , or com m unity o f stock-holders with regard to pastures, from C iudad R odrigo, C oria and the entire jurisdiction-area o f these tow ns, which also included some Sierra villages, collapsed, whilst individuáis b o u g h t up w hat used to be com m on pasture, often leasing it again to the villagers. N o t only rich villagers and “ forasteros” — people from Salam anca, C oria, C iudad R odrigo etc. — bought land, b u t it was also bought by “ C om unidades” , i.e. associations o f those villagers who could n o t afford to buy the land individually. However, m uch pasture land rem ained in the hands o f the m unicipalities, w ho let the inhabitants use it for a certain consideration, which now adays is still the usual practice.

In a few cases the existing agreem ents and rights o f pasturage between the m unicipalities and the farm ers did n o t change. T hus the inhabitants o f the small m unicipality o f C adalso — and to a lesser degree also the villages o f G a ta and T orre de D on Miguel — after the Encom ienda o f A lcántara h ad ceased to exist, kept their oíd rights o f pasturage in the extensive area th a t now for the m ost p art belongs to the m unicipality o f Santibáñez el Alto.

A part from some large, individually owned properties o f over 100 ha., w hich chiefly owe their existence to the desam ortization, no such funda­ m ental change in the existing distribution o f property in the Sierra de G ata to o k place, after the sale o f some com m unal goods and goods in m ortm ain, as elsewhere was the case after the desam ortization. This, coupled w ith the fact th a t the exploitation o f large estates in this area had always been o f limited im portance, the decline in pow er o f the E nco­ m iendas and their final disappearance in the last century, is an im portant reason why the population o f the Sierra enjoys a greater degree o f independence, social as well as econom ic, com pared w ith parts o f Extrem a­ d u ra lying south o f the river Tagus.

occupied (and often were the beginning o f a new ham let) and in those places where illegal occupation o f m unicipal lands has taken place, is there dispersed settlem ent to some extent.

In the Sierra de G ata better conditions existed for hum an beings to establish themselves and develop independent settlem ents th an in the poor, stony H urdes. The Sierra de G ata is less accidented and relatively m ore fertile th a n the H urdes, where the w oods had disappeared as a result o f prem ature exhaustion and consequently the residual layer had in m any places been washed away. Even m ore im p o rtan t was the fact th a t after the 13th century the H urdes carne under the jurisdiction o f the village o f La Alberca, situated to the north-east o f this area. This m eant th a t the “ H u rd an o s” , the inhabitants o f the H urdes, were subject to the regulations o f the m unicipality o f La A lberca, regulations whose one and only purpose was to p u t a stop to anything th at m ight change the existing situation, especially where the vegetation was concerned, in order to protect the interests o f the bee-keepers o f this village. Bee-keeping was considered so im portant th a t the destruction o f heathland by cultivation was punished w ith a fine, which was even heavier if olive-trees were planted on the cleared land, because this m eant a perm anent loss o f heathland The fact th a t there were no such contrasting interests in the Sierra de G ata, together w ith the privileges granted to the Sierra villages by the K ing and the grand-m asters o f the M ilitary O rders, prevented a sim ilar stagnation o f econom ic life here.

It appears from the statistics on pp. 198 and 199 th at about 95 % o f the Sierra population is concentrated in villages o f m ore th an 200 inhabitants. Including the villages o f C espedosa de A gadones and Trevejo, which are not independent municipalities b u t belong respectively to the m unicipalities o f H erguijuela de C iudad R odrigo and Villamiel, the following división according to size can be m ade 2: Villages w ith a num ber o f inhabitants

B. Pattern o f settlem ent in the Sierra from H istorical developm ent and physical environm ent have left their m ark on the external aspect of the various Sierra villages. In contrast to the adjoining H urdes where n o large centres b u t only sm all ham lets are to be found, the pop u latio n o f the Sierra de G ata is grouped in villages, and ham lets w ith less th an 200 inhabitants are an exception. A lthough in m any m unicipalities outside the village itself some scattered “ chozos” , o r huts, can be found, on the whole there is little dispersed settlement.

O nly in those places where a few shepherd’s huts becam e perm anently 40

200 to 1000: ten villages: C espedosa de A gadones, D escarga­ m aría, H erguijuela de C iudad R odrigo, H ernánPérez, Robledillo de G ata, El Saúgo, Torrecilla de los Angeles, Trevejo, Villasbuenas de G ata, Villasrubias.

1 M. Legendre, op. cit. pp. 109, 111, 129.

2 Nomenclátor de las Ciudades, Villas, Lugares, Aldeas y demás entidades de población de España, Provincia de Cáceres 1950, Provincia de Salamanca 1950.

Instituto Nacional de Estadística.

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1000 to 2000: thirteen villages: Cadalso, Eljas, H oyos, M artiago, N avasfrías, El Payo, Peñaparda, Perales del Puerto, R obleda, San M artín de Trevejo, Santibáñez el A lto, T orre de D o n Miguel, Villamiel.

2000 to 3000: Acebo and G ata.

3000 to 4500: Cilleros and Valverde del Fresno.

The average num ber o f inhabitants p er village is 1300 for the settle­ m ents o f the R ebollar, in the Southern Sierra on the other hand it is 1700; b u t if the villages o f Cilleros and Valverde del Fresno, each with over 4000 inhabitants, are not taken into account the average goes dow n from 1700 to 1400 inhabitants per village, which is m ore like the average fo r the Rebollar. G enerally speaking it can be said th a t on the northern plateau as well as in the Southern Sierra small villages which are usually seperated from each other by no m ore than ten kilom etres are the form o f settlem ent m ostly to be found.

The villages o f the R ebollar cover a wide area and have a pronounced agrarian character; only a few streets are paved, and low houses o f brow n stone, plastered or not, alternating with tw o-storeyed houses (generally owned by m ore well-to-do villagers) are a typical village scene.

As has been said before, these villages had no defensive function; unsheltered on all sides and usually enclosed by small walled gardens and small fields — the so-called “ cercados” o r “ cortinas” — they lie in the m idst o f extensive grain-fields. Practically all the villages on the northern plateau lie in the centre o f their m unicipal territory, some lie on a small river or a brook, which is dried up during the sum m er, others like El Payo and M artiago are situated n ear a spring.

The outw ard appearance o f m ost o f the Southern Sierra villages is very different. M any settlem ents (such as for instance, San M artín de Trevejo, Villamiel, Acebo and G ata) lie on the b o rd er o f m unicipal territory, on a hilltop, “ clinging” as it were to a slope or hidden at the end o f a narrow valley *.

M any Southern villages, though all o f them a re ju st as agrarian in charac­ ter, display alm ost “ urban-like features” : solid stone houses, built cióse together, m ost o f them o f two, some even o f three storeys; narrow , winding paved streets, with projecting upper storeys often reaching over them (San M artín de Trevejo) o r w ith w ooden balconies (Robledillo de G ata). In m any cases the position o f the oíd ram parts can still be seen on the m ap. i The ñames of these villages often describe their situation, e.g. Valverde del Fresno, lying in the valley of a watery brook, and Hoyos (“hollow”) built in a hollow at the foot of the Cerro Moncalvo.

A ')

Settlem ents o f a m ore recent date are to be found on m ore level g ro u n d : H ernán-Pérez is situated in the m iddle o f the broad valley o f the T raig as; D escargam aría, Perales del P uerto and Villasbuenas de G ata look in their lay-out like roadside villages which stretch along the m ain road.

It appears th a t sites previously determ ined by the necessity for defence now handicap the developm ent o f various Southern villages. F o r example, it takes nearly h alf an hour to descend from the steep fortress-m ountain o f Santibáñez el A lto, and still longer to climb it! Villamiel, Trevejo and Eljas are n o t m uch better off; only Cilleros and Valverde del Fresno, owing to their having sufficient room for expansión and no d o u b t above all because o f their having a large m unicipal territory which offered them m ore possibilities for econom ic developm ent, could grow into fairly large centres. Accordingly these tw o villages are the only ones each o f which had a total o f about 4000 inhabitants in the census o f 1950.

C. Types o f farm house Taken by and large, the farm house form s a p a rt o f agrarian life; it is for the farm er an “ instrum ent de travail adapté aux conditions de son exploitation” *.

The originality o f the farm house lies in the way in which it is divided into living quarters, stables and storage room , in short in its floor-plan, adapted to the needs o f the farm , and n o t so m uch in the m aterial o f which it is built.

T he predom inant type in the R ebollar, where the accent is on stock-keeping and cereal-growing, can according to the classification o f D em angeon be counted am ong the “ m aison en ordre serré” , w hereby living quarters, barn and stables — although n o t under the same ro o f — form a distinct unit, grouped round the “ co rral” , the enclosed area behind the house.

1 “La maison des champs représente ce qu’il y a de permanent et de personnel dans l’établissement de l’homme; il y abrite ses biens, ses récoltes, ses outils, ses bétes, son foyer, sa famille. . . Elle est l’expression, modelée par les siécles, de la vie rurale”.

A. Demangeon, “L’Habitation rurale en France. Essai de classification des principaux types”. Annales de Géographie, Tome XXIX, 1920. pp. 352, 357.

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The front o f the houses faces the Street; a wide passage running right th ro u g h the house gives entry to the corral, which is connected by a large gateway in the corral-wall w ith the “ callejuela” , a generally unpaved back extrance. U sually the dwelling-house is low, m ostly only consisting o f a ground-floor w ith above it an attic. In general the houses are constructed o f slate; in El Payo and P eñaparda, however, the building m ate­ rial which is m ostly used is granite, a kind o f stone w hich is very plentiful in these m unicipalities.

T he kitchen is the m ost im p o rtan t room in the h o u se : around this m ost o f the family-life is centred. T he room s on either side o f the passage usually serve as bedroom s, b u t sometimes an unoccupied room is used as a storeroom , where products o f the farm , such as potatoes and pulses are kept.

By way o f the corral one enters the stables (pigsty and stable for draughtan im als); in sum m er the sheep and goats are kept in “ corralizas” , which are m ovable w ooden fences in the open fields, while during the w inter m onths these anim als are generally p u t in separate corráis on the edge o f o r outside the village, a t night.

T he houses o f w ealthier farm ers w ho possess m any head o f breedingcattle an d draught-anim als are o f a different type. H ere a p a rt o f the stables is separate from the dwelling-house and also situated on the outskirts o f the village. In other respects, too, the houses o f these farm ers som etim es differ from the type described above: in m any cases the houses are m ore spacious and som etim es they have an upper floor, b u t ju st like the above-m entioned houses they have kitchen and living quarters on the ground-floor.

In con trast to the R ebollar, in the Southern Sierra, where olive-growing is m ost im portant, the “ m aison en h a u t” is the predom inant type, n o t only in those places where because o f the accidented country there is b u t lim ited space for building houses — this holds good, for example, for Eljas, G ata, R obledillo de G a ta an d Santibáñez el A lto — b u t also in the lower lying villages, such as Cilleros and V alverde del Fresno, in which sufficient suitable building sites can be found. C haracteristic for this type o f house is the fact th a t the ground-floor — on a level with the Street — is occupied by the “ cuadra” , th e stable where donkeys and mules are kept (used for w ork in the huertas and olive-groves and as packanim als) and for chickens and pigs. The cuadra is seldom used as a shelter for sheep and g o a ts l, since these anim als are m ostly kept in “ m ajadas” , sheep-pens on the edge o f the village o r on the pasturei AA

Except where one or two goats are kept to provide milk for the farmer’s family.

grounds, while m oreover the sheep are quite often kept in the olive-groves at night, as long as the trees are n o t in fruit. O ften a separate p a rt o f the cuadra is used for the few agricultural im plem ents: plough, spades, “ vareo” sticks (em ployed in the harvesting o f olives), h arro w etc. The few farm ers w ho possess a cart use their w agon-shed, which stands ap art from the house, for storing these tools.

GRO UND-FLO OR

SECOND-FLO OR

Behind the cuadra is the “ bodegón” , a dark space originally intended as a storage fo r wine as the ñam e suggests, but now adays it is the place where the olive-oil, p u t into barréis, is kept, as viniculture is no longer carried on to the same extent and olive-growing has far surpassed it in im portance 1. This ground-floor can be entered from the Street by a wide gate but is com pletely shut off from the house above.

N ext to the entrance to the cuadra there is a sm aller door, sometimes higher th an the gateway, in which case it can be reached by m eans o f a stone staircase on the Street side. A narrow w ooden staircase inside the house leads to the first floor where the sleeping-quarters are situated. On the second o r to p floor is the kitchen — which in w inter also serves as a dining-room — and the cooler “ antecocina” , where no cooking is done and where during the h o t sum m er m onths the meáis are served; here too are one or m ore store-room s. G enerally there is a big w ooden balcony on the Street side along the whole breadth o f the second storey, where during the mild evenings so characteristic o f the Southern Sierra it is pleasant to sit and where corn-cobs and pim iento are hung up to dry. Finally, on to p o f this storey is the “ sobrado” or “ desván” , the attic where garden products are stored.

W here the houses o f the richer farm ers do show deviations, they are 1 Cf. p. 110. Only in those places where viniculture is still practised on a small scale, is the bodegón still used as a wine-vault.

45

generally only variants o f the type described above, for although the houses o f the m ore w ell-to-do are often m ore spaciously b u ilt and some­ tim es have m ore room s they also use the upper storeys as living quarters and also have a balcony, sometimes replaced by an open loggia, along the to p storey.

O n the other h and the ground-floor, which is on a level with the Street, sometimes only co n sistso f big store-room s, entered from a corridor which runs straight through the ground-floor an d from which a wide staircase leads to the upper storeys. M oreover the stables are usually separated from th e living q u arters 1: pigs an d draught-anim als are kep t in separate, som etim es nearby quarters, or — as is the case with breeding-cattle — in “ dehesas” 2 outside the village.

A part from this type o f “ m aison en h a u t” , the predom inant type o f house in the Southern Sierra, there is another, sim pler type, which is also built o f granite o r slate, b u t sm aller and o f a sim pler co n stru ctio n ; it is especially the house o f the villager w ho possesses only a few olive-trees and draught-anim als 3. This simpler farm house has only two storeys.

The ground-floor is tak en up by the cuadra, although it is smaller th an th a t o f the other type o f house; in m any cases there is no bodegón.

G R O U N D -F IO O R

FIRST-FLOOR

1 In the higher situated villages where part o f the lower lying cultivated area is taken up by grain-fields and where in the fields, just as those in the Rebollar, cows are used as pulling-power, these cows are put in sheds separated from the living quarters; whilst living quarters and storage rooms are concentrated in the villages, the stables and quarters for draught- and breeding-animals are in the lower situated areas of the municipality, so that cows used in the fields as draught-animals do not have to climb the steep roads to the village as do the pack-animals, like mules and donkeys.

2 See glossary of Spanish terms on p. 220.

3 Poor farm-labourers who possess no draught-animals and who are often given a roof by their employers, live in low, small houses with no more than a kitchen and one or two bedrooms. As there is neither a cuadra ñor a bodegón — goats and pigs are put in sheds apart from the house — living quarters are on a level with the Street.

In these houses, too, next to the stable do o r there is a d o o r leading to the living quarters on top o f the stables. There is usually no antecocina in these houses, an d som etim es there is n o t even a large w ooden balcony.

O n the flrst floor, which is a t the same tim e the to p floor, there are the kitchen-dining-room as well as the sleeping quarters; on to p o f this is only a small attic o r loft.

A s a result o f illegal occupation o f public lands there is in the extensive m unicipal territory o f Valverde del Fresno, adjoining Portugal, scattered hab itatio n outside the village, w hich is also the case in the neighbouring m unicipalities o f Cilleros, Villamiel and Eljas. The inhabitants o f the “ cam po” , as the land outside the village is called by the people o f Valver­ de, live in “ chozos” , primitive huts o f slate, w ith as a rule no m ore than tw o room s. T he sketch below gives an im pression o f such a “ campohouse” , which m ight be regarded as a prim itive form o f the “ m aison en ordre lache” .

Inside the enclosed yard, which is partly m etalled and used as a threshing floor, next to the chozo there is a small stable for pigs, sheep, goats and for the donkey o r mulé. In co ntrast to the house proper, the ro o f o f the stable is not covered with tiles, b u t w ith long branches o f broom , called “ escobas” ; only the m ost prim itive chozos are covered by such an “escoba-ro o f” . The chozos o f D ivina Pastora, in the m unicipality o f Eljas, are o f the same type as those in the campo o f Valverde del Fresno and Villamiel, only here the walls are built o f granite stones since granite is the only kind o f stone to be found around D ivina Pastora. The stable, which is beside the house, o r som etim es attached on to it, has also an “ escoba-roof’ (as was the case in the campo) b u t is generally m ore spaciously built th an the stables o f the houses o f the campo, as stock47

III. T H E A G R A R IA N V A R IETY O F T H E SIE R R A

keeping — m ainly goat-keeping — is o f m uch greater im portance here th a n fo r the inhabitants o f the campo.

In D ivina P astora the chozos were originally herdsm en’s huts which were only tem porarily occupied. A fter the building o f an “ erm ita” , i.e. a small chapel, a t the end o f the last century, these huts becam e perm anent dwellings fo r very po o r people, who are em ployed as agricultural labourers by farm ers in San M artín de Trevejo, and w ho leave their goats in the care o f wife and children.

In his “ E volution des types de m aisons rurales” F aucher points out th a t the farm house derives its characteristics from w hat he calis “ la vie agricole sédentaire” , which was originally based on a m ore or less complex agricultural system, by m eans o f w hich the fam ily obtains the necessities o f life. However, “ les m oyens p a r lesquels ce b u t est atteint sont nécessairem ent variés, puisqu’ils dépendent de la n ature des plantes susceptibles d ’etre cultivées dans un milieu géographique donné et des com binaisons possibles de la culture avec l’élevage . . l . In view o f the clear connection between “ activité agricole “ and “ m aison rurale” it can be stated th a t the differences in types o f houses, such as those found in the Sierra de G a ta — especially the differences betw een n o rth and south — strongly reflect the variety o f agrarian activity, about which m ore will be said in the next chapter.

1 D. Faucher, “Evolution des types de maisons rurales”. Annales de Géographie, no. 296, 1945. p. 242.

The natural differences which have already been noted between the n orthern and Southern Sierra de G ata also leave their m ark upon agri­ culture in the tw o parts. Therefore one can no longer ju st speak o f a rather coid, m onotonous plateau an d a subtropical and accidented Southern Sierra, b u t m ore so o f a poor, alm ost forgotten land in the north, where grain- and potato-fields dom ínate the agricultural landscape, an d in com parison a rath er “ prosperous” south, due to olive-culture for m arketing, w hich in some m unicipalities has alm ost becom e a m onoculture. H ow ever, the two areas do n o t merge into each other straight away, b u t are separated by the zone o f “ m onte and pastos” , the natu ral w ood- and pasture-land o f the Sierra villages, o f fundam ental im portance for sheep- and goat-farm ing an d as such fully integrated into the economic life o f the northern and Southern villages. Before going m ore closely in to farm -m anagem ent in the Sierra de G ata, in this chapter we shall try to give the general characteristics o f these three zones.

A. The agricultural area o f the R ebollar In spite o f the great agricultural resemblances between the villages o f the R ebollar, in contrast to the com pletely different m unicipalities o f the Southern Sierra, agriculture on the plateau is n o t the same everywhere. In the w esternm ost and highest situated p a rt o f the R ebollar, the territory o f the municipalities o f N avasfrías, E l Payo, P eñaparda and — as a transition-zone to the eastern area o f the R ebollar — the m uni­ cipality o f Villasrubias, arable land covers only a very small p a rt o f the to tal surface; here the croplands form , so to speak, enclaves between oak-w oods and pastures, the natu ral vegetation occupying the greater p a rt o f the m unicipal area.

In com plete contrast to this is the land use in the municipalities o f the eastern R ebollar, where extensive and continuous croplands preponderate. The following statistics clearly show the difference between the four first m entioned m unicipalities an d the others in this no rth ern p a rt o f the Sierra: 1

1 Taken from data of the Servicio de Catastro de la Riqueza Rústica, Ministerio de Hacienda (Madrid) and o f the Delegación Provincial de Hacieda, “Resúmenes por cultivos” of the various municipalities

4

49

Proportional distribution o f land according to use >.

Navasfrías El Payo Peñaparda Villasrubias Robleda El Saúgo Herguijuela de Ciudad Rodrigo Martiago

arable land

huerta

pradera

26% 22% 27% 22% 49% 49%

— — — — — —

5% 3% 3% 1% 4% 2%

69% 75% 70% 77% 47% 49%

65% 59%

— —

2% 3%

33% 38%

pastos & monte 2

The infiuence o f pedological condition on the “ agrarian landscape” tu rn s out to be o f great im portance: the soils o f the western R ebollar, sandy soils (w eathered prod u ct o f granite) are less suited to graingrow ing th a n the m ore com pact loam y soils on to p o f slate in the eastern m unicipalities. T he grain-fields o f N avasfrías and also a p art o f El Payo are exactly on the narrow slate-belt, Crossing these m unicipalities in an east-west direction; the grain-fields o f Villasrubias cover the limited area o f loam y soils in the n orthern p a rt o f the m unicipal territory th at jo in s the arable lands o f R obleda. Only in P eñaparda — and also in p art o f El Payo — is grain-grow ing practised on p o o r sandy soils; m any fields, however, are used for grow ing potatoes, a p lan t th a t here, as well as in N avasfrías and in Villasrubias, thrives very well on unirrigated soils, owing to the greater am ount o f rainfall, which is nearly twice the total precipitation o f the easternm ost m unicipality o f M artiago. This is the reason why an agricultural distinction m ust be m ade between the eastern and western m unicipalities, a distinction which two centuries ago was ju s t as clearly defined as it is today.

1 A griculture in the 18th century 3 W ith a fair degree o f certainty it can be said th a t two centuries ago 1 Huerta: vegetable garden with fruit-trees, in most cases irrigated.

Pradera', grazing-land of good quality, often irrigated, also intended for hay (often synonymous with meadow).

Pastos: waste-land (chiefly heath), as grazing-land inferior to the praderas.

Monte: Monte alto — high trees (oaks, pines, etc.).

Monte bajo = low brushwood, oak-coppice.

2 The percentages for pastos, or pastures, and monte (bajo) are very variable, since the monte bajo is periodically cut down and the deforested land is thus temporarily used as pasture-land.

3 Data for this section are taken from the answers given to a comprehensive inquiry set up in the years 1751— 1753, known as Catastro del Marqués de la Ensenada, an indispensable source o f information for anyone wishing to obtain a deeper understanding of the social-economic situation in the middle of the 18th century.

C í\

less land had been cleared in the northern Sierra municipalities th an now adays. It is, however, extremely difficult, if n o t impossible, to cal­ cúlate the exact extent o f arable land, m eadows, pastures and monte, since it was the custom to m easure the land in “ fanegas” , a square m easure which in the praderas varied according to the hay crop and which on arable land was ju st as variable, because here one fanega o f land was equal to one “ fanega” 1 o f seed for sowing. The better the soil, the smaller the fanega, because one could sow m ore thickly 2.

If the fanega had been the same for arable land, praderas, pastures or monte, land use would have been as follows in the m unicipality o f El Payo in the year 1752: 10% arable land, 1 % praderas and 89% pastures and monte. Y et the percentage o f arable land is on the high side, because a fanega o f arable land is less th a n a fanega o f pasture-land; in reality the arable land to o k up an even sm aller area, the m ore so as the stated num ber o í fanegas o f monte and pasture-land was based on estim ates and — considering the extent o f the total m unicipal territory — was on the low side.

Even in those days the eastern m unicipalities with their loam y soils were m ore occupied w ith grain-growing th a n the western ones with sandy soils. F rom the C atastro de la E nsenada we learn n o t only th at the extent o f arable land in M artiago exceeded th a t o f El Payo and Peñaparda, b u t also th a t the average num ber o f fanegas per vecino was higher in M artiago 3. arable land in fanegas

Martiago Peñaparda 4 El Payo Villasrubias

3701 83.5 305.5 525

average number of fanegas per vecino 22.5 1.9 11.7 12.8

In the agriculture o f the R ebollar o r northern Sierra individualistic as well as collectivistic tendencies had developed, which in their tu rn infiuenced the landscape w ith regard to the distribution and use o f the 1 Meaning here a dry measure, corresponding to 55y2 litres.

2 “En la buena tierra, al sembrar, se alarga el puño y se acorta el paso, en la mala se alarga el paso y se acorta el puño”.

3 Resp. Gen. del lugar de Martiago no. 10, Libro 511-folio 447.

Resp. Gen. de la Villa de Peñaparda no. 10, Libro 512-folio 158.

Resp. Gen. de la Villa de Payo no. 10, Libro 512-folio 172.

Resp. Gen. de la Villa de Villarrubias no. 10, Libro 513-folio 112.

4 The average number of fanegas of arable land per vecino was probably higher in Peñaparda than appears from the figures mentioned above, since the inhabitants o f this village also tilled lands in the adjoining despoblado of Pedrosín, which was later included within the territory of Peñaparda.

51

lan d : outside the “ cam po cerrado” — the zone o f enclosed and intensively cultivated sm all fields aro u n d the village (called here “ huertos” , “ cortinas” or “ cercados” ) — lay the “ cam po abierto” , the unenclosed land taken up by grain-fields, except in the western sandy p a rt o f El Payo and P eñaparda, where no extensive continuous plots o f unenclosed arable land were to be found.

T he campo abierto was subdivided in to three “ hojas” , blocks o f which one only was cultivated each y ear1; in P eñaparda and N avasfrías, how ­ ever, “ garbanzos” , a kind o f yellow pea, were sown on the best p arts o f the land, after the grain harvest h ad been gathered.

Y et the fallow period, necessary because o f the low natu ral fertility o f the soil and the insufficient production o f m anure, is n o t directly to be connected w ith the división o f the arable land outside the campo cerrado in to blocks. The collective grazing o f stubble and weeds on the fallow land probably was the real reason, together with the clearing m ethod, for this división. Because each year only those fields were tilled which be­ longed to the hoja, which was intended for cultivation, it is clear th a t a concentration o f the cropped area was o b tain ed ; consequently less harm was done to the grain-fields by the anim als th an if the grain-fields had been scattered am ongst the fallow land. On the other hand it was true th a t in the campo abierto one had less freedom o f action: in contrast to the enclosed zone around the village, in the open field one was tied dow n by general rules concerning m anuring and cultivation o f the land, sowing and harvesting. In spite o f this “ Flurzw ang” , agriculture in the R ebollar still showed less collectivistic traits th an for instance agricul­ ture in the m ore northerly T ierra de Sayago, the area north-w est o f Salam anca, where the fields were still periodically p u t up for lottery am ong the farm ers 2; only in N avasfrías were the fields periodically lotted in 1752 3.

In the other m unicipalities o f the R ebollar individualistic tendencies p red o m in ated: m uch o f the land here was private property, while land ow ned by the m unicipality was leased to the highest bidder.

Besides the small fields in the campo cerrado and the arable lands in the campo abierto cultivation to o k place in the zone o f monte and pas­ tures, the com m unally exploited pasture-lands o f the various villages.

Sometimes the land in this zone was broken in on paym ent o f a certain 1 Resp. Gen. 4 o f Martiago and Villasrubias.

2 Angel Cabo Alonso, “El colectivismo agrario en Tierra de Sayago” , Estudios Geográficos nr. 65, 1956. pp. 610, 618.

3 Resp. Gen. 18 of Navasfrías.

rent to the m unicipality, as was the case in M artiago, b u t quite often the opening up o f waste land to o k place w ithout the interference o f the m unicipal authorities. As the “ fields” in the zone o f the pastures were o f a very low fertility and could n o t be sufficiently m anured because they were generally a long way from the villages, grain-grow ing was only possible here after a long fallow period, which in P eñaparda am ounted to as m uch as twelve years! A disadvantage o f such a non-intensive form o f cereal-culture was the fact th a t after the fallow period the land was entirely overgrown w ith weeds and shrubs and had to be broken in again w ith spade and pick-axe '.

Because o f the insufficient m anuring and the low natural fertility o f the soil, n o t only in the zone o f the monte and pastures, b u t also in the open field outside the campo cerrado, the yield o f grain in the R ebollar was exceedingly scanty. The ratio between sowing-seed and yield am ounted on the best soil (“ w heat-land” ) to an average o f 1 : 5, the yield o f rye carne to five or six times the sowing, b u t in the “ fields” in the zone o f monte and pastures the ratio between sowing-seed and yield was only 1 : 3. Henee a great p a rt o f the cropped area was necessary for producing the sowing-seed for the com ing year. A t a ratio between seed and yield o f 1 :3 one third o f the land cropped with cereals had to produce the sow ing-seed; taking into account the fact th a t only one third o f the arable land annually was sown w ith grain, it is evident th a t no m ore than 2/g o f the land was left for the cultivation o f cereals (m ostly rye) intended for hum an consum ption or fodder.

The yield o f grain in kilogram m es per hectare can only be calculated for N avasfrías, because a fanega o f land in this m unicipality, regardless o f the quality o f the soil, represented a fixed square m easure o f 10,000 square castilian “varas” , th a t is to say 0.6987 hectare. W ith a ratio between seed and yield o f 1 : 5 the yield o f w heat am ounted to nearly 400 kgs. p er hectare; a ratio o f 1 : 4 for rye yielded approxim ately 240 kgs. per ha 2.

D ue to the unfavourable ratio between sowing-seed and yield, agri­ culture in the northern Sierra was, as will be understood, extremely vulnerable; a decline in yields caused by long delay o f the rains or in­ sufficient precipitation had serious consequences. Therefore m eans o f subsistence other th an cereal-growing alone were necessary.

1 “. . . los matorrales que para aprobecharse y que fructifiquen es necesario des­ montar, quemar, rozar y sembrar a pico o azada se siembran de doze en doze años”.

Resp. Gen. 4 of Peñaparda.

2 Resp. Gen. 9 o f Navasfrías.

53

Im p o rtan t were the privately owned fields in the campo cerrado, where the enclosures were a delim itation o f prívate p roperty and at the sam e tim e served as a fence which kept out sheep and goats. F o r these cortinas or cercados there was no com pulsory system o f ro tatio n and in contrast to the fields o f the campo abierto they were annually m anured and tilled. Their principal crops were rye, barley and flax, though generally also a piece o f land was used to grow calabashes, beans and peas 1. The rye and barley o f the enclosed fields were n o t m eant for hum an consum ption, however, but were cut while still green and fed to the cattle, ju st like the hay o f the praderas, i.e. m eadows along the brooks and in low-lying places. C attle, sheep and goats, were not only indispensable for the production o f m anure but, because o f the sale o f young stock, older beasts for slaughter, cheese and, to a lesser extent, w ool, they were one o f the m ost im p o rtan t sources o f income.

As far as stock-farm ing was concerned the R ebollar form ed the transition between w hat is called by Jules Blache the “ dom aine m éditerranéen” and the “ dom aine atlantique” 2, because in this case we cannot speak o f a puré “ pays des m o u to n s” , ñ o r o f a distinct “ pays des vaches” . It is true th a t goat- and sheep-keeping were an im p o rtan t p a rt o f stockfarm ing, b u t the absence o f transhum ance and the im portance o f cattle — n o t only as draught-anim als b u t also as breeding-stock — m arked this area as a zone o f transition.

T he size o f the goat- an d sheep-stock depended largely upon the area o f waste land (pastures and monte) used in com m on by the villagers. In M artiago, El Saúgo and Peñaparda the monte and pastures belonged for the greater p a rt to the “ C om unidad de Pastos de C iudad R odrigo” , the com m unity o f stock-holders from C iudad R odrigo and villages which cam e under the jurisdiction o f this tow n 3. It is true th at in this way the inhabitants o f these three villages did n o t have full rights in their pas­ tures 4, b u t on the oth er hand they had the advantage o f n o t being confined to the pastures w ithin their ow n m unicipal territory, although m ost o f the stock-keepers, according to the Respuestas G enerales, gener­ ally did n o t m ake use o f the right to graze their sheep and goats outside the village-boundaries proper. Besides the com m unal pastures, food for the goats and sheep o f the villagers or the C om unidad was also obtained

from the blocks in the campo abierto. In M artiago, however, it was the custom to use the fallow land during the m onths o f M arch, A pril and M ay only as grazing-land for the draught-anim als belonging to the in­ habitants o f this village ’.

The privately owned praderas form ed the m ost im p o rtan t grazing-land for the cattle, except from M arch till the hay-harvest in June; the stockkeepers, too, could graze their cattle — oxen, cows and calves — and their horses, donkeys and mules in the dehesas boyales o f the m uni­ cipalities on paym ent o f a certain fee 2, while the anim als could also be grazed on the com m unal pastures. In the municipalities o f El Payo and Peñaparda, however, the pastures were left entirely to the goats and sheep because o f the p o o r quality o f the land.

E xtra pasturage used by the villagers was the few lands possessed by the C hurch and the despoblados, the territory o f the depopulated villages, at least in so far as the latter did n o t belong to the C om unidad de Pastos o f Ciudad R odrigo — as was the case w ith the “ D ehesa El Jaq u e” near V illasrubias, which became prívate property after the desam ortization — or were exploited by the legal owners themselves.

The im portance o f stock-farm ing, especially in the western m unicipali­ ties o f the R ebollar, where arable land covered only such a limited area, is shown by the great num ber o f herdsm en in pro p o rtio n to the num ber o f inhabitants o f these villages: P eñaparda counted am ong its 42 vecinos eight herdsm en (two o f w hom w orked for stock-holders n o t living in the village), in N avasfrías there were 11 herdsm en o u t o f 49 vecinos, and El Payo — w ith its 26 vecinos the smallest village o f the western Rebollar — had as m any as nine!

On the other hand M artiago, w ith a m ore lim ited area o f monte and pastures, had am ong 164 vecinos only five herdsm en, chiefly concerned w ith cattle; a p a rt from the fact th a t stock-keeping here was n o t as im ­ p o rtan t as it used to be in the western m unicipalities, possibly the small num ber o f herdsm en m ay also be ascribed to the custom o f m any villagers to leave the care o f sheep and goats to the younger m em bers o f the family 3.

As has been said before, the m ost im portant crops in the campo cerrado were barley and rye, both used as fodder-crops, and flax. A lthough

1 Navasfrías is the only village in the northern Sierra where in the Respuestas Generales mention is made o f potato-growing.

2 Jules Blache, “L’Homme et la montagne” , 1933 (19e édition). p. 39.

3 Resp. Gen. 4 of Martiago; Resp. Gen. 10 of Peñaparda.

4 The yield of the monte — timber, fire-wood and sometimes acorns — could be fully taken advantage o f by the villagers.

1 Resp. Gen. 4 o f Martiago.

2 In Martiago five to eight copper reais was paid per animal, a sum corresponding in valué approximately to the price of a new-born goat or to that of half a fanega (dry measure) of wheat.

3 Resp. Gen. 33 of Peñaparda; Resp. Gen. 35 of El Payo and Navasfrías: Resp.

Gen. 20 and 33 o f Martiago.

S4

55

only a small area was occupied by flax-growing, this profitable culture was o f the greatest im portance for the people o f the n o rthern Sierra, which can be seen from the fact th a t the greater p a rt o f the m anure was in­ tended for the flax-fields. The returns from one fanega o f good flaxland am ounted in El Payo to 100 reais, tw o and a h alf times as m uch as from one fanega o f good rye-land cropped an n u ally 1. Because flaxgrow ing was so lucrative 2 the m ajority o f the villagers owned a small piece o f flax-land in the campo cerrado. Therefore the num ber o f fanegas o f flax-land corresponded roughly to the num ber o f vecinos: V illasrubias 40 fa n . o f flax-land El Payo 20 fa n . „ „ „ P eñap ard a 36 fa n . „ „ „

41 vecinos 26 „ 42 „

Flax-grow ing was especially im portant, however, in the western m unicipalities, where the soil was less suited to cereal-culture and where m ore possibilities existed for the irrigation o f arable land, so th a t n o t all the irrigated land was needed as land for hay, as was the case w ith the eastern villages, for example in M artiago. P robably in the western m uni­ cipalities there was also m ore m anure available, since there was sufñcient grazing-land here to support a large livestock, while in addition the area o f arable land was small, as com pared to th a t o f M artiago. O f the gross valué o f flax and grain in V illasrubias 26 % carne from flax, in El Payo 30% and in P eñ ap aid a as m uch as 56%!

The small fields in the enclosed zone aro u n d M artiago were in the first place intended for the growing o f rye fo r fodder; only a small fraction o f the 80 fanegas o f “ cortinal” o r enclosed fields was occasionally cropped w ith flax 3, which is clearly shown by the returns o f these eighty fanegas, which am ounted to no m ore th an 1200 reais, six or seven tim es less th an if the same area had been sown w ith flax only.

lin e n -1 o r wool-weavers, carpenters, blacksm iths o r other craftsm cn were to be found, b u t these non-agricultural activities only to o k place on those days w hen the cattle and other livestock or the fields did n o t need attending to. The m ost im p o rtan t source o f additional income, however, was the carrying-trade, on w hich m any people were engaged for three or four m onths o f the year. T he following table shows the num ber o f carriers in relation to the num ber o f vecinos in some o f the villages o f the northern Sierra 2: M artiago

73 carriers w ith 109 big pack-anim als (mules and horses) and 9 small ones (donkeys). 44 carters with 48 carts (two-wheeled) and draught-anim als of their own : 164 vecinos El Payo 10 carters w ith 13 carts: 26 „ P eñaparda 20 „ „ 50 „ : 42 „ V illasrubias 13 „ „ 26 „ : 41 „

A p art from cereal-culture (m ainly rye-growing), stock-farm ing and flax-growing, the villagers in the north ern Sierra municipalities also obtained incomes from non-agricultural activities: in each village some

The tran sp o rtatio n o f goods, however, was n o t as im p o rtan t in the R ebollar as in other m ountain areas like the Sierra de G redos 3 o r the Región Pinariega, situated in the province o f Soria where, according to J. M . G. K leinpenning4, carrying-trade by m eans o f ox-carts form ed in the eighteenth century even the principal m eans o f subsistence for the inhabitants o f m ost o f the villages in this area. T he carrying-trade in the R ebollar was m ainly in the hands o f those who had carts and draughtanim als or simply pack-anim als a t their disposal; agricultural labourers and po o r farm ers who possessed neither horses ñor mules, ñ o r carts, to o k no m ore p a rt in this business th an did herdsm en.

It is true th a t in M artiago a num ber o f villagers had devoted themselves entirely to the carrying-trade, b u t m ost o f these “ professional carriers” possessed sheep and goats as well, which — gathered in flocks o f 200 to 300 head — were left in the care o f a shepherd, who received for this w ork a fixed wage o f 160 reais a year, with full board and a bonus for each anim al.

1 Resp. Gen. 12, 14 o f El Payo.

2 In Flanders 0.65 hectare, corresponding to a normal fanega, was sufficient to support a family. B. H. Slicher van Bath, “De agrarische geschiedenis van West Europa”, 1960. p. 297.

3 “. . . los huertos cortinas . . . de este pueblo que siendo asimismo de secano se siembran y fructifican todos los años una sola cosecha por lo común y general de cente­ no para herren y en algunos años a voluntad y arbitrio de los dueños de linaza y Uno de secano . . Resp. Gen. 4 and 10 o f Martiago.

1 Although most of the linen was woven in Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca and other towns.

2 Resp. Gen. 32 of Martiago, El Payo, Peñaparda and Villasrubias.

3 A. Gil Crespo, “La Mesta de Carreteros del Reino”. Anales de la Asociación española para el progreso de las Ciencias, año XXII, núm. I. 1957.

4 J. M. G. Kleinpenning, “La Región Pinariega, estudio geográfico del noroeste de Soria y sudeste de Burgos”, 1962. p. 39.

*

56

*

*

57

T h a t the carrying-trade was less im portant, com pared w ith the areas m entioned above, is evident from the fact th a t the m ajority o f the carriers in M artiago were m uleteers, entirely dependent on the tran sportation o f goods by pack-anim als (know n as “ arriería” , or occupation o f muleteer), by which only lim ited distances could be covered. In the other villages goods were tran sp o rted only by m eans o f carts (henee the ñam e “ carretería” ); each cárter did n o t usually have m ore th a n two. T h a t this carretería, o r trad e by carters, can n o t be com pared w ith th a t in the Sierra de G redos and the Región Pinariega is seen by the fact th a t there were no “ carretas de puerto a p u e rto ” , which — form ed into convoys o f tw enty to thirty carts — were used for long expeditions o f hundreds o f kilom etres.

Y et the incom es obtained from the carrying-trade in the northern Sierra were considerable. In P eñ ap ard a the profits from the carryingtrad e am ounted to 240 reais per cart, in V illasrubias as m uch as 270 reais, and as m any owned m ore th an one cart additional incom es o f 500 to 600 reais were by no m eans e x c e p tio n a ll.

On the other hand, the carrying-trade in M artiago yielded only 100 reais p er c a r t 2, b u t here it should be noted th a t this m unicipality possessed far m ore arable land than El Payo, Peñaparda and Villasrubias, with th e result th a t the villagers o f M artiago — a p a rt from those w ho were prim arily engaged in the carrying-trade — because o f the agricultural activities in this m unicipality had less tim e to spare for the carrying-trade th an elsewhere. Only the period from the first o f M ay till St. Jo h n ’s D ay (24th June), when the harvest began, could be fully devoted to this lucrative business. If there was no cart available and one was restricted to pack-anim als, the profits were sm aller. Still, a m uleteer could with sm all freights earn 250 to 300 reais in four m onths. The significance o f these earnings is seen from the fact th a t 300 reais correspond to the yield o f ten fanegas o f annually cropped rye-land or to the wages o f an agri­ cultural labourer for 150 days.

T he carrying-trade was n o t only closely related to the local econom y — hom e-m ade charcoal from “ brezos” , heather-stubs, was transported to Castile and there w heat was b o u g h t as return-freight to m eet the local dem and for grain for bread, while m oreover fruit and olive-oil were tran sp o rted from the Southern Sierra to the R ebollar — b u t was also concerned w ith tran sp o rt for th ird parties in adjoining regions. * * * 1 Resp. Gen. 34 of Peñaparda and Villasrubias.

2 Resp. Gen. 32 o f Martiago.

F rom the d a ta supplied by the C atastro de la E nsenada it appears th at the villages o f the R ebollar in the 18th century possessed a fairly wide basis o f subsistence, to which activities other than purely agricul­ tural ones contributed in no sm all measure. Cereal-culture, flax-growing, stock-farm ing and the carrying-trade were the elements o f a “ genre de vie” th a t was highly adapted to the special character o f this northern Sierra area, b u t th a t has since undergone drastic changes.

2 Present-day farm ing in the northern Sierra The increase in population since 1752 was an im portant reason for the extensión o f arable land in the R ebollar. Privately owned property was augm ented by the unrestricted breaking up o f lands, the so-called bienes comunales, used by the inhabitants o f the village in com m on.

Besides this, some m unicipalities sold parts o f the m unicipal property, called bienes concejiles or propios, to the villagers, while m oreover after the desam ortization o f church- and com m unal-goods in 1837 land was sold by the authorities to the farm ers. It is true th a t with the desam ortization and sale o f pasture-lands in the despoblados land also carne into the hands o f people from outside the Sierra (partly from Ciudad R odrigo and Salam anca), b u t this land consisted principally o f monte and pastures, while in m any cases these “ strangers” — as has been m entioned before — leased o u t their properties to the villagers.

T h at is why landlordism in the no rth ern Sierra generally does n o t play an im p o rtan t ro le ; in so far as the larger properties are exploited as large estates, they are only dehesas, pasture-lands planted with trees (for the m ost p a rt oaks) where stock-breeding and — to a smaller degree — forestry are the sources o f income. M ost o f the land, however, is owned by farm ers w ith less th an 100 hectares, called in the statistics “ pequeña propiedad” , o r is still m unicipal property, w hether collectively exploited or n o t (Cf. the statistics on page 60). *

*

*

The decline o f the carrying-trade as a result o f im proved m eans o f tran sp o rt and com petition o f transport-concerns in m odern days, Con­ solidated the im portance o f agriculture and stock-keeping as m eans o f subsistence, while the increase in the num ber o f small holdings — in spite o f the m igration o f villagers — was no d o u b t also influenced by the increase in population.

As well as the law o f succession valid here, under which land is divided into equal p arts am ong the children, the historical developm ent o f the 59

Statistics o f landed property (in fu ll hectares) in the northern Sierra l .

Large landed pro­ Municipal proper­ perties (in brackets ty (bienes de propio and bienes the number of owncomunales) ers) Herguijuela de C. Rodrigo Martiago Navasfrías El Payo Peñaparda Robleda El Saúgo Villasrubias

_ — 873 ha. (4) 973 ha. (1)

—

1218 ha. 2 1319 ha. (1)

203 3390 2493 2251 3134 2252 1994

Small properties

2293 4430 2494 2784 2964 4728 2382 664

ha. ha. ha. ha. ha. ha. ha.

ha. ha. ha. ha. ha. ha. ha. ha.

grow th o f prívate p roperty and small holdings roughly outlined above accounts for the splitting up o f cultivated land in the no rth ern Sierra.

Besides this, the collectivistic “ % 'a-system ” will have contributed to the origin o f the great num ber o f pareéis, since the plots o f land owned by each farm er, instead o f form ing a distinct unit, were dispersed over the hojas. The following statistics give an im pression o f the fragm entation o f land in the m unicipalities in the R ebollar, w ith the exception o f H erguijuela de C iudad R odrigo and R obleda, ab o u t w hich no d ata are know n.

Fragmentation o f arable land in the Rebollar 3.

Number of pareéis: Martiago Navasfrías El Payo 4 Peñaparda El Saúgo 4 Villasrubias 4

less than 0.26 — 0.51 — 1 ha.

0.25 ha. 0.50 ha.

501 1701 1801 975 4900 less than 0.50 hectare 667 928 1388 100 3000 5000 800 900 1200 221 378 648

1.01 — 2 ha.

150 84 293 40 500 75

2.01 — 5.01 ha.

5 ha. and more 22 20 1 — 140 18 20 12

79 3 11 2

1 Taken from data supplied by the Catastro de la Riqueza Rústica for the various municipalities concemed.

2 A great part o f which belongs to the Southern municipalities o f Descargamaría and Robledillo de Gata.

3 Taken from the “Estadística de Grado de Parcelación” (in 1956) of the munici­ palities concemed. Source: Delegación Nacional de Sindicatos — Junta Nacional de Hermandades.

4 In these municipalities the figures do not only refer to the arable land, but relate to the entire municipal territory.

The pieces o f pradera and the enclosed and intensively cultivated small fields around the village form the sm allest and m ost irregularly shaped lots. On the other hand, the pareéis o f arable land outside the campo cerrado, at a greater distance from the village, are larger and are generally o f a m ore regular pattern : rectangular, often elongated pareéis are usual here; in the eastern m unicipalities they are even today still joined together into blocks and are tilled according to a fixed and gener­ ally observed rotation.

In contrast to the character o f the grain-fields in the eastern m unici­ palities, which have to be w orked according to special rules, the fields on the sandy soils o f the w estern R ebollar give the im pression o f being individual clearings. The aerial photograph I, taken o f a p a rt o f the northern Sierra, shows how parcelled-out the cultivated area o f the R ebollar is. The difference between the alm ost treeless loam y soils o f R obleda and the northern p a rt o f the m unicipality o f Villasrubias, taken up by large complexes o f arable land, and the less intensively cleared, m ore w ooded p o o r sandy soils in the granitic area o f Peñaparda, is striking.

The arable land in the granitic zone looks far m ore enclosed: here oaktrees and low oak-coppice often m ark the boundaries between the pareéis.

Just as it did two centuries ago, the arable land outside the enclosed zone around the village in the municipalities o f M artiago, H erguijuela de C iudad R odrigo, El Saúgo, R obleda and V illasrubias, all o f which are situated wholly o r partly in the slate-zone, form s a campo abierto. There are hardly any boundaries m arking off the plots o f land h ere; only on the lower and m ore hum id p arts o f the arable land do trees, m eadows and small walled-in and intensively cultivated fields relieve the m onotonous uniform ity o f the grain-fields. *

*

*

Despite m any similarities, grain-growing as it is practised in the Re­ bollar today has undergone im p o rtan t changes com pared with cerealculture in the eighteenth century. In contrast to form er times the excrem ent o f livestock, mixed w ith straw and “ rebollo” (oak-leaves from the monte) no longer form s the only m ethod o f m anuring, for besides this organic m anure artificial fertilizer (superphosphate mixed w ith lime and nitrates) also is used to keep the generally low n atu ral fertility o f the soil up to standard.

As a result o f im proved m ethods o f m anuring and probably also owing to the increased use o f the plough with m ould-board, which m akes for 61

better tilling o f the land, there has been an increase in the yield o f grain per hectare: whereas the usual yield o f rye in 1752 am ounted to three to six tim es the sowing, corresponding to ab o u t 175 to 350 kgs. per hectare, today one hectare o f m ediocre land yields under norm al circum stances 650 to 700 kgs. o f rye, while one hectare o f good land cropped with w heat can produce ab o u t 750 kgs. o f wheat. However, in com parison with a yield per hectare o f 1166 kgs. o f w heat and 738 kgs. o f rye in the grain-grow ing country o f L a A rm uña n o rth o f the city o f Salam anca, the production-figures o f the R ebollar are still very low, especially in years w ith insufficient rainfall, when the yields fall to 400 to 450 kgs. o f grain p er hectare.

A part from the factors m entioned above, the rise in population will also have effected a m ore intensive utilization o f the soil. W hereas in 1752 it was only in the villages o f N avasfrías and P eñaparda th at there was a reduced fallow period because o f the sowing o f garbanzos in the fallow land, to d ay it is usual in the R ebollar, in A pril, before sowing grain, to plant the best parts of the land with potatoes and papilionaceous flowers, such as vetches (intended for fodder) and with pulses for hum an consum ption, w hich are harvested before September. In P eñaparda the “hoja-system” has entirely disappeared: on the fully individually owned fields every other year (“ año y vez” ) as a rule rye- o r wheat-growing takes place, while the fallow period has been b rought dow n to approxim ately eight and a h alf m onths because o f the sowing o f garbanzos in M arch, which are harvested in July — a m onth and a h alf before the sowing o f the grain.

There is perm anent culture, however, on those fields th a t lie in the lower and m ore hum id p arts o f the arable lands, like hollows and valleys, and cut through the campo abierto o f the eastern grain-grow ing m unici­ palities like d ark ribbons: here w heat is cultivated in rotation with po­ tatoes or pulses, w ithout the ground being allowed to lie fallow, although m any o f these low-lying plots are also used as m eadows.

The least fertile lands in the Rebollar are cultivated, as in form er times, only every third year in accordance w ith the “ /jo/a-system” : after a hoja has lain fallow for tw o successive years it is cropped with grain in the th ir d ; the hoja w hich was cultivated the year before is left to rest and serves as a pasture for the anim als o f the village, while the third hoja, which had lain fallow for a year, becomes “ barbecho” . In the year during which land has becom e “ barbecho” , th a t is to say th at it is 1 Angel Cabo Alonso, “La Armuña y su evolución económica” , Estudios Geo­ gráficos 1955. p. 411.

considered being m ade ready for cultivation in the following year, it is given three o r four w orkings-over with the plough, draw n by a team o f draught-cow s. Ploughing is usually confined to a first w orking-over in Septem ber (“ alzar”), followed by a second and third (called respectively “ b in ar” and “ terciar” ) in the spring; very seldom is the land ploughed for a fourth time in sum m er. W hen the grain-harvest is over and the cultivated hoja has becom e “ rastrojera” , or stubble-field for the live­ stock of the villagers, the sowing o f grain (chiefly rye) takes place in Septem ber on the hoja which has been subjected to the “ barbechow orkings” fo r a year and which — depending on the greater or lesser degree o f fertility — either has or has n o t yielded a fallow -crop; only on the best parts o f the arable land is w heat sown. Sowing is done “ al voleo” , i.e. by h a n d ; afterw ards the seed is covered up by a superficial workingover w ith the plough o r harrow .

In the year o f cultivation the three workings (alzar, binar and terciar) are again repeated; before the sowing o f the grain takes place, the fields have already been w orked over for the first time in order to allow the coming rains to penetrate easily into the soil so th a t the seed cantake rootquickly.

A t the end o f January, or early in F ebruary the binar takes place, again in order to facilítate the taking up o f the rainw ater; the last w orking, the terciar, takes place at the end o f M arch, or early in A pril, when the young grain has already sprouted, and chiefly serves to break up the clods form ed by the rains and to give the surface o f the soil a crum b-like structure, by which as m uch evaporation as possible is avoided in the dry summerm onths to come.

The land is m anured only once in this cycle o f three years at the beginning o f the year o f cultivation. A lthough the com position o f the m anure is now m ore varied, the frequency o f m anuring is still the same as two centuries ago.

The fragm entation o f land, which is a hindrance to plots o f land being cultivated in the same way, is an obstacle to further intensification o f cereal-culture. So is the pattern o f settlem ent dating back to form er times, which has m eant th at houses, stables and barns are concentrated in the villages. M ost o f the farm ers have to cover m any kilom etres in order to reach their widely dispersed fields w ith the result th a t m uch time is lost. A nother hindrance is the fact th a t the farm ers generally do n o t have m uch capital, which m eans th a t the arable land cannot be given the quantity o f artificial fertilizer necessary for a further reduction o f the fallow period. *

*

*

63

Ju st as tw o centuries ago, the zone o f small enclosed fields around the village is the area w ith the m ost intensive agriculture; each year these fields are m anured, w orked over and cultivated by the farm ers accord­ ing to their ow n ideas. In the w estern municipalities only there is not the sudden change from campo cerrado to open field. It is these enclosed and intensively cultivated fields, the cortinas, th a t have undergone the m ost im p o rtan t changes in land use. Flax-growing has gone o u t entirely, especially as a result o f the rise o f co tto n as atex tile-p ro d u ct; th e d isa p pearance o f flax-growing, however, will probably have had less sweeping consequences in the eastern m unicipalities th an in the western ones, since in the form er, because o f the restricted possibilities for irrigation, it did n o t have the sam e im portance. Even m ore th a n before, the cortinas o f the eastern m unicipalities were used for the cultivation o f foddercrops and for the provision o f the ow ners’ needs, especially after the introduction o f the p o tato , a crop which was n o t yet cultivated in m ost o f the m unicipalities o f the Rebollar in 1752.

A lthough each farm er is free to do his own crop-rotation in his enclosed field, still a general crop-ro tatio n is observed. P art o f the land is intended for the produ ctio n o f cabbages an d pulses; the greater part, however, is used for potato-grow ing, for hu m an consum ption as well as for cattle an d pigs, and for grow ing beet for fodder and tubers, alternated with rye, which ju st as in form er times, is cut w hen green and also used as fodder for the cattle. In spring, in the m onths o f M arch and A pril, the soil is dug and m ade ready for the cultivation o f potatoes and other tubers, which are harvested in A ugust and September. A fter having been m anu­ red w ith dung, or sometimes w ith artificial fertilizer, in Septem ber the land is sown w ith rye, which — cut when green — has to m ake place for the tubers m entioned above, in M arch.

The small fields in the campo cerrado dem and considerably m ore labour th an the grain-fields in the campo abierto. It is true th a t the num ber o f w orkings-over w hich the soil o f the cortinas undergoes depends on the energy o f the farm er and on the type o f crop grow n — some farm ers grow less beet for fodder and tubers and m ore pulses, others m ainly crop their land w ith potatoes — b u t o n the whole the land is frequently w orked over w ith the spade an d weeded, and sometimes ploughed after the harvest if the enclosed field is large enough, in order to clear the soil o f weeds.

The agriculture in the enclosed fields o f the w estern villages is of quite a diñ eren t character. H ere p otatoes are also eaten by the farm ers themselves o r given as fodder to the cattle, b u t the bulk o f the potatocrop is intended for sale, so that, in contrast to the eastern municipalities, 64

where despite the low yields cereal-culture is the m ost im p o rtan t thing on m ost o f the farm s, potato-grow ing together w ith stock-keeping has becom e the chief source o f incom e in N avasfrías, El Payo and especially in Peñaparda. On account o f its econom ic im portance as well as the great am ount o f labour it requires, potato-grow ing in the western villages can be considered a successor to th at o f flax; ju st as in form er times m ost o f the m anure went to the flax-fields, so it is now adays used for the potato-fields.

In the m ore rainy western p a rt o f the R ebollar with its sandy soil, potatogrowing on small regularly m anured fields is m ore proíitable th an cerealculture, despite the fact th a t potato-grow ing requires m ore labour, al­ though labour is o f little valué as the farm s are for the m ost p art small family-holdings. U nder norm al circum stances one hectare o f land in P eñaparda sown with w heat yields a harvest o f ab o u t 650 kgs., which at a price o f 4.80 psts >. per kilogram m e represents a valué o f 3120 psts., while one hectare o f unirrigated land cropped w ith potatoes produces an average yield o f 7000 kgs., bringing in 9100 pesetas, a t a price o f 130 psts. per hundred kilogram m es. In this com parison no account has been taken o f the quantity of straw yielded, ñor has the valué o f the potatoleaves, as an im portant fodder, been taken into consideration. It is true th at the fallow -crop increases the returns o f a grain-field, but on the other hand fodder-crops are usually tilled on the same piece o f land after the potato-harvest.

Some farm ers do n o t sell their potatoes to the “ Com isaría de A basteci­ m ientos” , a public organization for the purchase o f agricultural products, b u t exchange potatoes for olive-oil from the Southern Sierra, especially from Acebo. They sell the oil in the R ebollar, which brings them in a profit since they now get tw o pesetas for one kilogram m e o f potatoes instead o f 1.30 to 1.35 psts.

Owing to the greater opportunities for irrigation o f land in the western m unicipalities o f the R ebollar, irrigated potato-grow ing is also o f im ­ portance here, w ith yields per hectare ab o u t sixty per cent higher than the yields from non-irrigated land per hectare. The following statistics show th at in El Payo and P eñaparda irrigated grain, intended as fodder, in crop-rotation with potatoes, covers the greater p a rt o f the irrigated area, in N avasfrías nearly half. In the eastern grain-growing m unicipa­ lities on the other hand, the lim ited irrigated area is principally used as pradera, th a t is to say as grazing-land and hay-fields.

1 One peseta corresponds in valué to approximately IV 2 d.

5

65

Non-irrigated grain (either in crop-rotation with potatoes, vetches or pulses or not, including fallow-land) and irrigated grain in crop-rotation with potatoes in the northern Sierra 1 Irrigated grain:

Non-irrigated grain: hectares % of area un­ hectares der cultivation Herguijuela de C. Rodrigo Martiago Navasfrías El Payo Peñaparda Robleda El Saúgo Villasrubias

1441.3 2670.9 1255.3 1053.8 1299.5 3565.9 2847.3 878.6

96.9% 97.7% 71.8% 69.2% 72.4% 91.4% 96.1% 94.3%

— 0.58 226.1 286.9 311.2 34.4 — 12.2

% of area under cultivation — 0.02% 12.9 % 18.8 % 17.3 % 0.8 % % 1.3 %

% of the irrigated area — 0.4% 45.9% 61.0% 62.6% 10.1% — 23.8%

The irrigated lands are usually intended for the grow ing o f late potatoes, planted from M ay till July and harvested about O ctober, while, ju st as in the unirrigated enclosed fields, in w inter and spring the land is used for fodder-crops like rye and som etim es barley.

N o t only the sm all fields around the village, ñ or ju st the lower-lying parts o f the cultivated land, b u t every piece o f land th a t can be used is used for potato-grow ing. C ereal-culture has even been outstripped by potato-grow ing to such an extent th a t some o f the fields are planted only w ith potatoes. Because o f this exaggerated m ono-cultivation o f potatoes the soil becomes very exhausted, in spite o f m anuring with dung and with artificial fertilizer. T h at is the reason why o f late years the yield o f potatoes has fallen and is now below th a t in the m unicipalities where cerealculture is m ore im portant. In these villages, owing to a strictly observed crop-rotation, now adays a greater yield is obtained th an in El Payo and Peñaparda.

Probably as a result o f this one-sided specialization in potato-grow ing, and perhaps due to excessive m anuring w ith oak-leaves (not sufficient artificial fertilizer being available), in the naturally rath er infertile sandy soil o f the last m entioned villages a fungus disease has broken out, throu g h which the potato -p ro d u ctio n has dropped to less th an 500 kgs. o f potatoes p er hectare in m any fields.

The disease2, popularly know n as “ podredum bre seca” , which is spread1 Taken in part from data of the Servicio de Catastro de la Riqueza Rústica.

2 The Jefatura Agronómica of Salamanca has been occupying itself for a conside­ rable time with this mysterious disease, about which it is not yet known with certainty whether it is a question o f “Fusarium solani ” or “Fusarium oxyosporum Schl. .

66

ing rapidly, especially in soils w ith a high degree o f acidity, such as those in P eñaparda and in El Payo, attacks the roots o f the plants and prevenís the absorption o f m oisture, and through this the potatoes dry up in the earth. F o r ten years potato-grow ing in these unfortunate villages has been afflicted by this disease, a plague which, unlike the “ escarbejo” (leptinotarsa decem lineata), an o th er dreaded menace to the potato-plant, can be fought with expensive insecticides, b u t w hich according to the experts o f the A gronom ical Service o f Salam anca can only be obliterated by stopping potato-grow ing for at least five years.

The potato-disease has com e to these villages as a real catastrophe and is for the inhabitants o f El Payo and P eñaparda no less th an an economic disaster. As a result o f the loss o f one o f the m ost im p o rtan t sources o f incom e, potato-grow ing, the already low level o f subsistence o f m any people in the n o rthern Sierra has here turned into great misery, the consequence o f w hich will be examined in the following chapters. * * * C om pared with the eighteenth century the kind o f livestock in the m unicipalities o f the n o rthern Sierra has changed. The statistics below show the num ber o f sheep, goats, pigs, cattle and horses, donkeys and mules in 1752 in the only tw o m unicipalities ab o u t which data are given in the R espuestas G enerales o f the C atastro de la Ensenada, viz. the eastern grain-grow ing village o f M artiago and the village o f Villasrubias, a m unicipality w hich in m any respects form s a transition between the eastern grain-grow ing area and the villages o f the western R ebollar. U nder these figures are those o f livestock in these villages, taken from the “ E ncuesta A gropecuaria” , the reports o f a stock count by the Delegación N acional de Sindicatos, taken in 1956.

Livestock in 1752

Martiago Villasrubias

sheep

goats

pigs

cattle

horses, donkeys & mules

2993 1000

256 1800

277 600

439 332

118 20

4083 3752

551 120

3295 2089

total number of animals

Livestock in 1956 Martiago Villasrubias

1381 872

380 390

221 169

762 538

67

W hen we com pare the figures above it appears th a t a shift has taken place in favour o f cattle an d other large anim als, a fact also established elsewhere in E u ro p e l. In the R ebollar it is largely the result o fth e c le a ring and cultivation o f large p arts o f the m onte and pastures, which broug h t w ith it a reduction o f pasture-land for sheep and goats. This reduction o f natural pastures has partly been com pensated by the growing o f potatoes and tubers in the cortinas, providing good and cheap fodder. These forage-plants, however, have m ainly benefited the cattle and draught-anim als, as a result o f which the num bers o f this kind o f stock could be increased.

T hus the dim inishing o f the produ ctio n o f m anure as a result o f the decrease in num bers o f goats and sheep was m ade up for by the increased quantity of dung from horses, donkeys, m ules and cattle, supplem ented m oreover by the use o f artificial fertilizer in m odern times.

Just as in form er days, the hay-fields and grazing pastures in the hum id low er p arts, the dehesas boyales o f the various m unicipalities and the enclosed fields aro u nd the villages supply the food for cattle and draughtanim als, while the zone o f monte and pastures rem ains the grazing area for sheep and goats. The considerable extent o f the area o f natural pasture-lands in the w estern m unicipalities o f N avasfrías, El Payo and Peñaparda, because o f which a m ore num erous livestock, especially goats, can be kept th an in the eastern m unicipalities, clearly shows th at stock-keeping is o f even greater im portance in these villages th a n else­ where in the R ebollar 2.

In the collective grazing o f the fallow land in the campo abierto one o f the collectivistic traits from form er times has been preserved, although at present account is tak en o f the acreage o f fallow land owned by each farm er. It is com pulsory to give up fallow land as grazing-land for the village-livestock; to this end the “ rastrojeras” , i.e. stubble-fields, have been included in w hat is called the “ H erm andad de L abradores” , a representative body for all the village farm ers, under the supervisión o f the public authorities, w hich has special powers. The “ Ju n ta Provincial de Fom ento Pecuario” , a provincial body, fixes the valué o f the stubbleland contributed by each individual farm er, depending on the quality o f the soil. The valué o f all the fallow land is divided by the num ber o f anim als pastured on it; for this reason the am ount th a t a livestockowner has to pay to the H erm andad for each anim al varíes according to the num ber o f anim als th a t can be fed on the stubble-fields, and this can 1 B. H. Slicher van Bath, op. cit. p. 323.

2 See the statistics concerning livestock on page 76.

68

alter from year to year. A fter the first "¿ar^ec/ío-preparations” have p u t a stop to the collective grazing o f the stubble-fields, the grazing-fees are apportioned am ong the landow ners in p ro p o rtio n to the extent and the quality o f the stubble-field contributed by them .

A nother rem arkable change which has taken place since the eighteenth century is the increase in the num ber o f horses, donkeys and mules, despite the decline o f the carrying-trade as a m eans o f subsistence a t the end o f the last and the beginning o f this century. Less th an as a result o f a very m uch higher standard o f living since the 18th century, because o f which farm ers m ay have been m ore inclined to spend m ore m oney on draught-anim als, the increase o f those anim als m entioned above, in com parison with the num ber o f cattle, can be attributed to the fact — as has been noted 1 — th a t the ox 2 as a draught-anim al disappears in agri­ culture when grain-grow ing takes place on a larger scale. M oreover, the cultivation o f a fallow-crop like vetch and the fact th a t m ore foddercrops were grow n in the enclosed fields near the villages after flaxgrowing had gone out, m ade a switch-over from draught-oxen to horses and mules, w hich require m ore fodder, possible, although a num ber o f oxen will probably have been replaced by draught-cow s. Besides this, social-psychological factors should n o t be neglected: a farm er possessing horses o r m ules often feels him self m ore “ dueño” th an one who has to till his land w ith the aid o f draught-cow s only.

The fact th a t there is generally m ore tractive pow er available is connected w ith an increase o f the arable land, which can am ong other reasons be ascribed to the increase in population and also to the grow th in the num ber o f sm all holdings. This increase in small holdings was n o t only due to the law o f succession, the acquisition o f land after the desam ortiza­ tion in the last century, and the decline in the carrying-trade as a source o f incom e, which — as has been said before — resulted in a greater dependence on agriculture, b u t was also m ade possible by a m ore intensive utilization o f the soil due to the growing o f a fallow-crop and to the introduction o f the potato, through which tw o to three times as m any people can be fed th an from an equal acreage cropped with grain 3. How ever, the increase in the num ber o f draught-anim als also indicates th a t there are now too m any per holding, a fact which is char-

1 B. H. Slicher van Bath, op. cit. p. 317.

2 Unlike the draught-cow nowadays practically no longer used as draught-animal in the Rebollar.

3 B. H. Slicher van Bath, op. cit. pp. 31, 294.

69

acteristic o f the rather irrational way agriculture is carried on in the R ebollar.

Pig-keeping and poultry-farm ing are o f little im portance on the farm s o f the R ebollar, whilst these are the basic elements in D utch small-scale farm ing (i.e. th a t o f the small holding). O n m ost o f the farm s no m ore th an one or tw o pigs are usually kept, m ostly intended for the fam ily’s consum ption. Poultry-farm ing plays a very subordínate p a r t : the scraggy birds are left to fend for themselves; looking for food they scratch about in dust an d d irt and only a coloured rib b o n on their wings or some other m ark indicates to which ow ner they belong. *

*

* C om pared w ith tw o centuries ago the basis o f subsistence in the n o r­ thern Sierra has becom e m ore restricted; flax-growing, one o f the m ost im p o rtan t sources o f income in the western m unicipalities, has disappeared, ju st as the carrying-trade in m ore recent times, a business which used to provide m any people w ith w ork at times when they were n o t engaged in agricultural activities. A n increase o f the arable land — ap a rt from the bad quality o f the “ pasture-soils” n o t yet opened up — is impossible w ithout a further depletion o f livestock and a consequent lowering o f incomes. Intensiñcation o f pig-keeping and poultry-farm ing, which was one o f the reasons why D u tch agriculture m ade such a recovery (after the crisis o f the eighteen-eighties), comes up against great difflculties h e re : the nearest tow n th a t could be a m arket o f im portance is Salam anca, m ore th an a hundred kilom etres from the R ebollar; large population-centres, such as M adrid, A sturias and Basque-land where agricultural produce m ight be sold are situated respectively a t distances o f 320 km s., 400 km s. and 500 kms. A p art from the fact th a t this area is inconveniently situated, the p o o r Communications retard any further intensiñcation.

A nother factor which im pedes agricultural progress — and cause and effect are closely interw oven here —- is the fact th at the m ajority o f the farm ers do n o t possess m uch capital. Prim itive techniques and a low degree o f m echanization in agriculture do n o t contribute to an increase in productivity o f labour. In the R ebollar as well as in the Southern Sierra, by the side o f the “ vertedera” or plough w ith m ould-board, which n o t only tears open the soil b u t also turns and crum bles it, the oíd “ arado ro m an o ” is still in use. This is a simple w ooden plough, strengthened w ith an iro n poin t an d w ithout m ould-board or coulter, a plough which — as the ñam e already indicates — has n o t changed m uch since R om án days and w ith which deep tillage o f the land is n o t possible.

70

Sowing-machines and tractors are hardly ever found; these m odern agricultural im plem ents are n o t only too expensive for the vast m ajority o f the farm ers, b u t also the fragm entation and — especially in the Southern Sierra — the accidented nature o f the land, m ake the use o f these m achines unprofitable. In the whole Sierra threshing is still done in the oíd, timeconsum ing way w ith the threshing sledge, a tool th a t has so far been m odernized th a t instead o f being covered with flint, the b ottom now usually has iron points, although the older type is as yet by no m eans obsolete. M echanically-operated winnowing-mills are used by a few richer farm ers, b u t as for the use o f these milis villagers who do n o t possess them have to hand over four per cent o f the grain milled to the owner, m echanical winnowing is too expensive for m ost o f the farm ers.

Therefore m ost winnowing is still done by han d ; the threshed grain is throw n into the air, so th a t chaff and grain are separated by the wind.

The low production-figures o f the various crops — influenced as m uch by the general low natu ral fertility o f the land and the fallow period connected w ith this, as by insufficient m anuring — are another cause o f the low returns per hectare, as a result o f which savings in m any cases are practically nil, so th a t it is very hard to m ake new investm ents.

Henee the farm ers are compelled to go on using the oíd- fashioned methods, whilst use o f artificial fertilizer on a large scale is ju st wishful thinking, due to lack o f money.

Since the eighteenth century, agriculture in the R ebollar, in spite o f a m ore intensive use o f land and the introduction o f potatoes in croprotation, has becom e m ore vulnerable. This becom es very clear w hen external factors disturb the internal balance. In the analysis o f agricul­ ture in the next chapter we shall examine how far external factors — potato-disease and the re-afforestation o f waste lands — have changed the existing situation.

B. M onte and Pastos — zone o f transition between the n o rthern and the Southern Sierra Between the plateau to the n o rth and the valleys and depressions to the south is the highest and wildest p a rt o f the Sierra de G ata, which was described before as “ zone o f monte and pastos". In the course o f time the less accidented parts o f the m ountain area and those less affected by erosion have been cultivated: the lower m ountain-slopes and the shelving areas o f the Southern depressions are excellently suited to arboriculture, especially olive-culture, while on the plateau on the n o rth side 71

o f the m ountain-ridge the greater p a rt o f the cultivated area is occupied by grain-fields. T he steepest and highest parts, however, rem ained covered w ith a wild vegetation o f heather, broom , rosem ary and thym e, low thickets an d oak- an d pine-woods.

This so-called “ zone o f monte an d pastos”, however, is n o t only determ ined by physical factors but also by history. Henee the oíd settlements o f Perosín and El Jaque, b o th depopulated since the M iddle Ages, as dehesas in the m unicipalities o f P eñaparda and Villasrubias, form p art o f the present-day zone o f m onte and pastures. In medieval times the depopulated village o f Fresno, situated outside the Sierra de G ata proper, was allotted to the village o f G ata by the Encom ienda o f Santibáñez el A lto in order to repopulate Fresno an d to recultivate the surrounding areas. As a result o f the troubled tim es and the heavy tributes exacted by the com m anders o f the O rder from the settlers in Fresno, w ho were n o t yet protected by special rights l, this attem pt failed and up to some

I:: : i H H jm H ll m o n te a lto a ra b le la n d w ith m o n te R = MB =

a rea re a ffo re s te d o r ¡ntend& d lo r re a llo re s ta tio n M o n te B ajo

years ago Fresno rem ained a dehesa o f G a ta and an enclave o f monte and pastos in the grain-growing area o f the lower Southern Sierra. The dehesa o f V illar de Flores in the m unicipality o f El Payo also carne into being after the original settlem ent o f Villar de Flores became depopulated and the near-by village o f El Payo annexed its territory.

It will be seen from the m ap above th a t the greater p a rt o f the belt o f w oods and natural pastures is taken up w ith pastos — a type o f vegetation w hich consists o f herbs, hard prickly grasses and heather. Only a small p a rt is m onte alto, i.e. w oods m ainly consisting o f pines (pinar) and oaks (roble, rebollo, carvajo), although there are also holm -oaks (encina, carrasca), chestnut-trees and cork-trees to be found.

In form er times, however, these woods m ust have extended m uch further: num erous p arts o f the Sierra de G ata which are now pastures or ju st naked rocks were originally covered by vast forests, to which m any o f the ñam es still testify, e.g. “ La C arrasquera” , “ Los R ebollares” , “ El Pinarillo” , “ R obleano” , “ Los Carvajales” , “ Robledillos” , “ N ava del P in ar” , etc. The need for tim ber, fire-wood and charcoal soon resulted in an indiscrim inate cutting dow n o f trees and in the end led to the nearly com plete deforestation o f the Sierra de G ata. O vergrazing by livestock, especially goats, which m ade the grow th o f sapplings and young trees im possible, and erosion, which resulted in a washing away o f the residual layer, prevented new w oods from growing, so th at all too often a stony wilderness, where it seems hardly possible for any vegetation to exist, resulted.

1 T raditional exploitation o f monte and pastos.

Map o f monte and pastos in the Sierra de Gata.

(Partly taken from the M apa Topográfico Nacional, escala 1:50.000, hojas 550, 551, 572, 573, 574, 595 and 596).

1 Gervasio Velo y Nieto, “Coria, Reconquista de la Alta Extremadura”, p. 144; “El Castillo de Santibáñez el Alto”, p. 67.

72

Only here and there have oak-w oods o f some extent been preserved due to the fact th a t they form ed p a rt o f privately owned dehesas, such as the dehesa o f Perosín, o r o f m unicipal dehesas boyales. As well as these, however, stretches o f pine-w oods are also to be found in the Sierra, especially in the Southern m unicipality o f D escargam aría, o f which m ention is m ade in the C atastro de la Ensenada. The pine-woods in G ata and Villasbuenas de G ata and in the northern m unicipalities o f V illasrubias, R obleda and E l Saúgo are younger, and therefore n o t yet, or only partly exploited; a large p a rt o f the w oods in the last tw o m unicipali­ ties, however, belongs to D escargam aría and Robledillo de G ata.

These pine-w oods, m ostly consisting o f “ pinus pinaster” o r pinasters, com e under the com petency o f the D istrito Forestal del E stado, a public body w hich looks after the upkeep and im provem ent o f the w oods and 73

receives ten per cent o f the profits obtained from them . Pine-trees, when they are exploited, are used to obtain resin; this resin is tapped from A pril to the end o f O ctober and is sold a t 4.50 psts. a kilogram m e (in 1960) to a small distillery in R obleda, which exports the purified product — oil o f turpentine and colophone — to Belgium, where it is used for all kinds o f purposes in the chem ical industry, such as the m anufacture o f varnish and dyes.

As the pine-trees in D escargam aría are the oldest, and as this m unici­ pality also has m ore trees than the other Sierra villages, the obtaining o f resin is o f special im portance here: this m unicipality has 18,000 resinproducing trees which, w ith an average production o f l l/2 to 2 x/2 kgs. o f resin per tree yield approxim ately 155,000 psts. o f resin each year.

The returns from the pine-w oods o f D escargam aría (and o f the northern Sierra m unicipalities in so far as they are exploited) go into the m unicipal treasury, as m ost o f the woods are m unicipal p ro p e rty 2. In D escarga­ m aría, however, there are also privately owned w ood-parcels; a p a rt from some tim ber or fire-wood for prívate use the bulk o f the cut trees is sold a t a price o f 650 to 700 psts. per cubic m etre o f “ clean” pine-wood (i.e. w ood stripped o f its b ark and m ade ready for transport) to the saw-mill situated a little further dow nstream on the river A rrago. The same is done w ith trees from the m unicipal w oods where profitable exploitation is no longer possible as a result o f the declining resin production. W here resin is obtained by prívate persons it is b ought up by the distillery in R obleda.

A part from D escargam aría there is also some exploitation o f woods, though on a m odest scale, in the prívate dehesas, although here the sale o f w ood or the m aking o f charcoal is less im p o rtant th an stock-keeping.

In m ost villages, however, the yield o f fire-wood and tim ber from the w oods (m onte alto as well as monte bajo) is p u t up for lottery o r sold am ongst the villagers. In some municipalities areas grow n over with monte or covered w ith pastures belong to the “ C om unidades” , the associations o f villagers which, as has been said before, bought up lands in the form er Encom iendas after the desam ortization in the last century, in o rder to p u t them to com m unal use. The exploitation o f the monte 1 A small production as compared with the average yields per tree in the provinces o f Salamanca and Cáceres, amounting respectively to 3.89 kgs. and 2.79 kgs. of resin.

2 Henee, according to the “Inventorio del Patrimonio de los Municipios de la Provincia”, on 31 December 1954 the municipality of Descargamaría was the richest in “fincas rústicas” of the Sierra de Gata. Reseña Estadística de la Provincia de Cáce­ res, 1957.

and pastos in these C om unidades can take place in diíferent ways: for instance, in the “ C om unidad de los Valles y E jidos” (covering ab o u t 1500 hectares) in the m unicipality o f Valverde del Fresno the proceeds of the sale o f w ood and the incom es from leasing pasture-lands to stockfarm ers from Valverde or from other villages are distributed am ong the m em bers — a b o u t eighty in num ber — in pro p o rtio n to the am ount o f shares held in the C om unidad. In the „C om unidad el M onte” in Robledillo de G ata, on the other hand, the yield in kind from the 2142 ha. area, which is chiefly grow n w ith monte bajo, is directly divided am ong the members, although a m em ber is free to sell his share to a third person. ** * The use o f the pastures is m ore im portant th an the exploitation o f the lim ited acreage o f monte. These pastures are n o t ju st forgotten corners in the Sierra municipalities, areas hardly w orthy o f notice, b u t they certainly do play their p a rt in the econom y o f the m ountain villages: in fact they are the m ost im p o rtan t grazing-lands for the villagers’ sheep and goats. The im portance o f the pastures is show n by the fact that, expressed in m oney earned from goat-keeping, a hectare o f pasture-land — on which tw o o r three goats can live — represents a valué o f ab o u t 1700 pesetas >.

Stock-keeping in the Sierra villages, n o rth as well as south o f the m ountains, however, is (to use the term inology o f Luis de H oyos Sainz) rather o f a “ carácter pastoril” th an a “ carácter ganadero” o r “ zoológico” 2, th a t is to say it is a simple kind o f stock-keeping, bound to tradition and adapted to the natural environm ent, rather th an a m odern, intensive and scientific utilization o f the anim als. A daily scene in the m ountain villages is th at o f shepherds in the m orning rounding up the anim als they are paid to look after, and then taking a large flock o f goats and sheep, am ong which there is sometimes a stray forlorn donkey or lean cow, up to the higher pasture-lands. A fter the anim als have grazed on these po o r pastures all day, tow ards evening the shepherds come dow n w ith their flocks and bring the anim als back to their owners o r drive them together into corrales on the outskirts o f o r outside the village.

T he table below, taken from the Census o f Livestock o f 1956, gives an idea o f the num bers o f livestock in the various Sierra m unicipalities: 1 According to prices current in 1960.

2 Luis de Hoyos Sainz, “La densidad de población y el acrecentamiento en España”, 1952. p. 198.

75

Census o f Livestock in the villages in the north and south o f the Sierra de Gata 1 South

Chickens Sheep Goats

Pigs

Cattle 2

A

Donkeys Horses & Mules

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M A R T ÍÁ G O

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EL S A U G O : n

Acebo Cadalso Cilleros Descargamaría 3 Eljas Gata 3 Hemán-Pérez Hoyos Perales del Puerto Robledillo de Gata3 S. Martín de Trevejo Santibáñez el Alto Torrecilla de los Angeles Torre de D. Miguel Valverde del Fresno Villamiel Villasbuenas de Gata North Herguijuela de Ciudad Rodrigo Martiago Navasfrías El Payo Peñaparda Robleda El Saúgo Villasrubias

1300 2561 2730 340 2392 195 936 255 1050 1120 813 520

970 3013 6605 — 1720 — 2078 1193 1146 — 2850 3712

3000 2500 1298 1480 1800 1600 556 606 588 1800 718 933

180 842 417 30 390 232 175 153 278 130 499 59

39 18 773 — 224 21 54 14 132 — 420 539

(20) — ( 4) — — ( 5) — ( 3) ( 2) — (40) —

180 52 429 120 69 162 114 200 308 90 154 260

15 23 150 12 18 87 104 44 139 — 89 99

560 965 1189 183 1086

1800 1628 6453 5016 2416

1345 627 2397 1416 894

82 152 532 962 150

37 45 630 33 212

( 1) (17) (15) — —

123 293 249 130 150

76 50 214 145 26

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300 380 3350 1200 1800 220 300 390

221 389 170 326 220 10 169

309 762 463 449 476 526 368 538

( 3) — — ( 2) ( 6) ( 3) —

68 430 339 195 332 277 225 106

18 121 61 14 9 17 45 14

1 "Encuesta Agropecuaria”, 1956. Delegación Nacional de Sindicatos-Junta N a­ cional de Hermandades.

3 N o statement for sheep.

2 In brackets the number of dairy-cattle.

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1980 1381 2000 2949 1725 2710 1380 872

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800 547 2000 595 800 1500 2060 1025

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As has been observed before, pasture-land is m ostly used by sheep and goats; however, on the lower-lying pastures and in the dehesas — which are either prívate or m unicipal property — cows, pigs, horses and mules also feed, b u t the chief grazing-lands for cattle and horses are the prívate praderas, the m eadow s w ith juicy grass, often even irrigated, alongside brooks and in hum id low places.

The large num ber o f goats kept in m any villages gives an idea as to the poorness o f the pastures and is an indication o f the poverty which exists in these villages; where sheep-keeping is a t all possible, it replaces goatkeeping. The following m ap shows the density o f sheep and goats per square kilom etre in the twenty-five m unicipalities o f the Sierra de G ata.

76

\

1. TO RRE DE D O N M IG U E L 2. C A D A L S O 3. H E R G U IJ U E L A DE C IU D A D R O D R IG O

N irm b e r o l sheep and goats p e r km 1

%

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<35 35- 70

M

>14°

7 0 -1 0 5

(Taken from data o f the “ Encuesta Agropecuaria” , 1956. Delegación Nacional de Sindi­ catos — Junta Nacional de Hermandades).

The low density o f these anim als in G ata, D escargam aría, Villasrubias and El Saúgo is striking. This low density is com prehensible if we take into account the fact th a t because o f the afforestation o f m unicipal pastures, which up till 1956 — the year o f the Census o f Livestock — had m ade m ore progress in these villages than anywhere else in the Sierra, the best parts o f the zone o f monte and pastos have been lost to goats and sheep.

As the inhabitants o f G ata have no fallow grain-fields a t their disposal like the people in V illasrubias, E l Saúgo and R obleda, and as, because o f the irrigation-w orks in the plain o f M oraleja, the grazing-land in the dehesa o f Fresno — belonging to G ata — had for the m ost p a rt to be 77

given up, in this m unicipality the m ost stony parts where only goats can feed, were left as pastures. T hat is why in recent times goat-keeping has becom e m ore im p o rtan t th a n sheep-farm ing. In D escargam aría goatkeeping h ad always been m ore im p o rtan t th an sheep-farm ing, because goats were m ore suited to the very accidented m unicipal territory >.

Therefore we find th a t in the R espuestas G enerales o f the C atastro de la Ensenada m ention is m ade o f “ m ale m ules, donkeys, goats and pigs” in D escargam aría, b u t th a t nothing is said ab o u t sheep and cattle, while pig-breeding was forbidden because o f insufficient pasturage, with the result th a t pigs — m ale as well as female — could only be kept indoors to be killed and eaten by the inhabitants 2.

The great density o f sheep and goats in such small m unicipalities as C adalso and T orre de D on M iguel is due to the fact th at these villages possessed pastures o f their own outside their m unicipal territory proper.

In the historical outline it has already been pointed out th a t after the disappearance o f the vast Encom ienda o f Santibáñez el A lto the village o f C adalso and — to a lesser degree — the villages o f T orre de D on M iguel and G ata kept the oíd grazing-rights which they had obtained in the course o f tim e on the Encom ienda territory, while a t the desam or­ tization in the last century pasture-lands were also acquired by the m uni­ cipality and prívate persons. Henee in the “ A liseda” and a p a rt o f the “ C am pete” in w hat is now adays the m unicipality o f Santibáñez el Alto sheep and goats from the village of T orre de D o n M iguel are grazed; extensive areas o f the steep Sierra de Pilas are grazed by anim als from G ata and especially from C ad also ; the Sierra de los Angeles, which forms the bo undary w ith the m ore easterly H urdes, for the greater p a rt belongs to Cadalso, while the pastures o f “ M ald o n ad o ” are used by Santibáñez el A lto as well as Cadalso.

A lthough this is n o t done to such an extent as in C adalso and T orre de D o n M iguel, there are stock-farm ers in oth er m unicipalities, too, who graze their sheep and goats on other p arts o f the Sierra, because the area o f n atu ral pasture-lands w ithin their own m unicipality does n o t provide sufficient food for all these anim als.

1 This applies to an even greater extent to the near-by mountain village of Robledillo de Gata, shut in on three sides by steep slopes.

2 “. . . en esta Villa ay machos mulares, jumentos, ganado cabrío y cerdos, que estos por ordenanza que se obserba deben ser machos para el consumo, solo que se han de cebar en casa, y en caso de haver hembras han de estar ynutilizadas para cria vaxo pena que se exige con arreglo a dicha ordenanza, a causa de que en los pocos pastos que ay en el termino dicho ganado no le es dable p a sta r. . .” Resp. Gen. 20, Villa de Descarga Maria, Libro 515 •— folio 59.

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In the village o f Cilleros, where monte and pastos only cover a small percentage o f the m unicipal territory, sheep and goats mainly feed on the fallow land and stubble-fields o f this extensive m unicipality. This is also the case in the Southern Sierra m unicipalities o f Eljas, Perales del P uerto, Villasbuenas de G ata, Santibáñez el A lto, H ernán-Pérez and Torrecilla de los Angeles, villages which m oreover possess natural pas­ tures and in this respect resemble the m unicipalities o f the Rebollar.

W e have already m entioned the im portance o f stock-keeping, especially th a t o f goat- and sheep-keeping on the farm s in the Sierra de G ata.

Owing to the incom es obtained from the sale o f older anim als, milk or hom e-m ade cheese, wool and especially young stock, people are n o t entirely dependent upon arable farm ing o r — as in the Southern Sierra — on arboriculture.

The older anim als are slaughtered w hen they are four or five years oíd; sometimes they are kept for dom estic use b u t m ore usually they are sold as anim als for slaughter, privately or at the fairs which are regularly held in some o f the villages o f the Sierra de G ata.

M ore th a n sheep or goats, pigs are kept to supply the dom estic needs for m eat. Each farm er in the Sierra will have one or m ore pigs which get their food from holm -oak-w oods and stubble-fields in the care o f a shepherd’s boy; or they run loose in the village while some are fattened up inside the house. To keep cows for hom e-slaughter is a puré lu xury: cattle serve in the first place as draught-anim als and as producers o f young sto c k ; only when the anim als have reached eight years or m ore are they slaughtered or sold for slaughter. Villages which possess a large num ber o f cows are therefore m ostly those municipalities w hich have good pastures at their disposal and where p a rt o f the m unicipal area is used for graingrow ing; donkeys o r mules are used for w ork in the olive-groves.

The im portance o f young stock in goat- and sheep-farm ing is obvious from the fact th a t eighty per cent o f the fully grow n goats and ewes produces one young each year, and the selling price o f a young anim al comes to 220 to 250 pesetas. Lam bs and kids are usually sold when the anim als weigh m ore than fifteen kilogram m es; this sale o f young stock takes place especially in the m onths o f A pril and M ay !. The milk-yield o f sheep and goats is low. N o t only are they sheep and small m ountain goats who m ainly have to exist on w hat the po o r pastures provide — th at is when they are n o t in young — b u t also the greater p art o f the milk, and sometimes even all o f it, is intended for the young stock, because it 1 The sale of calves and fully grown cattle, on the other hand, is not confined to the spring but goes on the whole year through.

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is very diffieult to sell m ilk, due to the fact th a t there is no dairy factory.

In m any cases any surplus o f m ilk — so far as it is n o t used a t hom e — is m ade into sheep- and goat-cheese, a p ro d u ct that, when thoroughly dried, is less perishable and th u s m ore m arketable.

Some farm ers possess bigger goats which have a milk-yield o f three hundred litres per year; these anim als, though, are m ore concentrated in the villages and, as well as being fed on the stubble-fields and the dehesas, are given m ore extra fodder th an those anim als th a t graze on the higher lying pastures.

W ool-production from sheep is also o f m inor im portance; the sheep o f the Sierra de G ata are chiefly “ chu rras” , a native species o f small reddish-brow n anim al, which gives no m ore than 1 to 1V2 kilogram m es o f inferior quality wool per year. This is the reason why the w ool-pro­ duction per sheep only represents a valué o f ab o u t sixty pesetas; henee the w ool is generally kept for hom e use, although some farm ers w ith ten or m ore anim als sell it, especially in the Southern Sierra to a small fac­ tory in Valverde del Fresno where woollen blankets are m anufactured.

The w ool-production from the so-called “ entrefinas” is greater — about 2 to 2 V2 kilogram m es yearly — b u t the num ber o f sheep o f this kind is very small, so th a t the w ool-production from these sheep, too, is less im p o rtan t th an the sale o f young stock.

If sheep- and goat-keeping are an im p o rtan t source o f incom e, next to this the im portance o f dung-production m ust not be underestim ated. A usual way o f obtaining dung is the “corral-m ethod” . The anim als are driven together into corrales, enclosures partly roofed over, where they are kept overnight. The floor o f the corral is covered w ith a layer o f straw and oak-leaves which, together w ith the excrem ent o f the anim als, m akes the dung; in the Southern Sierra, where in m any m unicipalities grain-grow ing is only o f secondary im portance o r even does n o t exist at all, use is m ade o f a kind o f fern, called “ helecho” , instead o f straw, which is hard to get. Only in those m unicipalities where cereal-culture alm ost equals olive-cultivation in im portance is sufficient straw available

allowed in the groves, because the goats, being greedy and m ore agilc, m ight dam age the trees. H ere the anim als are p u t in corralizas (enclo­ sures form ed by m ovable w ooden fences) a t night.

Lastly, as has been m entioned before, anim als graze on the grain-fields which are fallow, and thus they are directly m anured. The grazing and m anuring o f fallow-lying grain-fields in Cilleros and the valley beneath Eljas which, in contrast to the R ebollar, are n o t a campo abierto, is done by the livestock o f each farm er separately; the grazing o f the stubblefields and fallow lands in the grain-grow ing area o f the Traigas valley, which is divided into hojas, on the other hand is very sim ilar to the utilization o f stubble-fields in the n o rthern S ierra: in the Traigas valley, too, the H erm andad de L abradores collects the grazing-fees and divides these am ong the land-ow ners in pro p o rtio n to the size and quality o f the fallow land contributed by them. * * *

There is no transhum ance o f sheep and goats in the Sierra de G ata.

Probably there will have been a certain am ount o f transhum ance o f sheep and goats between the n o rth and the south when the Encom iendas first started, th a t is shortly after the reconquest, w hen stock-keeping was o f greater im portance in the partially depopulated Sierra than it is today.

The “ M esta” , however, has never had m uch influence here: the grow ing im portance and increasing independence since medieval times o f the various m ountain villages, where small farm ers form ed the vast m ajority o f the population and where landlordism , as found in A ndalusia and in the m ore southerly p arts o f E xtrem adura, was non-existent, to gether with the gradual disintegration o f the Encom iendas, brought ab o u t an early developm ent o f individual landow nership in this m ountain area, in contrast to regions south o f the river Tagus where up till recently alm ost feudal conditions existed.

It is true th at from the “ Q uaderno” o f the year 1457 1 we learn th a t at th at time there was near Perosín in the pass o f Perales a “ puerto real” , th at is to say a place where taxes were levied on m igrating flocks (the so-called “ Servicio y M ontazgo” ), b u t this toll was m uch less im p o rtan t than th a t o f A badía, situated near the pass o f Béjar (between the Sierra de F rancia and Sierra de Béjar) crossed by the “ C añada de la V izana” , the m ain route taken by flocks trekking from E xtrem adura to León.

In the section o f the Respuestas G enerales o f the C atastro de la E nsenada th at deais with Peñaparda — the m unicipality in w hich Perosín, a settle-

for dung-production.

Sometimes, however, the anim als are taken directly on to the land which is to be m anured; this is especially done on the untilled fields o f the cam­ po cerrado in the R ebollar and, to a lesser degree, in the olive-groves o f the Southern Sierra m unicipalities. G razing on the seedling weeds in the olive-groves, however, can only take place during the period from Janu ary (after the olive-harvest) till Septem ber, when the trees are starting to bear fruit again; from then it is forbidden. U sually only sheep are

1 J. Klein, “The Mesta, a study in spanish economic history, 1273—1836”, 1920. p. 266.

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m ent w hich was already depopulated before 1752, is situated — no mention is however m ade o f a “ p uerto real” . This confirms J. K lein’s opinion th a t shortly before the abolition o f the “ Servicio y M ontazgo” in 1758, taxes on trekking flocks were levied a t only a few places t. The form er toll o f Perosín probably affected only those flocks com ing from León, which spent the w inter on the plains aro u n d A lcántara, near the Portuguese border, where the O rder o f the same ñam e possessed extensive grazing-lands 2. This supposition is supported by the view o f R. A itken 3, according to w hom the “ puerto real” o f Pedrosín had som ething to do w ith a sheep-track, leading from C iudad R odrigo via P eñaparda and Perales del Puerto to A lcántara, w hich is still indicated as a “ cañada” on the topographical m ap 1 : 50,000 4. A lso on the m ap com piled by A. F ribou rg 5 from d ata taken from a publication o f the year 1892 by the D irección G eneral de A gricultura, In d u stria y Com ercio, entitled “ La G anadería en E spaña, Avance sobre la riqueza pecuaria en 1891 . . . ” , it appears th a t transhum ance did n o t take place in the Sierra de G ata p roper 6. This in con trast to the m ore easterly Sierra de F rancia where Sequeros was an im p o rtan t centre for m igrating sheep. The winterpastures in the areas aro u n d A lcántara an d C oria were used by m igrating sheep from León b u t were n o t used by sheep from the Sierra area.

Besides historical an d social factors, economic and physical conditions, too, have influenced the fact th a t transhum ance did n o t develop here to any great extent. A fter calm er tim es had com e it becam e possible for people to apply themselves to agriculture — flax-growing and cerealculture — to arboriculture or to other, non-agricultural activities, so 1 J. Klein, op. cit. p. 292.

2 On the map on pp. 18— 19, J. Klein marks the whole territory of the Order of Alcántara, including the Sierra de Gata, as grazing-land, but it is evident from the Respuestas Generales that in 1752 pastures in the Sierra de Gata were intended, with a few exceptions, for the livestock of the inhabitants, or were used by the animals of the villages belonging to the various “Comunidades de Pastos”. The Respuestas Generales do not mention “merinos”, the kind of sheep especially used in transhu­ mance; the sheep of the Sierra de Gata were mostly “churras”, “ . . . the unkempt, despised, meagre-fleeced native stock” which, according to Klein (p. 9), “was neglected and survived only in the non-migrating flocks . . . ” 3 R. Aitken, “Routes of Transhumance on the Spanish Meseta”, Geographical Journal, volume CVI, 1945. p. 66.

4 Topographical map 1 : 50,000, núms. 550, 573, 596.

5 André Fribourg, “La Transhumance en Espagne” ; Annales de Géographie, Tome XIX, 1910. Planche XIV a.

6 As on so many maps, on this one, too, the ñame of Sierra de Gata is wrongly given to the whole mountain area between the Portuguese border and the pass o f Béjar, which implies that the Sierra de Francia and the Hurdes are also considered as belonging to the Sierra de Gata.

th a t stock-keeping was no longer the only, or a t least by far the m ost im portant, m eans o f subsistence and therefore becam e relatively less im portant. The physical m ake-up o f the area m ade it possible to graze anim als on the pasture-lands lying w ithin the m unicipal territory: on account o f the m ountainous character o f the m unicipal territory, the high pastos, w hich every village possessed to a lesser o r greater extent, are n o t subjected to such a degree o f withering and parching in the h o t sum m ers as the extensive pasture-lands around Cáceres, those in the Serena, and those in other p arts o f E xtrem adura.

O nly in N avasfrías, which possesses oíd grazing-rights in Eljas, situated o n the south side o f the m ountains, and in Cadalso, T orre de D on M iguel and G a ta are stock-holders not restricted to pastures w ithin the m unicipal territory to which they bclong, but nevertheless it cannot be said th a t there is transhum ance here.

In some m unicipalities o f the Southern Sierra, however, there is a special form o f transhum ance: th a t o f bee-hives! F ro m the following statistics, which give the num ber o f bee-hives per m unicipality, it appears th a t the small m ountain villages o f D escargam aría and Robledillo de G a ta possess the largest num ber o f hives.

Num ber o f bee-hives in some Southern Sierra m unicipalities'.

Acebo 100 bee-hives Robledillo de G ata 2000 bee-hives C adalso 180 „ Torrecilla de los A. 1168 „ D escargam aría 3000 „ T orre de D. M iguel 26 „ Eljas 80 „ Valverde del Fresno 437 „ G ata 1025 „ Villamiel 30 „ T here are various factors w hich have favoured bee-keeping in these two villages. F irst am ong these is the influence o f the near-by H urdes, where a regular “ m igration” o f bee-hives has taken place through the ages between the w arm H urdes valleys and the colder Valle de las Batuecas on the p a rt o f the inhabitants o f La A lberca. Secondly there is the fact th a t the m unicipal territories o f D escargam aría and Robledillo de G ata, which are largely taken up by monte and pastos, stretch on to the other side o f the m ountains where, due to a lower average yearly tem perature, trees, flowers and heather blossom later th an in the Southern Sierra.

A third factor o f bee-keeping — although this is n o t restricted to D escargam aría and R obledillo de G ata — is the presence o f cork-oaks, from the bark o f which the hives are m ade. The Southern Sierra with its m ild climate and its early spring is a paradise for bees.

1 “Encuesta Agropecuaria” 1956.

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In F ebruary, depending on the w eather eonditions, the bees fly o u t in order to extract n éctar from the blossom ing white and purple heather, broom and various species o f thym e, an d from the blossom s o f the mastic-tree, oak and cork-oak. A t the end o f M arch and the beginning o f A pril, when by m oving the hives the bees get access to a fresh lot o f flowers, swarms o f bees leave the hives to form new com m unities in hives specially m ade for th em ; on an average every tw o hives m ake up a new swarm. A fter the m ost im p o rtan t time for obtaining honey in the south has passed (th a t is, after the blossom ing o f the chestnuttrees in M ay) and when the heat from the sun increases, the hives are transported very carefully eight a t a tim e by donkey o r m ulé to the no rth side o f the m ountains. Before the hives are tak en away the honey is collected (“ castrar” ); the hives are em ptied from sunrise to ab o u t nine to ten o ’clock in the m orning, as the bees have flown out during this time.

Once they are on the n o rth side the bees take advantage o f the later blossom ing o f wild flowers, heather, thym e and rosem ary, b u t m ost o f the néctar is extracted by the bees in A ugust, from broken acorns, which excrete a sweet juice, called “ m ela” , due to the dam pness in the early hours o f the m orning and the heat during the day. The second collection o f honey, which takes place in Septem ber — before the retu rn o f the hives to the south side — is sm aller th an the first, because the plants and trees producing m ost honey have left off flowering or have lost their blossom ; m oreover, as the bees are very sensitive to coid and dam p, they suffer m uch from the n o rth winds on the n o rth side o f the m ountains.

In Septem ber and O ctober the bees can still take advantage o f the blos­ soming o f straw berry-trees; after this, obtaining honey is practically at an end. The retu rn o f the hives does n o t take place until after the wine harvest has been gathered in the Southern Sierra so th a t the bees cannot dam age the grapes.

F ro m December, sometimes even from N ovem ber, the bees stay in their hives, eat their reserves o f honey, and do n o t fly out again till the middle o f February.

Because o f the non-intensive character o f bee-keeping — ab o u t which m ore will be said below — the annual o u tp u t o f the hives is b u t small, ab o u t six to eight kilogram m es per hive. The honey, which can be kept for years, is sold to buyers for the m aking o f “ tu rró n ” , a sweet delicacy resembling nougat, for which honey is one o f the principal ingredients.

A lthough it appeared from the figures given above th at in Torrecilla de los Angeles, another m unicipality th a t b o rd e rso n the H urdes, in G ata and in some other villages o f the Southern Sierra there is some bee-keeping, «d

too, yet it is now here so im p o rta n t as in D escargam aría and Robledillo de G ata. Besides it is only in these two villages th a t we find this extensive “ m igration” o f bee-hives. * * * The pastures do n o t only serve as grazing-grounds for sheep and goats and as a source o f honey for the bees, b u t up to recent times they were im portan t for the m aking o f charcoal. D uring the w inter m onths m any p o o r villagers tried to m ake a little extra m oney for themselves by m aking charcoal from the b um ing o f heather-stubs (“ brezos” ), o f which m ention is already m ade in the Respuestas G enerales. The m aking of charcoal was done in a prim itive m anner. A p it was dug to a depth o f from a h alf to one m etre and a w idth o f ab o u t tw o metres, which was partly filled w ith heather-stubs which were then set alight. In order to prevent the stubs from burning up completely, the burning layer was regularly covered up w ith a fresh layer o f stubs, so th a t the flow o f oxygen was im peded. W hen the pit was entirely filled it was closed over by a thick layer o f earth, w hich was n o t rem oved until two days later when the whole m ass had stopped burning.

In this way a b o u t six sacks o f charcoal could be obtained from one pit.

These were sold in the same village or to other villages. N ow adays, how ­ ever, this activity is for the m ost p a rt no longer carried on as a result o f changes w hich have com e ab o u t in recent tim es in the zone o f monte and pastos.

2 R e-afforestation in m odern times A ll this will have m ade it quite clear th a t the pastures play a p a rt in the econom ic life o f the villages in the northern and Southern Sierra which should n o t be underestim ated. Especially in the north, ap art from a few “ dehesas particulares” , or privately owned and often enclosed pasturelands, the vast m ajority o f the pastos are m unicipal property, which up till now have been used in com m on by the village-people. On paym ent of a yearly canon, depending on the num ber o f sheep and goats they kept, the villagers were free to graze their anim als in the care o f a shepherd and to gather w ood in the monte >.

1 Prívate persons, too, often lease out pasture lands: the “Comunidad de Valle y Ejidos” in Valverde del Fresno has up to now given the right to the use o f its pastures on a payment o f twenty pesetas per animal, of which, just as with other similar prívate leascs, 8 % had to be handed over to the Junta Provincial de Fomento Pecuario and 2% to the local Hermandad for administrative charges.

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The re-afforestation o f these pastos, which was m ade possible by the “ Ley de M ontes” o f M ay 8th 1956x, has m eant a com plete change in the existing situation, bringing w ith it great changes n o t only in outw ard aspect b u t also in the economic and social structure, especially in those m unicipalities where hitherto little o r no re-afforestation had taken place.

The advantages o f re-afforestation o f m unicipal pasture-lands (with oaks and especially w ith pines o f the species pinus pinaster, which are suited to this rath er rainy m ountain area) are obv ious: the future forests will bring in m ore profits to the m unicipal treasury th an the grazingfees from the present, often poor, pastos do today, while in the Southern Sierra, and m ore particularly in the areas where the A rrago and the Traigas rise, erosión, which has been a serious problem since the reservoir o f Borbollón in the plain o f M oraleja was built, can be fought m ore efficiently. Finally the econom ic basis o f m any Sierra m unicipalities will be considerably enlarged in the fu ture: besides stock-keeping, cerealgrowing in the R ebollar and olive-cultivation in the Southern Sierra, forestry will becom e im p o rtan t. It is by no m eans im possible th at in some villages the incom e from forestry will equal th at from agriculture 2.

The “ Leyes de M o n te” and other supplem entary regulations provide for the re-afforestation o f all the pasture-lands involved, m unicipal as wel as prívate ones. Privately owned pasture-grounds — w ith a m inim um o f a hundred hectares — are re-afforested if the owners agree “ en con­ sorcio” , i.e. in conjunction w ith the State, so th a t in a juridical sense one rem ains the ow ner o f one’s land. The “ P atrim onio Forestal del E stad o ” , a public body entrusted w ith the task o f re-afforestation, undertakes to do the necessary work, to p lan t the pastos and to exercise super­ visión. A fter the expenses incurred have been m ade up to the State from the retu rn s o f the forests (it is estim ated after ab o u t forty years), the lands, enriched w ith pine- or oak-w oods, will be returned into the full possession o f the owners.

The forests, however, will be under the control o f the “ D istricto F o re­ stal del E stado” , w hich takes care o f their upkeep and im provem ent, for 1 Although this law has greatly stimulated re-afforestation in some municipalities, re-afforestation had already taken place before this — as has been mentioned before — especially in Descargamaría, Gata, Villasbuenas de Gata, El Saúgo, Robleda and Villasrubias.

2 A good example of the importance o f forestry in a Spanish mountain area and of the incomes which the parties or persons concerned obtain annually from the forests, is given in the doctoral thesis o f J. M. G. Kleinpenning on the Región Pinariega, the part o f the Iberian Mountains that is situated between the provinces of Soria and Burgos.

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which it will claim a certain percentage o f the returns (up till now this has been ten per cent).

This m ethod o f re-afforestation has been adopted in Torrecilla de los Angeles, where m any o f the pasture-lands are privately owned. The “ C om unidades” , too, have responded to the appeal to fight erosión by means of re-afforestation and at the same tim e to increase their own prosperity as well as th a t o f their country. In 1958 the “ C om unidad de Valles y E jidos” in Valverde del Fresno sold the “ Valles” — the land situated in the valleys — to prívate persons, principally mem bers o f the C om unidad, and had the “ Ejidos” — the higher situated pastures — re-afforested in conjunction w ith the State. Thus the territory o f the “ Ejidos” (com prising ab o u t 1300 hectares) is now entirely planted w ith pinasters; in thirty to forty years’ time the resin produced by these trees will be an im p o rtan t source o f incom e for the m em bers o f the C om unidad, once the debts to the State have been paid off.

M unicipal pasture-grounds and complexes o f monte bajo are also afforested by the Patrim onio Forestal del E stado, chiefly with pines. The m unicipality supplies the land, the Patrim onio provides the seed, super­ vises the w ork, gets w orkers — if possible from the m unicipality concern­ ed — and looks after the unkeep o f the young trees. A fter the am ortization o f the debt the m unicipal forests, too, will come under the control of the D istrito Forestal, w hich pays over 90% o f the returns obtained from the forests to the m unicipality; up till the tim e when the debt to the State has been paid off, State and m unicipality each receive fifty per cent o f the returns. These future incomes from forestry, which are expected to be far in excess o f the present canons, will indirectly enrich the whole village-com m unity, as is already the case in D escargam aría w ith its excellently paved “ Calle M ayor” , its good street-lighting and — a thing th a t is alm ost unique in the Sierra — proper sewerage!

The com pact granite rocks o f the Jálam a-m assif in the m unicipalities o f San M artín de Trevejo, Villamiel, H oyos and Acebo are less suited to afforestation than the layered slate; re-afforestation will therefore mostly take place in the eastern slate-area o f the Sierra de G ata, particu­ larly in those p arts where the A rrago and the Traigas rise. This area is the m ost eroded, and only re-afforestation will be able to prevent the silting up o f the reservoir o f B orbollón, w hich was com pleted after the war. Therefore the “ Plan Cáceres” provides for the re-afforestation of the m ost accidented areas o f the following municipalities 1: 1 Luis Aguirre Prado, “Plan Cáceres”, Publicaciones Españolas, 1956. p. 9.

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T orrecilla de los Angeles H ernán-Pérez Robledillo de G ata D escargam aría 1 Santibáñez el A lto Cadalso T orre de D o n M iguel

2800 hectares 2500 „ 2350 „ 2000 „ 2000 „ 200 „ 100 „

Besides pinasters, w ith which the greater p a rt o f the area to be afforested will be planted, pinus silvestris, pinus pinea, quercus ilex and quercus súber will be used in the planting o f sm aller woods. The aim is to build a “ casa forestal” for every 8000 ha. o f re-afforested land; from this the forests can be superintended and illicit cutting dow n o f trees and grazing can be controlled. Besides these seven m unicipalities there are m any others where re-afforestation will be carried out or has already begun, chiefly on m unicipal pasture-grounds. G ata, Villasbuenas de G ata and the n orthern Sierra municipalities o f Robleda, El Saúgo and Villasrubias have already been m entioned in this connection, b u t another m unicipality where re-afforestation has m ade considerable progress is El P ayo: m ore th an 1500 hectares have been afforested w ith pines by the Patrim onio Forestal in recent years. Besides El Payo, in the Rebollarm unicipalities o f N avasfrías and Peñaparda and in the Southern Sierra m unicipality o f V alverde del Fresno, too, extensive pasture-grounds have now becom e afforested. * * *

W ork on pastos ab o u t to be afforested begins in sum m er, in June and July, w ith the “ ro zar” , th a t is the clearing o f heather and the cutting dow n o f shrubs which after having been dried by the sun are burned at the end o f A ugust and the beginning o f September. The land th a t has been cleared in this way is then divided into strips, as far as possible parallel w ith the contour-lines, each tw o m etres wide, every other one o f which is cleared o f roots and heather-stubs and w orked over w ith spade and plough. Before w inter the sowing takes place (about ten kilogram m es o f seed per hectare is used) so th a t advantage can be taken o f the winterand spring-rains. A nother system — which is used in El Payo — is the planting o f sapling pines. T he strips are only one m etre wide, which m akes it possible from the beginning to keep a distance o f two metres betw een the young trees. A fter four o r five years the “ desbroza” takes place, th a t is the clearing o f shrubs w hich have sprung up on the strips 1 excl. existing forests.

th a t had n o t yet been cleared o f roots and stubs, as these threaten to strangle the young pines.

I f re-afforestation has been done by the seeding-m ethod, the seedlings on the strips are now thinned out, in order to stim ulate the grow th o f the trees; this is done in such a way that, ju st as w ith planting, the dis­ tance between the trees is tw o m etres, w ith the result th at a t m ost 2500 trees per hectare rem ain. This first thinning-out o f the seedlings does n o t give a profit, b u t is an expense. T he young twigs th a t have been cleared are used for stuffing cushions and m attresses or as fire-wood by the villagers tem porarily o r perm anently appointed as forest workers.

W hen the trees are tw enty years oíd, the forest has to be thinned out again, b u t then the returns are expected to exceed the expenses '. It is estim ated th a t o f the approxim ately 500 trees per hectare th a t are left after this so-called “ entresaque” , an average o f 350 per hectare will be ready in another ten to fifteen years’ tim e for resin-production. F o r 25 successive years the trees will be ta p p e d ; after this — w hen the yield o f resin begins to decline — they will have to m ake place for others. The natural grow th o f new trees keeps the forest up to standard, however, so th a t after sixty years o r so only the oíd trees will disappear and n o t the whole forest.

A t an annual yield o f one and a half to two kilogram m es o f resin per tree (which m ay be increased to 2*/2 or 3 kilogram m es, as m ore efficient m ethods o f obtaining resin are used), the future production o f resin per hectare o f pines, estim ated a t the current (1960) price o f resin o f 4.50 psts. per kilogram m e, represents a valué o f roughly 2500 to 3000 psts. per hectare; n o t counting the valué o f the w ood, a hectare planted w ith pines will thus yield in resin alone m ore th an if the same area had been left as po o r grazing-land for the sheep and goats.

In P eñaparda re-afforestation o f m unicipal pasture-grounds is done w ith a view to obtaining wood in the future. F o r this reason after the first thinning-out m ore trees are left standing th an w hen they are intended for the pro duction o f resin 2; the cutting dow n o f trees, however, will n o t be allowed before they have a circumference o f ab o u t 1.20 m., when breast-high.

1 At the current prices for wood the Distrito Forestal estimates that the returns per hectare will be 860 to 900 pesetas.

2 In the privately owned dehesa Perosín, which forms part of the municipal terri­ tory o f Peñaparda, the number of young pines in the re-afforested pastos amounted to about 88 per 100 square metres after the first thinning-out.

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The newly planted pine-forests can only bring ab o u t an actual increase in prosperity, if re-afforestation is n o t done a t the expense o f other means o f subsistence. In m any cases, however, the aíforestation o f the pasturegrounds, which are so im p o rtan t for the sheep and goats, m eans an imm ediate decrease in the incomes o f the stock-holders, while the m aking o f charcoal during the w inter-m onths is from now on o u t o f the question.

M oreover re-afforestation is n o t only a direct threat to sheep- and goatkeeping, b u t is indirectly harm ful to arable farm ing and olive-cultivation because, due to the inevitable reduction in the num ber o f sheep and goats, m any farm ers will be faced w ith the problem o f m anure. Especially in the R ebollar where, as has been said before, the greater p a rt o f the pastos is m unicipal property, the consequences o f re-afforestation have already had a m arkedly detrim ental effect. W h at M . Legendre said o f the H urdes m ore th an thirty years ago 1, viz. th a t the “ intérét im m édiat” (stockkeeping, together w ith the production o f m anure and the m aking o f charcoal) m ust be sacrificed in favour o f the “ intérét de l’avenir” , i.e. forestry, is m ore applicable here th a n to the Southern Sierra. T he conse­ quences o f the econom ic dislocation caused by the conversión o f pastos into monte, or o f poor, b u t essential pasture-lands into lucrative, “ encroaching” forests will be discussed a t greater length in the following chapter.

M unicipal lands which have been occupied illegally, b u t nevertheless for a long period, by needy villagers form another problem . It has been pointed out already th a t after the desam ortization in the last century m uch land in the Sierra de G ata rem ained m unicipal property. As there were m any people who possessed little o r no land at all, large parts o f this land were arbitrarily taken over by them , and converted into arable land o r planted w ith olive-trees 2.

Particularly in the m unicipality o f Valverde del Fresno, bordering on Portugal, m uch illegal occupation o f m unicipal lands has taken place, n o t only by the villagers themselves, b u t to a large extent also by po o r Portuguese im m igrants. The inhabitants o f the “ cam po” , who live in huts dispersed outside the village, are alm ost w ithout exception very p o o r and often live in m ore prim itive conditions than the poorest villagers.

The yield o f rye from the fields — cropped w ithout hardly any m anuring every four o r five years — is, together w ith w hat is yielded by the small 1 M. Legendre, op. cit. p. 128.

2 In Torrecilla de los Angeles, however, chiefly those farmers who possess lands which border on municipal grounds have extended their possessions at the expense of the public property.

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huerta and the few olive-trees, scarcely enough to support a family. Al­ though goat-cheese and young stock are the principal sources o f income, som e people o f the campo try to earn a little m ore by hiring themselves ou t as casual labourers in Valverde del Fresno. M ost o f the inhabitants o f the campo, however, live too isolated and too far from the village, and ju st vegetate, so to speak, in their chozos.

The m unicipality o f Valverde del Fresno has adopted an indifferent attitude and turned a blind eye to this illegal occupation, on paym ent o f a yearly canon. A fter the prom ulgation o f the Forest Law in 1956, by which the cheap re-afforestation o f public lands by the State was m ade possible, however, the attitude o f the m unicipal authorities tow ards the occupants changed. R e-afforestation — the future incomes from w hich are a welcome addition to the m unicipal treasury — raises the question w ho is the actual ow ner o f the land. F o r those who have paid a yearly canon and for those who for less th an thirty years have tilled the lands taken over by them in m unicipalities where no canon has been asked, any future re-afforestation will m ean loss o f land. H enee in Valverde there is a great possibility th a t occupants w ho in m any cases have tilled their lands for three generations m ay have to give up their possessions, although up to now neither in Valverde del Fresno, ñor in other m unicipalities where there is this problem o f illegal occupation, have the authorities dared to take any such rigorous action.

C. The Southern Sierra, olive-cultivation and its econom ic im portance in a m ountain area W hereas in the northern Sierra, where the gentle slopes are taken up by extensive croplands, leaving the higher and stonier parts for monte and pastos, the landscape is rath er m onotonous in its uniform ity, the Southern p a rt is m ore com plicated. A erial pho to g rap h II shows the difference between the Southern Sierra and the R ebollar, situated to the north o f it: the m ain chain o f the Sierra descends steeply on the south side and endoses w ith its m any offshoots a lot o f elongated and small hollow ed-out valleys which broaden out to the south and merge into the larger depressions surrounded by m ountains. T he cultivated area is restricted here to the flatter parts o f the depressions, the bottom s o f the valleys and the lower m ountain-slopes, providing th at these have n o t been subjected to too m uch erosion.

The slopes and lower m ountain-inclines o f the valleys and depressions look silvery-green, due to the innum erable olive-trees, which in some 91

places are planted u p to an altitude o f m ore th an seven hundred metres.

Sometimes these olive-groves, for the m ost p art very oíd, are relieved by a clum p o f chestnut-trees or a sm all vineyard, b u t very often they form one vast w ood o f gnarled, fantastically shaped trees. In the lowest and less accidented parts, especially w here loam y soils predom ínate, the groves o f olive-trees give place to grain-fields. T he olive-tree being very sensitive to m oisture, accidented land where subsoil-w ater does n o t stagnate is better suited to olive-growing th an the loam y flatter parts, though aro u n d Torrecilla de los Angeles and H ernán-Pérez olive-trees have been planted on level parts.

1. TO RRE DE D O N M IG U E L 2. C A D A L S O 3. H E R G U IJ U E L A DE C IU D A D R O D R IG O 4 . S. M A R T IN DE T.

m < 1° yiíiüii ’°-2°

m i mnn 6°-7°

I

88888 '70-80

I 20-30

In contrast to the north, grain-fields in the Southern Sierra do not dom ínate the landscape: ap a rt from the m unicipalities in the lower parts o f the Sierra there are in the m ore accidented Southern Sierra no exten­ sive continuous complexes o f arable land to be found. Cereal-culture is carried on to some extent only in the m unicipalities o f Torrecilla de los Angeles and H ernán-Pérez, b o th situated in the b ro ad and fíat valley o f the Río Traigas, on the fields o f Santibáñez el A lto situated along the low er A rrago w ith the adjoining m unicipalities o f Villasbuenas de G ata and Perales del Puerto, in the valleys o f the Río Eljas and R ivera de Treveja n a — enclosing large p arts o f the municipalities o f V alverde del Fresno.

Eljas and Villamiel — and finally in the m unicipal territory o f Cilleros, which for the greater p a rt lies outside the Sierra proper. In the other, m ore centrally situated Sierra m unicipalities cereal-growing has a very subordínate place o r scarcely exists a t all; here olive-cultivation is the m ost im p o rtan t agricultural activity and in some m unicipalities has even alm ost becom e a m onoculture (cf. m ap opposite).

Especially in the smaller and in the m ost accidented m unicipalities olive-trees have often been planted wherever this was at all possible: only in those places where the soil is so po o r th a t n o t even the olive-tree can fiourish, does it seem th a t m an has had to give way to nature.

These olive-gardens, irregularly form ed pareéis, are often very small indeed, sometimes consisting o f no m ore th an ten tree s; in Eljas they are real w orks o f art, planted on ingeniously built terraces, m any o f which probably date from M oorish days.

The natu ral vegetation o f heather and shrubs, which starts above the belt o f olive-groves and covers the highest and steepest parts o f the m ountain-slopes, form s the area o f monte and pastos, the zone o f transition, as has been said before, between the Southern and the n o rthern Sierra.

Rem ains o f terraces in this zone, crum bled away and ruined by erosion and by a long period o f neglect, p o int to the fact th a t in form er tim es m ore land in the Sierra had been cultivated th a n is the case today. A c­ cording to Gervasio Velo y N ieto m any o f these elevated and alm ost inaccessible terraces fell into disuse after the restoration o f order and authority a t the tim e o f the final reconquest, th ro u g h which the plains south of the Sierra de G ata — previously unsafe — could once again be inhabited 1; in the Respuestas G enerales o f D escargam aría, however,

Olive-cultivation in % of the cultivated area.

(Taken from data o f the Catastro de la Riqueza Rústica on the Southern Sierra municipalities).

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1 “Coria, Reconquista de la Alta Extremadura”, p. 25.

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the “ laziness” o f the ow ners is blam ed for the decay o f these “ terrenos” , which in form er tim es were planted w ith vines, olives and chestnuttrees t. Probably the trees on these terraces produced practically nothing, especially as in the Respuestas it is expressly stated th a t “ today” (that m eans in the year 1753) arboriculture is only to be found in those places where the soil is suited to it.

In H oyos an d G ata, however, som e o f the terraces were still used as vineyards in the last century, b u t as a result o f the phylloxera at the end o f the 19th century these terraces, too, have been abandoned for good.

Just as a non-intensive cereal-culture an d intensive grow ing o f potatoes, as well as stock-keeping, are the m ost im p o rtan t features o f agriculture in the m unicipalities o f the R ebollar, so the Southern Sierra villages, too, resem ble each other agriculturally despite the m any differences between th e m : a lucrative olive-cultivation, the incom es from which often exceed those m ade by stock-keeping.

The following statistics give an idea o f the percentage o f the m unicipal territory in the various Southern villages used for this culture. Three groups o f m unicipalities can be distinguished: 1. F o u r villages which are the m ost m ountainous municipalities o f the Sierra de G a ta an d where the greater p a rt o f the territory is taken up by monte and pastos, while only a sm all percentage is given over to olive-cultivation (although this small percentage representing the area planted w ith olive-trees has no relation to its econom ic im portance).

2. Some o f the smallest m unicipalities o f the Southern Sierra, where olive-cultivation is by far the m ost im p o rtan t, although here too in m ost cases m ore th an h alf o f the m unicipal territory is taken up by monte and pastos.

3. A group o f m unicipalities, whose territories are generally less accidented, so th at, besides having an im p o rtan t olive-cultivation and a usually large area o f m onte and pastos, a great deal o f land is taken up by grain.

1 “. . . pastos y Matorrales de Brezo tanto inútiles por naturaleza como por desidia esta (expecie de tierra) — llamada Terrenos — se hallo en tiempos pasados plantada de Vinas, Olibos, o Castaños, y oy esta totalmente inculta . . . ” Resp. Gen. 4 de la Villa de Descarga María.

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Proportional distribution o f land in olive-groves, m o n te and p a s to s , grain-fields and other kinds o f land use l. municipalities

olive-groves

monte & pastos

Group 1 Acebo Descargamaría Gata Robledillo de G.

10 % 5.6% 9-5% 2-5%

86 93 80 89

% % % %

Group 2 Cadalso Hoyos S. Martín de Tr. Torre de Don Miguel

30.5% 31 % 30 % 42 %

53 52 56 44

% % % %

Group 3 Cilleros Eljas Hernán-Pérez Perales del P. Santibáñez el A. Torrecilla de los Angeles Valverde del F. Villamiel Villasbuenas de Gata

3 % 13 % 8 % 20 % 15 % 7.5% 7 % 17 % 15 %

17 % 61.5% 50.5% 42 % 58 % 70.5% 56 % 47 % 49 %

grain-fields — — 8 % —

other kinds of land use 4 % 1.4% 2.5% 8.5%

% % % %

7.5% 12 % 10 % 5 %

77 % 21.5% 37 % 37 % 24 % 20.5% 30 % 27 % 33 %

3 % 4 % 4.5% 1 % 3 % 1.5% 7 % 9 % 3 %

9 5 4 9

A p art from olive-cultivation, cereal-growing and monte and pastos, a p a rt o f the m unicipal territory in m ost o f the villages is used for vegetable-gardening, fruit-growing, chestnut-w oods and viticulture, o r is “ terreno im productivo” , i.e. practically barren rocks. These things take up such a sm all area, however, th a t in the statistics above they have n o t been considered separately, b u t are lum ped together under the heading “ other kinds o f land use” .

However, the percentages as they are given here are rath er deceptive w ithout a critical interpretation. F rom them one could easily get the im pression th a t in the m unicipalities o f the third group cereal-growing is far m ore im p o rtan t th an olive-cultivation. N othing is further from the tru th : in the m ajority o f cases olive-cultivation is one o f the chief sources of income fo r the villagers, although the often low percentage o f land taken up by it m ight well lead to a different conclusión. It is true th at grain-fields, especially in the lower-lying border-m unicipalities cover extensive areas, b u t the soils are often so p o o r and stony and cereal1 Taken from data of the Servicio de Catastro de la Riqueza Rústica, “Resúme­ nes por cultivos”, of the various municipalities.

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grow ing is so unprofitable and non-intensive th a t in general the returns from it are far below the profits gained from the lucrative olive-culti­ vation.

1 G reater agricultural variety in form er times 1 Tw o centuries ago the cultivated area in the Southern Sierra presented a m uch m ore varied picture th an it does to d a y : besides olive-cultivation, viticulture, cereal-growing, vegetable-gardening and flax-growing, fruitgrow ing and chestnut-w oods were also im portant. Even today m any ñam es give an indication o f the w ay in w hich some p arts o f the land were once utilized, such as “ L a V endim ia” in Cilleros, “ La P arrera” in San M artín de Trevejo and “ A lbilla” in Villamiel, ñam es w hich go back to the times when there were extensive vineyards, and “ Los Linares” at Cadalso, where flax used to be grown. N evertheless, together with stockkeeping olive-cultivation was the m ost im p o rtant source o f incom e for the m ajority o f people in the Sierra. R elief and clim ate provided favourable conditions in the Southern Sierra for the developm ent o f this arboriculture. In addition to the accidented relief, th rough which stagnation of subsoil-w ater occurs less easily, pedological conditions were also o f im ­ portance here: the poor, stony w eathered soils on to p o f slate, which on the m ountain-slopes are only o f sm all depth, and to an even greater extent the loose, sandy soils which in the course o f tim e form ed on top o f granite rocks, are better suited to arboriculture th an to cereal-growing.

M oreover the rainfall, which due to the altitude o f the Sierra and to its westerly situation is less scarce an d m ore regular th an in the m ore central p a rt o f the Iberian Península, together w ith the w arm and sunny climate o f the Southern Sierra, where frost hardly ever occurs and where the coid northerly winds are generally kept back by the m ountains, m ade for an ideal “ h a b ita t” for the strangely shaped “ tree o f M inerva” .

N o t only have natural conditions determ ined the aspect o f the landscape, b u t hum an factors have also played an im p o rtant p art in the develop­ m ent o f olive-cultivation in the Southern Sierra. It is possible th a t even before M oorish times there were olive-trees h ere; it is certain, however, 1 Data for this chapter are chiefly based on the Respuestas Generales of the Ca­ tastro de la Ensenada o f the following villages: Resp. Gen. del Lugar de Azevo (Libro 135—folio 190), Villa de Descarga María (op. cit.), Villa de las Heljas (Libro 140— folio 135), Lugar de Hoyos (Libro 142—folio 424), Lugar de Perales del Puerto (Libro 147—folio 572), Villa de Santibáñez (Libro 149—folio 99), Villa de Torre de Don Miguel (Libro 151—folio 62), and Villa de Valverde del Fresno (Libro 152— folio 181).

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th a t during the M oorish occupation olive-growing was know n in the Southern Sierra l . Some o f the olive-groves on terraces against the m ountain-slopes m ay date from pre-reconquest days, especially around those villages which were originally M oorish settlements.

A fter the M oors had been driven out, and peace and order had been restored, olive-cultivation, which was also stim ulated by the M ilitary O rders, steadily increased in im portance. The M aestros and com m anders o f the Encom iendas, which cam e into being in the recaptured territory after the R econquista, used to distribute pareéis o f land am ong the in­ habitants o f the villages in their territory on the condition th a t they should plant the land with olive-trees or tu rn it into an olive-grove cum vineyard 2.

D ue to the accidented character o f the Southern Sierra the trees were usually planted w ithout any regularity; only on the flatter areas was there planting in rows. The am ount o f oil obtained from one “ h u ebra” o f olive-trees (40 to 50 trees) was considerably low er th an it is today 3.

F rom the Respuestas G enerales 4 it appears th a t a t Santibáñez el Alto the yield o f olive-oil used to vary from two “ cán taro s” 5 per huebra o f trees o f p o o r quality to four cántaros per huebra o f good trees; in Valverde del Fresno, San M artín de Trevejo, D escargam aría and Eljas the am ount o f oil was P / 2 to 5 cántaros per huebra, depending on the quality o f the trees.

In spite o f the low yields, olive-cultivation was certainly m ore profitable th an viticulture, as is show n by the fact th a t the valué o f production from one “ cu arta” or fanega o f land planted w ith vines only am ounted to 60 % or 70 % o f the same area planted w ith olive-trees. All the same, viticulture played an im p o rtan t p a rt in the econom y o f the Southern Sierra two centuries ago. N o t only in the m ountain villages o f D escarga­ m aría, H oyos and San M artín de Trevejo — where physical conditions were unfavourable for cereal-growing and where viticulture therefore came second in economic im portance, im m ediately after olive-growing — but also in some low er-situated m unicipalities, such as Perales del Puerto and Santibáñez el A lto, where there were extensive grain-fields, m ost vecinos possessed one o r m ore vineyards. V iticulture was particularly flourishing in the westerly villages o f Cilleros and Villamiel, b u t 1 “Coria, Reconquista de la Alta Extremadura”, p. 24.

2 V. M. Jiménez Fuertes, “El olivo de la Sierra de Gata”, “Extremadura”, Sep­ tember 1950.

3 cf. p. 135.

4 Resp. Gen. 12, 13.

5 1 cántaro is about 15 kilogrammes of olive-oil.

7

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a p a rt from the wines from these places, the “ vino blanco” o f Acebo and R obledillo de G ata also h ad a certain reputation outside the Sierra T he other Southern m unicipalities, however, were n o t w ithout viticul­ ture either; thus it appears from the answers to questions o f the C atastro de la E nsenada ab o u t Eljas in the year 1753 2 th a t this village in those days possessed “ 209 fanegas and 2 cuartillos” , o r ab o u t 146 hectares, o f vineyards, well over six tim es as m uch as it has today.

As has been pointed o u t above, only the lower and less accidented m unicipalities were suited to cereal-growing: the valley below Eljas with the Trevej ana-valley to the west, the m unicipalities o f Cilleros and Perales del Puerto — where the Sierra abruptly changes into a gently rolling plateau, shelving dow n to the plain o f M oraleja — and the valleys o f the rivers A rrago and T raigas were the only areas where continuous complexes o f arable land were found. As is shown by the d ata from the C atastro de la Ensenada, grain-land in the Southern Sierra was less uniform th an in the R ebollar. Only in Perales del Puerto and Eljas, ju st as in the n o rth , had arable land been subdivided into three hojas, of which one was yearly cropped w ith rye; wheat- and barley-growing in these villages to o k place only on small enclosed fields near the village 3.

In these villages, too, there was the same low ratio between sowing-seed and yield, ju st as in the R ebollar. F ro m the reports o f Eljas it appears th a t the yield o f w heat was five times th at o f sowing (400 kilogram m es per hectare), and th a t o f rye four times (240 kgs.). Due to the shortage o f labourers and the abundance o f land, the less fertile soils in Perales used to be cropped only once in nine years, 4 as was also the case in 1 Pascual Madoz, op. cit. Tomo IX, p. 248; Tomo XIII, p. 523; Tomo XVI, p. 190.

2 An indication o f the fact that viticulture was o f great importance in the Southern Sierra before 1753 is a document from the year 1550 in het municipal archives of Gata, on the occasion of the visit o f the “Visitador” of the Military Order of Alcántara to this place, in which viticulture and wine are even mentioned as being the greatest wealth of this village!

Gervasio Velo y Nieto mentions a privilege dating from 1295 which granted inhabi­ tants of Gata and Torre de Don Miguel the right to graze their stock in Santibáñez, providing that no damage should be done to vineyards, grain-fields etc.

Another document where wine is mentioned is a protest dating from the year 1494, addressed by inhabitants of Salvaleón, Gata, Torre de Don Miguel, San Juan de Mascoras (Santibáñez el Alto), Villasbuenas de Gata, Valverde de la Sierra (del Fresno) and Cilleros against the obligatory deliveries of wine to the grand-master of Alcántara, “wherever he may be”. “El Castillo de Santibáñez el Alto”, pp. 58 and 74.

3 That wheat and barley were o f little importance and that rye dominated in the agriculture of the Sierra de Gata was nearly a century later also observed by Pascual Madoz: “cereal es centeno, no se cogen apenas trigo, ni cebada”, op. cit. Tomo IX, p. 248.

4 Resp. Gen. 4, Lugar de Perales del Puerto. oh

Valverde del Fresno. In San M artín de Trevejo, where olive-groves and vineyards to o k up m ost o f the cultivated area, little attention was given to cereal-growing, partly because the yields o f rye were low — about three times the am ount o f sowing. H ere the arable land had n o t been subdivided into hojas, because each vecino tilled his land as he wished or left it fallow ; on the whole a m ínim um fallow period o f four to five years was observed, while the owners prevented harm ful weeds and shrubs from grow ing by putting their goats to graze on the fallow land.

O n the other hand in the Trevejana-valley, where the villages o f Villamiel, Trevejo and Cilleros possessed lands, com m unal custom s were still very dom inant: the cropped area and the “barbecho-land” here had been divided into as m any pareéis as there were farm ers and were p u t up for lottery each year am ong the users. T hus there was no question here as yet o f perm anent prívate ow nership and individual exploitation o f the land, as there was already in San M artín de Trevejo *.

Finally, in the extensive m unicipality o f Santibáñez el Alto and the adjacent, m ore easterly m unicipalities o f H ernán-Pérez and Torrecilla de los Angeles, the arable land had been divided into a great m any hojas which were cropped every seven years, w ithout there being question o f any cultivation o f garbanzos or o f any other fallow crop, which was also the case in the other villages. In contrast to Eljas and Perales del Puerto, in Santibáñez el A lto w heat was n o t only sown in enclosed fields, but also on the best parts o f the land used for cereal-growing. The ratio between sowing-seed and yield fluctuated between 1 : 5 and 1 : 3 1 /2 (400 to 250 kgs. per ha.) for w heat, according to the quality o f the land; the yield o f rye usually am ounted to ten times the am ount o f sowing (about 400 kgs. o f rye per hectare) 2. Just as in the north, the arable land in the Southern Sierra, as far as it form ed a campo abierto and was divided into hojas, was used during the fallow period as com m unal grazing-land for the sheep and goats, and in some cases also for the draught-anim als, of the villagers.

D ue to the accidented relief o f the Southern Sierra, and an agricultural landscape com pletely different from the Rebollar in having a large num ­ ber o f olive-groves and vineyards and a smaller area o f arable land, there was no strongly m arked contrast between campo abierto and campo cerrado. H ow ever, walled, intensively cultivated and m ostly irrigated 1 Zoilo Espejo, “Materiales para el estudio del Derecho Municipal consuetudi­ nario de España”, Costumbres de Derecho y Economía rural, 1900. p. 125.

2 In contrast to most other villages, in Santibáñez el Alto only half a fanega of rye per fanega of land was sown instead of 3/4 fanega of seed.

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gardens also form ed an integral p a rt o f farm ing in the south. These irrigated gardens or huertas in the first place provided vegetables and pulses for dom estic consum ption, while in some m unicipalities m ention was also m ade o f potato-grow ing.

In Eljas a ninth p a rt o f the irrigated area was used for flax-grow ing: for tw o years in succession flax was cultivated on the same p lo t; in the third year it was generally cropped w ith irrigated w heat, the yield from which am ounted to ab o u t twice (nine tim es the am o u n t o f sowing) as m uch as th a t from unirrigated land l . All the same, flax-growing in the Southern Sierra was n o t as im p o rtan t as it was in the n o rth ; the area cropped w ith flax was so sm all that, a p a rt from Eljas, we find no further references to it in the C atastro de la E nsenada. In some villages flax-growing is n o t m entioned a t all, which otherw ise w ould certainly have been the case in view o f the fact th a t flax-growing was a profitable proposition.

Besides the annual “h u e rta -e ro ^ ” m entioned above, the irrigated gardens were also planted w ith fruit-trees, am ong which fig-, nut- and orangetrees were the m ost im portant. A lthough some o f the fruit was sold to buyers from the R ebollar o r to carriers from the Southern Sierra villages themselves, m uch o f it — as was the case with the annual crops — was used for dom estic consum ption. Ñ am es like “ El M o ral” and “ La M o raleda” p o in t to the fact th at form erly there were also m ulberry-trees in the Southern Sierra, although it seems th a t in 1753 silk-worm culture was no longer carried on. The only indication o f the disappearance o f silk-worm culture, which at the same tim e underlines the im portance o f olive-growing in those early days, is provided by a by-law dating from the year 1613, preserved in the archives o f G ata, where the breeding o f silk-worms is expressly forbidden as it is harm ful to the olive-trees 2.

In som e villages there were also small enclosed, unirrigated pieces o f land, called huertos which, ju st like those in the R ebollar, were chiefly used for the cultivation o f fodder-crops, and where each year rye and barley could be grow n, due to better m anuring. However, as only the Respuestas G enerales o f Eljas, Perales del P uerto and Santibáñez el A lto m ake m en­ tion o f these sm all fields, it seems reasonable to suppose th a t these huertos used to be characteristic o f those Sierra municipalities where p a rt o f the m unicipal territory was cropped w ith cereals, so th a t they probably possessed m ore draught-anim als th an those m ountain municipalities where there was no cereal-growing a t all.

1 Resp. Gen. 4, 10, Villa de las Heljas.

2 M. Guerra Hontiveros, “Apuntes históricos acerca de la Villa de Gata”, 1897.

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A n o t u nim portant source o f income in form er times was th a t from chestnut-w oods, especially in the m ountain m unicipalities o f D escargam aría, H oyos and San M artín de Trevejo, where these w oods covered a b o u t one third o f th at p a rt o f the m unicipal territory which was not taken up by monte and pastos. The yield o f chestnuts, which greatly depended on the quality o f the trees, was partly sold, and partly given as fodder to the ow ners’ p ig s 1; in the poorest villages chestnuts were also used for hum an consum ption as is still true to some extent in Robledillo de G ata 2. Besides the fruits and blossom s — which, as they contained plenty o f néctar, were m uch sought after by bees — the w ood o f these trees was also valuable: in Eljas the valué o f the annual yield o f w ood from the “ castañeras” o f one fanega varied from 21 to 48 reais a year, an am ount which m ore or less corresponded to the valué o f the yield o f m ilk, cheese and young stock from four to ten goats 3.

The scanty date on livestock m ake it very difik u lt to get a clear idea o f stock-keeping in the Southern Sierra. The fact th a t there were no cattle and sheep in the m ost accidented m unicipalities, together with the lack o f irrigated praderas, the small num ber o f herdsm en per village and the existence o f profitable cultures — particularly olive-growing and viticulture — however, justify the supposition th a t stock-keeping in the Southern Sierra was relatively less im portant th an in the R ebollar. Especi­ ally in the smaller m unicipalities the generally po o r quality and the small extent o f the pastures were unfavourable factors for stock-keeping, so that, for instance, stock-holders in San M artín de Trevejo had to lease pastures in other municipalities 4. Only in the lower lying m unicipalities, where viticulture was less im p o rtan t than rye-growing, had stock-keeping m any features in com m on w ith th a t in the R ebollar. H ere were dehesas boyales, where each vecino could graze his draught-anim als and cattle, either on paym ent o f a fixed sum or free, while the unirrigated huertos and the periodically cropped fields provided an indispensable addition o f fodder-rye and barley.

Just as in M artiago and P eñaparda, there also existed in Perales del Puerto, Acebo and some other villages which cam e under the jurisdiction o f Coria, o r in m unicipalities such as Santibáñez and T orre de D on 1 The municipal chestnut-woods in San Martín de Trevejo were communally exploited by the villagers. Resp. Gen. 4 of San Martín de Trevejo.

2 In the more easterly Hurdes chestnuts were even up till the twentieth century the most important food for the poor Hurdanos! M. Legendre, op. cit. pp. 152, 154, 165.

3 Resp. Gen. 13, 18, Villa de las Heljas.

4 Resp. Gen. 20, Villa de San Martín de Trevejo.

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M iguel, which belonged to the Encom ienda o f A lcántara, a “ C om unidad de P astos” w ith villages outside the S ie rra 1. A ny stock-holder, after having joined the com m unity, was free to graze his anim als on the monte and on the stuble-fields and pastures o f the territory belonging to the C om unidad.

Bee-keeping to o k up a very special position in the Southern Sierra.

W hereas no m ention is m ade o f bee-keeping in the grain-growing m unici­ palities o f Perales and Santibáñez, it appears from the Respuestas G ene­ rales o f the rem aining villages — especially D escargam aría — th a t apiculture was an im p o rtan t source o f income for some o f the villagers, due to the sale o f honey, wax and sw arm s; in some cases it was even m ore im p o rtan t th an goat-keeping. W hile in 1753 the profits from one goat were five to six reais, those from a bee-hive varied between six and eight reais, so th a t owners o f some scores o f hives — in H oyos one farm er even had m ore than a hundred h iv es2 — could be considered as belonging to the richer farm ers. * * * Just as in the R ebollar, some villagers in the Southern Sierra m unici­ palities, as well as receiving incom e from agriculture, m ade some extra m oney by plying some trade o r other during those times when there was no w ork to be done in the olive-groves and vineyards. In San M artín de Trevejo, however, it was n o t only men who tried to earn some extra m oney in this way, b u t also ab o u t fifteen wom en — am ong the poorest in the village — who tried to do this by baking bread for others 3. This could in no way be regarded as continuous w ork, b u t was done only now and then, so th a t they generally earned no m ore th an thirty reais a year.

It is strange th a t there is no m ention a t all o f this kind of extra earnings in any o f the other villages; m ost o f the vecinos used to bake their bread in their own ovens o r those belonging to others. The fact th a t there were professional female bread-bakers in San M artín de Trevejo m ay have had som ething to do with the fact th a t in this village o f 384 vecinos, ap a rt from a num ber o f carriers, there were 58 inhabitants who obtained their m ain 1 The inhabitants of Descargamaría, together with the vecinos o f the jurisdiction of Ciudad Rodrigo, possessed the communally exploited “Baldíos de Colodrero”, situated in the adjoining northern Sierra municipality of Robleda. Resp. Gen. 3, Villa de Descarga María.

2 Resp. Gen. 19, Lugar de Hoyos; Resp. Gen. 19, Villa de Descarga María.

3 In 1753 professional women-bakers were also to be found in other places.

Angel Cabo Alonso reports that in the Armuña, the district north of Salamanca, baking bread for other people was a lucrative business, as the near-by university town of Salamanca used to be a good market for the home-made bread. “La Armuña y su evolución económica”, pp. 129, 130.

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income from non-agrarian activities, a num ber th a t far exceeds th a t o f those who obtained a living outside agriculture in the other villages.

In the eighteenth century the carrying-trade was less im p o rtan t in the Southern Sierra, while it used to play such an im portant p a rt in the econom ic life o f the R ebollar. W hereas in the n o rthern villages m ore than 30% — in M artiago even m ore th an 70% — o f the vecinos were engaged in the carrying-trade, it appears from the following statistics 1 th at in the Southern municipalities carriers (i.e. muleteers) form ed only a small group in com parison with the total num ber o f vecinos-.

D escargam aría Eljas H oyos Perales del P. San M artín de T. Santibáñez el A. Valverde del Fr.

no carters or muleteers 17 m uleteers (15 with tw o and 2 with three mules) 6 m uleteers (5 w ith tw o and 1 m uleteer w ith three mules) no carters or muleteers 34 m uleteers (22 with one, 11 with two and 1 m uleteer with three mules) 1 m uleteer no carters or muleteers

66 313 233 163 384 60 283

In contrast to the R ebollar, the carrying-trade in the Southern Sierra was n o t a way o f earning extra m oney restricted to some m onths o f the year, b u t was m ostly carried on throughout the year by professional tradesm en, who had specialized in the tran sp o rt o f olive-oil to Castile, where as return-freight they bought grain for m aking bread, since in m any o f the m ountain m unicipalities grain was n o t cultivated. This is why the incom es obtained from the carrying-trade were considerably higher th an in the n o rth : in Santibáñez it brought in 1200 reais a year, in H oyos 1800 to 2100 reais, and in Eljas as m uch as 2700 reais annually 2, if a m an had three mules.

As a result o f the reduction o f the num ber o f ways o f m aking a living in the field o f agriculture after the dissolution o f the Encom ienda o f Eljas in the first h alf o f the 19th century, which brought w ith it a considerable reduction o f the territory o f Eljas, so th a t the cultivated area was reduced to about half o f w hat it used to be, it is no w onder th a t a century later the carrying-trade in Eljas had becom e one o f the chief sources o f in­ come. A ccording to Pascual M adoz 3 250 o u t o f the 500 vecinos who lived 1 Resp. Gen. 32 of the villages concerned.

2 Resp. Gen. 32 of Santibáñez, Hoyos and Eljas.

3 Pascual Madoz, op. cit. Tomo VII, p. 468.

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here in 1850 — th a t is m ore th an the to tal num ber o f carriers (carters as well as m uleteers) in all the other Sierra villages! — were engaged in the tran sp o rt o f olive-oil from the Southern Sierra to the no rth and in carrying grain. Eljas, however, was an exception in this respect; in the oth er Sierra municipalities carrying was only done by a few o f the in­ h abitants, or n o t at all.

The generally small num ber o f carriers in the Southern Sierra was probably due to the fact th a t farm ers in this area, because o f the lucrative olive-cultivation, were less dependent on extra earnings than the farm ers in the R ebollar, so th a t the carrying-trade in the south — w ith the ex­ ception o f Eljas — has rem ained restricted to a small num ber o f profes­ sional tradesm en. * * * W hen we com pare the agricultural situation in the n o rthern Sierra w ith th a t o f the south it can be concluded th a t two centuries ago farm ing in the Southern p art had a b ro ad er econom ic basis. A lthough in the m ost accidented parts cattle and horses were o f little im portance, this was am ply com pensated for by the profits obtained from olive-growing and — to a sm aller degree — from viticulture, while another n o t unim portant source o f incom e came from bee-keeping. T he situation in the lowerlying m unicipalities was even m ore favourable: here cereal-culture as well as cattle-breeding were also im portant agricultural activities. It is true th a t flax-growing in the Southern Sierra was n o t on a par w ith th at in the R ebollar, b u t the yields o f fruit and the sale o f chestnut-w ood sufficiently counterbalanced this. A lthough in an agricultural respect there are still great differences w ith the R ebollar, the Southern Sierra has no longer the same variety as tw o centuries ago, due to the radical changes th a t have taken place in agriculture since 1753.

2

C hanged land use in the Southern Sierra

Though it is extrem ely difficult to get a good idea o f the area which was taken up by monte and pastos in the eighteenth century, as this is based on estim ates, it can generally be said that, ju st as in the R ebollar, the cultivated area in m ost o f the m unicipalities o f the Southern Sierra has becom e larger since the 18th century 1. In contrast to the northern Sierra, where a fanega o f land varied with the quality o f the soil, the square m easures which were used in the Southern Sierra had fixed valúes, 1 The shrinkage in the area of waste land will no doubt have influeneed the composition o f the livestock, but the insufficient data given by the Respuestas Generales on the subject do not permit a comparison with the livestock as it is today.

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which m akes it possible to calcúlate the am o u n t o f land cultivated in 1752— 1753 in hectares, and to com pare this w ith the extent o f the cul­ tivated area today. I t should be noted, however, th a t the figures in hec­ tares o f cultivated land in the years 1752— 1753 are recalculations o f local square m easures — fanega, huebra, cuarta, peonada 1 — so th at they are n o t correct to a hectare.

In the statistics below a com parison has n o t only been m ade between the cultivated area in 1752 and th a t in 1955, o f a num ber o f Southern Sierra m unicipalities, b u t also between the am ount o f cultivated land per head o f the population in these yeais; the th iid colum n deais with increase and decrease in cultivated land and in population during the period 1752— 1955, which is given in percentages.

1752 2 cultiv. area in hectares 708 ha.

Acebo Descargamaría 121 „ Eljas 2113 „ 626 „ Hoyos Perales del Puerto 1214 „ S. Martín de Trevejo 588 „ Santibáñez el Alto 2923 „ Torre de D. Miguel 454 „ Valverde del Fresno 6588 „

1752—1955 2

1955 2

cultiv. land per head

cultiv. area in hectares

cultiv. land per head

0.48 0.35 1.35 0.54 1.48 0.31 9.74 0.38 4.65

717 318 1086 668 2007 962 3224 651 7339

0.29 0.44 0.54 0.42 1.15 0.58 2.85 0.40 1.67

ha. „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „

ha. „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „

ha. „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „

in- or de- in- or decrease in crease in cultiv. popula­ land in % tion in % 1.3% 162.8% -48.6 „ 6.8% 65.3% 63.6% 10.3% 43.4% 11.4%

67% 106% 28% 37% 114% -14% 278% 34% 211%

It is rem arkable th at the increase in cultivated area has been relatively highest in D escargam aría, a m unicipality where in fact there were few possibilities for extending cultivated land on a large scale, as — ju st like Acebo — D escargam aría is am ong the m ost accidented m unicipalities o f the Southern Sierra. The increase has n o t so m uch been the result o f clearing, b u t was caused by the annexation o f the territory o f Puñoenrostro in het 19th century, a despoblado where the inhabitants o f D es­ cargam aría possessed vineyards and olive-groves.

1 A fanega corresponds to an area of 10,000 square Castilian roods, i.e. 0.6987 ha., corresponding to 2!/2 to 3 huebras, or 5 to 6 cuartas. In Acebo a fanega corresponded to 16,900 square Castilian roods, in Hoyos and Perales del Puerto respectively to 6400 ( = 1 2 peonadas) and 5625 square roods.

2 Data taken from the Respuestas Generales, Catastro de la Riqueza Rústica and the Padrón of 1955 on these municipalities.

105

D espite the increase in cultivated area it appears from the above statistics th a t in m ost o f the municipalities the area o f cultivated land per head o f the population has decreased, especially in extensive and lower-lying m unicipalities with the m ost cultivated land, like Santibáñez el A lto and Valverde del Fresno. This has been b rought about by the relatively large increase in population in these m unicipalities since the 18th century. On the other h and in Eljas, m ore so than by any dem ographic factor, a decrease o f the cultivated land p er head o f the population is the result o f loss o f territo ry after the dissolution o f the Encom ienda o f Eljas in the 19th century — which has been m entioned before.

Only in some m unicipalities is the area o f cultivated land per head o f the population larger than it was in the 18th century, which is due to the fact th a t the increase in population has n o t kept pace with the extensión o f the cultivated area. The clearest example is San M artín de Trevejo where the population has decreased, whereas after the dissolution o f the Encom ienda o f T orre (de) la M ata the croplands o f this m unicipality were extended by m ore th an 63 %.

In m any cases the ever increasing need for cultivated land, a result o f the increase in population in m ost municipalities, led n o t only to a reduction o f land per head (despite the opening-up o f new croplands), b u t also brought ab o u t a splitting-up o f the cultivated area, so th a t even in 1850 Pascual M adoz could speak o f a “ división inm ensa de la propiedad” l .

A further reason why the distribution o f landed property in the Southern Sierra is o f a m ore com plicated character th an in the R ebollar, is the socalled” suelo y vuelo” , a way o f splitting up landed property by which the soil (“ suelo”) and the trees on it (“ vuelo” ) belong to different owners.

Besides this the law o f succession also m ade for a fragm entation o f landed property; although the incom pleteness o f the d ata o f the E stadística de G rado de Parcelación o f the Delegación N acional de Sindicatos o f 1956 concerning the Southern Sierra m unicipalities m akes it impossible to get an exact idea o f the fragm entation o f land in the Southern Sierra, yet these d ata suggest th a t in m ost o f the m unicipalities 30% to 40% — in Robledillo de G ata as m uch as 59 % — o f the pareéis are less th a n 0.25 hectare.

Ju st like its north ern counterpart, the Southern Sierra is a territory where small properties predom ínate 2; estates o f m ore than a hundred 1 Pascual Madoz, op. cit. Tomo VIII, p. 331.

2 Cf. J. Dantín Cereceda in his “Ensayo acerca de las regiones naturales de España” (Tomo I, 1922): “Las modalidades de distribución de la población en un territorio, se deben tanto a la naturaleza geológica del terreno cuanto al relieve. Ello explica que

106

hectares are exceptions, so th a t very striking differences in prosperity between a few rich big landow ners and a large proletariat w ithout any land, a social structure found in parts o f Spain south o f the river Tagus, are n o t characteristic o f this m ountain area. It appears from the following statistics th a t large landed properties o f hundred hectares and m ore in the Southern Sierra are o f even less im portance th an in the R ebollar.

Statistics o f landed property in % o f the total area in the northern and the Southern Sierra Large landed pro­ perties : more than 100 hectares

Municipal proper­ ty (bienes de pro­ pio and bienes comunales) 2

Small properties

Average area of small pro­ perty per owner

Northern Sierra

10.2%

36.7%

53.1%

5.8 ha.

Southern Sierra

9.6%

7.3%

83.1%

6.2 „

14.6%

8.3%

77.1%

6

6.3%

93.7%

2.2 „

7.2%

83.9%

8.1 „

Mountain-municipalities (group I) 3 Small municipali­ ties, specialized in olive-cultivation (group 2) 3 Lower-lying oliveand grain-growing municipalities (group 3 ) 3

8.9%

„

Large properties o f m ore th an 100 hectares, a result o f the purchase o f land by prívate persons at the tim e o f the desam ortization in the first h alf o f the last century, are chiefly found in those m unicipalities which in form er times form ed p art o f the Encom iendas o f A lcántara, th a t is in the m ountain-m unicipality o f G ata and in the lower situated m unici­ palities Cilleros and Santibáñez el Alto. But even in these m unicipalities large landed properties cover less th an one third o f the to tal acreage, so th at the rem ark o f Pascual M adoz ab o u t the desam ortization n o t having la montaña sea el lugar por excelencia de las aldeas y caseríos próximos y de la pe­ queña propiedad. . .” Even more than the natural factors, which are given first place by Dantín Cereceda as a physical geographer, it has been the historical evolution as outlined in the second chapter, which has led to the Sierra de Gata being an area of predominantly small farmers.

1 Taken from data of the Catastro de la Riqueza Rústica.

2 Cf. p. 59.

3 See the groupings of Southern Sierra municipalities given on pp. 94 and 95.

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b ro u g h t ab o u t radical changes in the distribution o f property, applies to the whole o f the Southern Sierra *.

In D escargam aría the large landed properties are m ainly m unicipal lands which, unlike the bienes comunales and bienes de propio, are n o t collectively used by the villagers or leased o u t to inhabitants, b u t are planted w ith pines and exploited by the m unicipality itself. Besides these large landed properties, there are in m ost o f the villages com m unal lands th a t are used by the villagers as grazing-land for their anim als, ju st as in the R ebollar. W h at is striking, however, is the sm all im portance o f these bienes comunales an d bienes de propio in the Southern Sierra, com ­ pared w ith those in the n o rth 2. As the m unicipal pasture- lands are usually sm all in area, in some villages farm ers w ho do n o t possess pastures o f their own have to graze their sheep and goats on the pastures o f fellowvillagers and C om unidades, on a certain paym ent per anim al, o r — and this is especially the case in C adalso and Torre de D o n M iguel — graze their anim als in other m unicipalities.

M ore im p o rtan t than the changes in the extent o f the cultivated area or in the distribution o f p roperty after 1752 are those th a t since the m iddle o f the eighteenth century have taken place on the cultivated land itself; these changes in their tu rn were caused by factors o f a different nature.

The d ata given by the C atastro de la E nsenada enable us to com pare the división o f cultivated land according to the way it was used in 1752 w ith th a t o f 1955, w hich is based on d ata from the C atastro de la R iqueza R ústica, in the m ountain-m unicipalities o f A cebo and D escargam aría; in the small, an d accidented m unicipalities H oyos, San M artín de Trevejo an d T orre de D o n M iguel; in Eljas, bordering on San M artín de Trevejo, a m unicipality w ith a greater percentage o f flat lan d ; and in the lower situated and less accidented m unicipalities o f Perales del Puerto, San­ tibáñez el A lto and V alverde del Fresno, the last tw o o f which are am ong the m ost extensive “ m unicipios” o f the Southern Sierra 3.

1 Pascual Madoz, op. cit. Tomo IX, p. 248.

2 This is one of the main reasons why the extent of re-afforestation carried out by the Patrimonio Forestal del Estado has lagged behind that in the northern Sierra. The re-afforestation envisaged by the “Plan Cáceres” — in contrast to the Rebollar — chiefly concems the privately owned pasture-lands; this means that the future returns of the forests that have already been planted or that will be planted in conjunction with the State, will go to the owners of the land themselves, after the debts to the Patrimonio Forestal have been paid off.

3 It should be noted, however, that in the Respuestas Generales of Acebo the acreage taken up by fruit-trees is not mentioned separately, while in the Respuestas Generales of Hoyos and Descargamaría huertas and fruit-trees were probably included in the area planted with vines.

108

1955

OLIVE -TREES

CEREALS

TOTAL CULTIVATED AREA 16,972 H A .

CHESTNUT -

IR R IG A T E D L A N D ( "H U E R T A S ") A N D

TRE ES

N O T -IR R IC A T E D " H U E R T O S "

FRUIT-TREES

VINES

((Taken from data o f the Catastro del Marqués de la Ensenada and of the Catastro de la Riqueza Rústica).

*

*

*

Little now rem ains o f the viticulture which used to be so im portant.

The m ap on page 119 gives an idea o f the present State o f viticulture in the Sierra de G ata. Only in the w estern p a rt o f the Southern Sierra is it still carried on to some extent; but there is little trace o f the once exten­ sive vineyards in the A rrago valley and in the sm aller municipalities, such as H oyos and T orre de D o n Miguel. Only on some small fields has vinegrowing m anaged to survive at all, often in cultivo asociado with olives.

The num erous terraces which one comes across on the Southern slopes of the m ountains and which go to a great height, were in m any cases once used for intensive viticulture, b u t are now com pletely neglected and have becomes mere pastos-, the lower-lying terraces are sometimes planted 109

w ith pines, or have becom e unirrigated huertos, in m ost cases, however, they have becom e olive-groves.

W hat is left over o f the acreage th a t used to be under vines is now alm ost entirely concentrated in the vicinity o f the villages. The reason for this is also partly the explanation for the disappearance o f viticulture in the less central parts o f the m unicipalities: for only in those fields near to the village is the difference in rem unerativeness between this exacting culture and olive-growing less great; in those fields m ore distant from the villages olive-growing, which is m ore lucrative and requires less labour, was m ore advantageous. This gradual decline o f viticulture, due to its being less profitable th an olive-growing dates back to the m iddle o f the last century i : Pascual M adoz stated in 1850 2 th a t viticulture in the Sierra de G ata was becom ing less im p o rtan t because m any vineyards were con­ verted into olive-groves 3.

The period o f gradual decline o f the area intended for vine-culture ended a t the end o f the 19th century because o f the occurence o f phylloxera, the vine-pest, which w ithin a sh o rt tim e caused viticulture to disappear alm ost entirely for some years from the Southern Sierra. The result was th a t — even m ore th an in form er tim es — people applied themselves to olive-growing; only the highest lands an d those th a t were furthest from the villages, where olive-cultivation, too, was less profitable, were no longer used.

The disappearance o f viticulture did not lead to a decrease in the num ber o f inhabitants 4, although the dem and for agricultural labour in this m ountain area, which is characterized by small holdings, will have lessened considerably, the m ore so because the partial replacem ent by olive-growing, which requires less labour, did n o t suíficiently m ake up for this.

Only in those places where viticulture still offered some prospects, th a t is in the vicinity o f the villages, were some fields replanted with A m erican 1 Although even before this, too, there had been question of a difference in re­ munerativeness : according to the Respuestas Generales of Perales del Puerto, the valué of the yield of one fanega planted with olive-trees of good quality surpassed that of one fanega o f good vines by 34 reais, that is without taking account of the greater number of working-hours per fanega of vines!

2 Pascual Madoz, op. cit. Tomo IX, p. 248.

3 In the year 1897, at the time of the phylloxera-plague, M. Guerra Hontiveros (in his “Apuntes históricos acerca de la Villa de Gata”) points to the fact that before the fatal phylloxera much land that in former times had been planted with vines had become fallow.

4 It appears from the population-curve on page 193, however, that the demographical development in the period 1887—1900 practically stagnated, although this was true for the whole of Spain at that time.

110

vines, a species th at turned out to be p ro o f against vine-pest. This attem pt at reviving viticulture in the Sierra de G ata, however, has been lim ited to a few villages, and even so on a very small scale; viticulture here has never recovered from the devastating blow dealt by phylloxera; olive-growing has w on the day fo r good.

Cilleros, Villamiel and San M artín de Trevejo are the only villages where the acreage planted with vines exceeds fifty hectares. Owing to p o o r soil, however, the yields are small and are dropping, because the plants are already o íd : the A m erican vine usually does n o t live fo r m ore th an 40 to 50 years. T h at is why this m odest attem pt a t reviving viticulture is bound to fail; because o f the low yields and the am ount o f lab o u r involved (ploughing, digging up the soil around the stems, pruning and picking the grapes) the oíd plants are often n o t replaced by new ones, but preference is given to the planting o f young olive-trees.

The conversión o f a vineyard into an olive-grove often takes place even before the vines have become com pletely im productive. The advantage o f this so-called cultivo asociado o f vines and olive-trees is th a t while the plants are still producing grapes, the young olive-trees can get through their long grow ing-period ,when — despite the fact th a t the trees begin to bear fruit after five to six years — the expenses are n o t yet m ade good by the returns. A nother advantage o f this mixed culture is th a t the w ork necessary for viticulture and th a t for olive-growing, partly correspond to each other.

The average yield o f one hectare o f unirrigated land which is only used for viticulture in the Sierra de G ata varíes from about 1500 kgs. to 1800 kgs. o f grapes, which m akes it possible to obtain 9 to 11 hectolitres o f wine per hectare, which is m ore th an in 1752, w hen from a cuarta o f good soil, planted w ith 400 vines, only seven cántaras o f wine (corresponding to 10 hectolitres per hectare) were obtained ]. W hen thew ineproduction from one hectare o f land in the Sierra de G ata is com pared with the production-figures o f m ore than 16 hl. and 26 hl. o f wine per hectare in the adjacent provinces o f Toledo and Badajoz 2 — figures which are still very m uch below those o f the G alician and C atalan coastal provinces — the low yields from viticulture in this m ountain area are very striking indeed. The yields from the vineyards are now adays m ostly for dom estic use. F rom the statistics below it can be seen th at wine-production in m any Sierra m unicipalities is only o f m inor im portance: 1 Resp. Gen. 13, Villa de Torre de Don Miguel.

2 Anuario Estadístico de la producción agrícola. Campaña 1956— 1957. Cuadro núm. 77. Ministerio de Agricultura.

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Acreage under vines and production o f wine in the Southern municipalities o f the Sierra de Gata 1 acreage production monoculture Acebo Cadalso Cilleros Descargamaría Eljas Gata Hernán-Pérez Hoyos • Perales del Puerto Robledillo de Gata S. Martín de Trevejo Santibáñez el Alto Torrecilla de los A. Torre de D. Miguel Valverde del Fresno Villamiel Villasbuenas de Gata

2.7 19.3 102.6 7.9 11 8.3 6.9 8.6 4 33 54 5 9.7 4.9 7.5 61

ha. „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ JJ

mixed culture __ — — — 11 ha.

— — — — 2 „ 2 „ — — — — — —

24 hl.

15 „ 199.7 „ 6 „ 200 „ 35 „ 2 „ 4 „ 11.2 „ 350 „ 240 „ 4 „ 80 „ 27.5 „ 11.1 „ 568.5 „ —

The great difference betw een the area planted w ith vines and the winep roduction from it is due to the fact th a t in m ost o f the villages the owners eat the grapes straightaw ay; only in Villamiel and R obledillo de G ata — whose wines have always h a d a certain rep utation — and in Acebo and Eljas are grapes chiefly used for m aking wine.

A p art from Acebo where m ost o f the wine is intended for dom estic use, com m ercial wine-growing is chiefly confined to these villages, although in Cilleros, San M artín de Trevejo and T orrecilla de los Angeles some far­ m ers also sell p art o f their wine to keepers o f local “ bares” and “ tab ern as” or to publicans in other Sierra villages. However, as a source o f income viticulture in these villages, too, is o f m inor im portance.

In contrast to the m aking o f oil, in which in this century m ore m odern techniques have replaced the form er prim itive m ethods o f p re ssin g 2, the m aking o f wine is still done in the oíd traditional w ay : the grapes are spread o u t on a stone floor an d trod d en under f o o t 3; the grape-juice flows along the gently sloping floor into a pit in the centre. F ro m the

rem aining pulp w hat is know n as “ bagazo” , brandy 1 is distilled, as also happens with the “ b o rras” , the dregs o f the wine (though the quality of this “ aguardiente de bo rras” is considerably low er th a n w hat is distilled from the pulp).

A part from the small brandy-distillery o f Cilleros, despite the severe prohibition and the punishm ents im posed on hom e distilling, brandy is here en there distilled with simple distilling ap paratus in a clandestine way. The sharpened control on hom e distilling and the drop in w ine-production in m ost o f the Sierra villages have m ade such illegal practices less and less com m on o f late.

The young “ wine” is stored in casks, so th a t any rem aining dregs and im purities can settle and the process o f ferm entation begin. A t first this process is a drastic one, b u t after about tw o weeks it slows dow n, and it takes a further three m onths to change the glucose into alcohol. The dregs are usually rem oved after three m onths, and after six m onths — provided it is sufficiently purified — the wine is fit for consum ption.

A lthough the production is low, because the plants are oíd and the soil is poor (the vineyards are seldom m anured, because m ost o f the m anure is used for irrigated gardens and olive-groves) the “ Sierra wine” thus obtained is o f a reasonable quality. This is probably the m ain reason why, despite the low yield, in m any municipalities there are still some vineyards to be found. ** * Just like the acreage under vines, the area planted with chestnut-trees, which is m ainly confined to the m ore accidented municipalities, has been reduced to an enorm ous extent since 1752, especially in Acebo and D es­ cargam aría where very little now rem ains o f the form er chestnut-w oods.

W hereas the decline o f viticulture was n o t only due to phylloxera, b u t also to the fact it was less profitable th an olive-growing, the reduction of the area planted w ith chestnut-trees is entirely due to a natu ral factor, viz. the chestnut-disease or “ m al de tin ta ” 2, on account o f which the yield o f chestnuts goes down considerably, the w ood desiccates and is generally greatly reduced in valué, and in the end trees affected by the disease die. Elsewhere, too, the chestnut-disease w rought great destructio n : in the neighbouring H urdes m ost o f the chestnut-trees were affected

1 Taken from the Jefatura Agronómica y Delegación de la Comisaría de Abasteci­ mientos y Transportes, Reseña Estadística de la Provincia de Cáceres. 1957.

2 Cf. pp. 133, 134.

3 The yield of grapes of one fanega of land (64.6 ares) planted with vines can be worked like this by two men in one day.

1 On an average half a cántara of brandy can be obtained from the pulp o f 25 cántaras of wine.

2 Caused by a parasite, “Phytophtora cambivora”, which since 1900 has destroyed 50% of the chestnut-trees in Extremadura, Salamanca and Asturias, 75% of those in Galicia and Basque-land. J. Elorrieta y Artaza, “El Castaño en España”, 1949. pp. 221, 230, 231.

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8

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by it in the middle o f the 19th c e n tu ry 1. It is, however, n o t certain w hether the disease appeared in the H urdes and the Sierra de G a ta at the same tim e, b u t it is a fact th a t the dreaded “m al de tin ta ” has been know n for m any years. In a note dating from 1803, Luis Pablo M erino de V argas m entions the destructive disease, which first appeared in the Extrem enian com m unity o f Jarandilla, situated on the slopes o f the Sierra de G redos 2.

F ro m there the disease spread to the villages o f the Valle de Plasencia and to m ore westerly com m unities, am ong which special m ention is m ade o f C asar de Palom ero, only fourteen kilom etres distant from Torrecilla de los Angeles, as the crow flies. In the Sierra de G ata, however, the dis­ ease cannot have m ade its appearance until after 1784, because neither the R espuestas Generales, ñ o r A ntonio Ponz m ake any m ention o f it.

D uring the 19th century the “ m al de tin ta ” spread th roughout the province o f Cáceres and the neighbouring provinces o f Salam anca and Avila, while since 1900 the disease has become so virulent th a t the rem aining area o f chestnut-trees is now being threatened w ith com plete destruction 3.

In the Sierra de G ata, however, the chestnut-disease did n o t have such fatal consequences as in the p o o r H urdes, where chestnut-trees used to be one o f the m ost im p o rtan t sources o f “ w ealth” . H ere the destruction o f the chestnut-trees brought w ith it great distress, and even led to the partial depopulation o f some h a m le ts4; in the Sierra de G ata there were few signs o f any great decrease in population.

The table below shows the num ber o f vecinos 5 in the period 1753— 1875 in five villages where a great p a rt o f the m unicipal territory had been planted w ith chestnut-trees 6.

1 M. Legendre, op. cit. p. 154.

2 According to what is reported by Antonio Ponz in his “Viage de España”, burning down the diseased trees, cutting off infected branches, and other desperate attempts on the part o f the population to protect the trees from destruction were o f no avail. Therefore, towards the end o f the eighteenth century, the badly hit villagers took more and more to planting parts of the former “castañares” with olive-trees and vines.

Antonio Ponz, op. cit. Tomo VII, Carta VI. 3 J. Elorrieta y Artaza, op. cit. pp. 223, 224, 228.

4 M. Legendre, op. cit. pp. 155, 156.

5 In this table it is the number o f vecinos per village in different years that are com­ pared with each other, because the number of inhabitants — especially for the year 1753 — is based on estimates; it is not until the first official census in 1887 that the principal figure is that of the number o f inhabitants per village.

6 Data taken from the Respuestas Generales of the various villages, the “D iccio­ nario geográfico, estadístico, histórico de España” of Pascual Madoz from the year 1850 and the “Prontuario Alfabético-Geográfico-Estadístico y Administrativo de los Ayuntamientos de España” by Aristipo Guillem from 1877 (concerning the years 1860 and 1875).

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Acebo D escargam aría H oyos Robledillo de G ata S. M artín de Trevejo

1753

1850

1860

1875

297 66 233

430 150 390 120 450

382 176 403 166 512

448 194 478 190 486

384

F rom these figures it appears that, despite the chestnut-disease which was prevalent a t this time, there was an increase in the num ber o f vecinos w ith the exception o f A cebo, although the decline o f 1860 was am ply m ade u p again in 1875. A fter 1860 only San M artín de Trevejo shows a continuous dro p in the num ber o f its inhabitants, b u t it is very doubtful w hether this was only a result o f the fact th at chestnut-trees h a d becom e less im p o rtan t as a source o f incom e. Just as after the disastrous attack o f phylloxera at the end o f the nineteenth century, the owners o f the chestnut-trees affected by the disease in the Southern Sierra could fall back on olive-culture, which was far less possible in the stony H urdes, where n o t only physical, b u t also historical factors have had a restricting influence on the developm ent o f olive-growing i. As it happens, it was in those villages where the reduction o f the acreage under vines and chestnuttrees was greatest th a t olive-cultivation has increased m ost in im portance!

A lthough d ata are lacking it is quite possible th a t — ju st as in the H u r­ des — in the Southern Sierra, too, p a rt o f the area affected by the disease was replanted, b u t the constant recurrence o f this pest prevented a com ­ plete recovery. In m ost o f the Sierra m unicipalities castañares nowadays take up only a few hectares o r have disappeared for ever. Only in Hoyos, Robledillo de G ata and San M artín de Trevejo are there still m ore th an a hundred hectares planted with chestnut-trees, b u t here too the trees have becom e m uch less im portant th an they were two centuries ago: because chestnut-trees exploited as “ m onte b ajo ” suffer less from the disease, the young trees are now adays generally cut down after six to eight years. The yield o f wood per hectare is therefore considerably less th an if the trees had reached full grow th, while the sale o f chestnuts to farm ers in lower situated m unicipalities o r to villagers from Castile, which even Pascual M adoz m entioned 2, hardly any longer occurs, as the low er yield o f fruit from those fully-grown trees which still rem ain is used as fodder for the pigs o f their owners. Only in the p o o r m ountain1 Cf. p. 41.

2 Pascual M adoz, op. cit. T om o IX , p. 248.

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m unicipality o f R obledillo de G a ta where there is no cereal-growing and where, due to the small extent o f the area taken up by olive-trees, m any people do n o t possess the m eans to supply their own need fo r grain to m ake bread, are chestnuts still partly used for hum an consum ption. *

*

*

U nlike those vineyards and chestnut-trees which still rem ain, the irri­ gated gardens, although they are sm all in area, play an im portant p a rt in the agriculture o f the Southern Sierra. This is show n by the fact th a t in all m unicipalities the “huerta-acreage” has increased since 1752. A l­ though this increase was undoubtedly also influenced by the grow th o f the population, yet other factors, too, have played a part. This is m ost evident in San M artín de Trevejo, where irrigated land in 1752 occupied only 1.1 % o f the cultivated area as com pared w ith 7.4% o f a m ore th an one and a h a lf times larger cultivated area at present. This increase, how ­ ever, has had n o connection w ith an enlargem ent o f the area planted with huerta-crops th a t becam e necessary because o f any increase in p o p u ­ lation, for, as it happens, the num ber o f inhabitants has decreased here since 1860. Besides the previously m entioned territorial m odifications m ade after the abolishm ent o f the Encom ienda o f Torre (de) la M ata, by which irrigated land was added to the m unicipal territory o f San M artín de Trevejo, the irrigated area was also enlarged by m aking praderas, irrigated m eadow s used for hay- as wel as grazing-land, a kind o f land use n o t m entioned in 1752 by the Respuestas G enerales in dealing w ith this co m m u n ity 1. The m aking o f praderas, which in the other Sierra m unici­ palities did n o t take place, or scarcely a t all, m ight be taken to point to an increased im portance o f cattle and large draught-anim als, a develop­ m ent which, as we have seen, has taken place in the R ebollar since the eighteenth c e n tu ry 2. However, this hypothesis, is refuted by the R es­ puestas G enerales o f San M artín, which are the only ones where d ata are given concerning the size and com position o f livestock, with the exception o f horses, donkeys and mules. In 1753 San M artín possessed 480 cows, 1450 sheep, 578 goats and 148 p ig s 3; when we com pare this w ith the Census o f Livestock o f 1956 when these figures were respectively 420, 1 As there are no figures about the extent of irrigated lands in the Respuestas Gene­ rales of Hoyos and Descargamaría we have no means to find out how far the area of irrigated land has increased in these municipalities since 1753; if there was any such increase, however, it cannot have been due to the forming of irrigated meadows, for there are no praderas, either in Hoyos or in Descargamaría.

2 Cf. pp. 67 and 68.

3 Resp. Gen. 20, Villa de San Martin de Trevejo.

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2850, 718 and 499, it is clear th at, unlike the northern Sierra m unicipali­ ties, no shift in favour o f cattle to o k place here *.

The explanation o f this rem arkable increase in praderas in spite o f the fact th at the num ber o f cattle did n o t increase, is perhaps th at the m aking o f irrigated m eadows m ade it less necessary for stock-holders in the small m unicipality o f San M artín de Trevejo to rent pasture-grounds in other municipalities for their relatively large num ber o f cattle 2, as was a comm on practice in the eighteenth century. A n other favourable circum stance was the fact th a t the valley o f the Río de la Vega, a river w ith w ater in plenty, provided excellent opportunities for m aking praderas.

W here irrigation seemed possible and the condition o f the land allowed it, huertas cam e into being, intensively cultivated “ gardens” owned by villagers, m ostly small in extent which, due to a great deal o f m anuring, are am ong the m ost fertile agricultural grounds o f the Sierra de G ata.

The m ost suitable places for huertas are the pieces o f lands by small rivers and brooks, b u t in some m ountain-villages huertas m ay also be found on artificial terraces laid o u t along the slopes, which are irrigated by an ingenious system o f small stream s trapped into canals, which flow dow nw ards along a series o f steps.

Since 1753 even m ore changes have taken place in the cultivated crops th an in the area taken up by gardens. Just as in the R ebollar, flax-growing has gone o u t com pletely in the Southern Sierra. Though flax-growing here did not have the same im portance as in the north, one is still rem inded o f this culture by “ salientes” , stone projections on to p o f the houses, over which a stick was placed on which the flax was hung to dry. T oday these “ salientes” are used for drying and ripening maize and pim iento.

O n the other hand potato-grow ing has increased considerably, a deve­ lopm ent w hich was noted by M adoz as early as 1850, b u t which forty years before was practically non-existent. W hereas in the H urdes, accord­ ing to M . Legendre, the rise o f potato-grow ing was connected with the disappearance o f one o f the oldest kinds o f food, the c h e s tn u t3, this cannot be true for the Southern Sierra, for in practically every Sierra 1 On the contrary these figures indícate that the number of sheep and goats has increased, completely unlike the Rebollar where the breaking up and cultivation of natural pastures had an unfavourable effect on the number of sheep and goats that were kept.

2 Although San Martín de Trevejo is the third smallest municipality of the Southern Sierra, it possesses, according to the Census of Livestock of 1956 (see p. 76), most cattle after the extensive municipalities of Cilleros, Valverde del Fresno and Santibáñez el Alto.

3 M. Legendre, op. cit. p. 150.

117

1 It is possible, however, that the chestnut-disease stimulated the growing of potatoes in the poorer villages, where people used to make flour from chestnuts for human consumption.

118

119

(Taken from data of the Catastro de la Riqueza Rústica).

Viticulture, irregated agriculture and orange-cultivation in the Sierra de Gata.

m unicipality — also in those places where chestnut-trees were never very im portant, such as Perales del Puerto and Santibáñez el A lto — potatoes are grow n in the huertas '.

Besides potatoes the principal crops grown in the huertas today are clover, rye and barley — which cut when green, are used as fodder for the draught-anim als — m aize (m ostly used as chicken- and pig-food), and the crops exclusively for hum an consum ption, such as vegetables, pulses, onions, m elons and pim ientos. In m ost cases the crops cultivated in the gardens supply only the ow ners’ needs. Farm ers with a large huerta also sell p art o f their crops to the local “ despacho” (that is if there is one), where those villagers who do n o t possess a garden o f their own, or whose huerta is too small to provide them with all they need, can obtain agri­ cultural produce.

Ju st as tw o centuries ago, m any gardens are also planted w ith fruittrees: pear-, peach-, cherry- and fig-trees and — in sheltered places — orange-trees; b u t rarely w ith olive-trees.

It is true th a t from a com parison between the diagram s on page 109 it appears th a t the area exclusively taken up with fruit-trees in some m unici­ palities (especially in T orre de D on M iguel and Santibáñez el A lto) has becom e som ew hat smaller, b u t then it should n o t be forgotten th a t in the huertas laid out since the eighteenth century fruit-trees were also p lan t­ ed, so th a t in general the num ber o f fruit-trees will n o t have decreased.

The m ap on page 119 shows the huerta-aren in the Southern Sierra; w hat is striking is the relatively large acreage used for orange-culture in H oyos and Acebo. Owing to the mild clim ate o f these sheltered villages this cul­ tu re covers respectively 11 and over 35 hectares, and together w ith olivegrow ing is fo r m any farm ers an im p o rtant form o f agricultural activity.

O range-grow ing is m ostly done as mixed culture w ith annual crops: the trees are planted far a p a rt and allow sufficient sunshine and light for maize, fodder-grains o r potatoes to be planted underneath them . The culture requires little w ork in these villages: in spring the soil o f the gardens is dug over, the trees are pruned if necessary, while during the sum m er-m onths the trees are irrigated once every eight days and the soil around the tru n k s is regularly cleared o f weeds. The fruits, which begin to ripen in January, are sold to m erchants in F ebruary and M arch; for their owners the returns o f the orange-groves are, besides w hat is yielded by olive-groves and livestock, a n o t u n im portant source o f income.

As well as in the huertas, a yearly cultivation o f annual crops also takes place on unirrigated lands which — although they produce smaller quantities th a n the huertas — due to a regular m anuring, yield potatoes, pulses and fodder-crops. W hile the Respuestas Generales m ention unirrigated, annualy cropped fields only in the low er situated municipalities, nowadays these unirrigated fields can also be found in the m ore accidented villages. It has already been said th a t since viticulture has gone out, m any disused vine-terraces n ear to villages have now becom e olive-groves or have been turned into unirrigated gardens. This developm ent will undoubtedly have contributed to the increase o f the percentage o f “ irrigated land and unirrigated huertos” w ithin the cultivated area. ** * The extensión o f cultivated land has partly been the result o f an enlargem ent o f the area used for cereal-growing. Y et in general it m ay be stated th a t this increase in arable land has n o t been equal to th a t in the R ebollar, which is understandable as the Southern Sierra is m ore acci­ dented, and is therefore m ore suited to arboriculture th an to cerealgrowing. This and the fact th a t cereal-culture is less profitable th an olivecultivation have been the principal reasons why in m any municipalities the land used for the growing o f cereals now adays takes up a smaller percentage o f the cultivated area th an it did in the 18th century (in Acebo the area o f arable land has even been greatly reduced).

Therefore the increased im portance o f cereal-culture in the small m uni­ cipality o f H oyos is the m ore striking; unlike T orre de D on Miguel physical conditions here are n o t favourable for grow ing grains.

W hereas in 1753 there had been no question o f cropping land w ith rye or w heat in H oyos, from the diagram s on page 109 it appears th a t tw o cen­ turies later m ore th an 10% o f the cultivated area was used for cerealculture. T he developm ent in favour o f grain-growing seems to be in flat contradiction to w hat was stated above. This increased im portance o f cereal-culture in the m unicipality o f H oyos, however, was due to the purchase by the m unicipality, in the last century, o f the dehesa C arrascal in the neighbourhood o f Calzadilla, a village situated some distance from the Sierra de G ata in the plain o f M oraleja. Originally the arable land in this dehesa was com m unally exploited by the inhabitants o f H oyos, while the m unicipality annually leased out the pastures and sold the yield o f acorns to the highest bidder, using the revenues obtained in this way to cover m unicipal expenditure or as a contribution to the taxes l . The small 1 Pascual Madoz, op. cit. Tomo IX, p. 246.

120

grain-yields, due to the po o r quality o f the soil and the fact th a t the fields in the dehesa C arrascal were far away — m ore th an tw enty kilom etres from Hoyos! — were the m ain reasons why the com m unal exploitation was n o t very succesful. Therefore the m unicipality decided to lease out the fields and the pastures each year to the highest bidders, who often were n o t natives o f H oyos. Cereal-growing in Carrascal, however, is now a thing o f the past, because this dehesa was included in an irrigationproject o f the “ Colonización In terio r” in the plain o f M oraleja, and now is p a rt o f the colonization-village o f La M oheda, which was started in 1957.

M ore changes have come about on the arable land itself th an in the size o f the area used for cereal-growing. Only the grain-fields in the valleys o f the A rrago and the Traigas still show the original división into hojas.

Just as in m ost o f the m unicipalities in the northern Sierra, the arable land here form s a campo abierto, although some intensivation has taken place, so th at now adays rye is grow n once every four years and n o t every five to seven years, as in the eighteenth century.

On the other hand a m ore advanced individualization o f cereal-culture in the western p art o f the Sierra has m ade the oíd com m unal habits die out >.

In the Southern Sierra fields are no longer annually p u t up for lottery anywhere, and both in the extensive grain-fields south o f Cilleros and in the valley o f the Trevejana and the valley below Eljas the original división o f arable land into hojas has disappeared.

A lthough grain-fields still take up a considerable percentage o f the terri­ tory o f the lower situated m unicipalities — in Valverde del Fresno 30% , in H ernán-Pérez and Perales del Puerto 37% , and in Cilleros as m uch as 77% — cereal-growing is n o t nearly so im portant as the extensive grain-cropped area w ould lead one to think. The great distance in general between the fields and the farm houses, concentrated in the villages, together with the great am ount o f fragm entation o f the land (in the valleys o f the A rrago and the Traigas, where rye-growing is still limited to the hojas, as well as in the irregular, privately owned and often enclosed fields in the w estern Sierra), the insufficient m anuring, and the prim itive nature o f the agricultural im plem ents, all these factors have had a detrim ental effect on cereal-growing, ju st as in the R ebollar. M oreover the m ore profitable olive-cultivation tends to m ake farm ers in the Southern Sierra pay less attention to their fields and use m anure prim arily on huertas and olive-groves. i

Cf. p. 99.

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A nother reason fo r the low profitability lies in the physical condition o f the territory: the sandy soils on to p o f granite in the valley below Eljas, as well as the loam y soils in Cilleros, Valverde del Fresno and the valleys o f the A rrago and the T raigas are in m any places n o t m uch m ore th a n a thin w eathered layer full o f stones, and have b u t small natu ral fertility so th at, as the grain-fields are n o t sufficiently m anured, a fallow-period is tho u g h t necessary for the soil to become “ fertile” again.

Only regularly m anured fields, and land where the soil has a greater depth can be cultivated according to the system o f año y vez: one year the land is cropped w ith grain, and then for two, o r in the m ost favourable cases, one year the land has to lie fallow. O n these good plots cerealculture is n o t lim ited to rye-growing: w heat and barley, too, are cultivated on them , while some farm ers shorten the fallow-period still m ore by using p a rt o f the fallow -land for the cultivation o f pulses.

W hereas the yield o f grain on these soils am ounts to ab o u t 700 kgs. per hectare, the less fertile or insufficiently m anured lands (i.e. the greater p a rt o f the grain-area o f the Southern Sierra) do n o t produce m ore th an 500 to 550 kgs. p er ha, a yield which is n o t very different from the production-figures o f the eighteenth century.

D ue to the “hoja-system” , the grain-fields in the campo abierto o f the A rrago- an d Traigas-valleys are m ore regularly tilled th an the fields in the w estern S ierra: through individual farm ing, and because there is no collective grazing on stubble and weeds, as happens in the first area, there is no unity o f exploitation between the enclosed fields o f Cilleros, the Trevejana valley and the valley below Eljas. Some farm ers sow their fields every three or four years, oth er leave the land fallow for five years o r m ore, using the fields as pasture for their sheep. M any o f these nonintensively cultivated fields are planted w ith holm -oaks; in the fallowperiod, particularly during the autum n, the fields are grazed by pigs and goats, for which acorns are nourishing food.

D espite the gloom y picture th a t has been draw n o f cereal-growing in the Southern Sierra, which in some respects even contrasts unfavourably w ith th a t o f cereal-culture in the R ebollar, in general farm ing in the south, due to olive-cultivation, is m ore profitable th an on the north-side o f the m ountains. The returns obtained from this lucrative, though also precarious culture, do n o t only give necessary econom ic support, or provide an essential extra income, b u t are the very basis — often even m ore so th a n the incom e from stock-keeping — o f w hat is generally no m ore th an a meagre living-wage.

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3

Olive-cultivation as a source o f “ prosperity”

A com bination o f physical and econom ic factors has helped to contri­ bute to the increase o f the area planted w ith olive-trees in the Southern Sierra. In the whole o f Spain the grow th o f olive-cultivation at the be­ ginning o f this century was m oreover stim ulated by two factors, one political, the other m o n eta ry : the loss o f the last im p o rtan t colonies, the Philippines, P uerto Rico and C uba, in 1898 and 1899, increased the im portance for Spain o f her own lucrative cultures, while the depreciation o f the peseta in the years th a t followed m ade it possible for Spanish olive-oil to com pete in foreign m arkets l . Besides this, the increased con­ sum ption o f olive-oil per head and the higher percentage o f the population using olive-oil have also contributed, according to R am ón Tam am es 2, to the fact th at from 1888 to 1956 the area taken up by olive-trees was ex­ tended by 83 % throughout Spain.

The m ap on page 124 gives a general idea o f the spread and the extent o f olive-cultivation in the seventeen Southern Sierra municipalities. F rom this m ap a tru er im pression o f the im portance o f olive-growing in this area can be gained th an from the statistics on page 95: these statistics record only the percentages o f the m unicipal territory in the various Sierra villages th at is taken up by olive-trees, so th a t they are qualitative, w here­ as the m ap stresses the quantitative a s p e c t3.

As far as possible olive-groves have been planted in the im m ediate neighbourhood o f villages. In m any places, however, the accidented nature o f the land m ade it necessary to build terraces and to en d o se the olive-groves, in order to prevent the thin w eathered layer o f either sandy or loam y soil from being washed aw ay; also olive-groves had to be enclosed to keep out sheep and goats. These olive-gardens, enclosed by low walls o f slate or granite blocks, between which run narrow , winding paths, deeply sunken and often bordered on both sides by high terrace-walls, are a characteristic feature o f the landscape in the Southern Sierra.

1 William E. Bull, “The olive industry of Spain”, Economic Geography, Vol. XII, 1936, p. 137.

2 Ramón Tamames, “Estructura Económica de España”, 1961. p. 116.

3 The following example may help to clarify things: the small village of Cadalso, where the 228 hectares planted with olive-trees represent 30.5 % of the municipal terri­ tory, is far less important as an olive-growing municipality than Cilleros, where 77 % of the land is taken up by grain-fields; yet, with its 646 hectares of olive-groves Cilleros has eighth place among the olive-villages, in spite of the fact that the olive-area takes up only 3% of the whole municipal territory!

123

K) 4^

(Partly taken from the Mapa Topográfico Nacional, escala 1: 50.000, hojas 573, 574 and 596).

\ . 0 a" V A LV E R D E D E ¿ F R V

,H O Y O S

• ^ V IL L A S B U E N A S > • L S U v ^ ' dE G .o

(Taken from data of the Catastro de la Riqueza Rústica).

Area taken up by olive-trees in the Sierra de Gata.

• VILLÁM IEL-'

S. M A R TIN

.. del-:

V¿ÍershQcj

RESERVOIR

CAD ALSO

TO R R EC ILLA DE LO S A .

D E S C A R G A M A R IA

('R O B LE D ILL O DE G .

The sketch-m aps on page 125 give an idea o f the utilization o f the land in some Southern Sierra villages.

T he olive-groves, in which the villagers are m ost interested and which are therefore situated as near as possible to villages, lie along the lower and less steep slopes around the village (Hoyos), follow the sloping banks o f the river valleys (G ata and D escargam aría), cover the slopes below high-lying villages to the grain-fields in the plain (Eljas) *, or replace form er vineyards (H ernán-Pérez).

The terraces, which on gentle slopes are sometimes fifty to sixty metres wide, are often very small in some o f the high m ountain-m unicipalities.

In Eljas, for instance, there are m any terraces which are only one metre wide, som etim es even less, often differing more th an sixty to seventy centim etres in height! It is therefore n o t surprising th a t m ost o f the olivegardens are very small, sometimes w ith only ten trees. Only in the lower situated m unicipalities which are less accidented, are there groves o f some huebras (fourty to fifty trees) to be found.

As in m any municipalities there is n o t enough cultivated land, those parts which are suitable for olive-growing have been exploited very in­ tensively. A lthough the distance generally necessary between the trees is a t least eleven to twelve metres, in m ost places they are n o t m ore than seven to eight m etres ap art, and especially in the narrow valley o f the A rrago n o rth o f C adalso and in small m unicipalities such as H oyos, Torre de D on M iguel and Cadalso, the distance between the trees in some groves is even less! 2 Only in the extensive and less accidented municipalities, where there was plenty o f suitable land, and in the olivegroves around the villages in the Tralgas-valley, which have often taken the place o f form er vineyards, are the trees usually planted less densely, although here too groves m ay be found with no less th an three hundred trees per hectare. Especially in the Tralgas-m unicipalities some o f the olive-groves are o f recent date: m any trees are n o t m ore th a n thirty years oíd, and have therefore not yet reached full p roductivity3. It is n o t only the vineyards devastated by phylloxera th a t were converted into olivegardens, in later years m any grain-fields cióse to the villages were also 1 Only in Acebo, San Martín de Trevejo and Villamiel are olive-groves to be found up to a height of over seven hundred metres above the villages.

2 From the Respuestas Generales of Descargamaría it is clear that in former cen­ turies, too, olive-trees had been planted at very small distances from each other in the valley of the river Arrago: when the local square measures — cuartas — are converted into hectares, it is found that the number of trees in this municipality is 450 per hectare, that means that there is a distance between the trees of 4>/2 to 5 metres!

3 Only after fifty to sixty years do olive-trees reach full productivity.

126

turned into olive-groves. These young olive-plantations dilfer in m any respects from the oíd groves in other m ountain-villages: ap art from a smaller num ber o f trees per hectare, the alm ost com plete absence o f terraces and enclosures is striking. The loam y soils in the Tralgas-valley, however, are less suited to olive-cultivation than the loose sandy soils in the western granite-area. It is true th at on loam y soils the yield per tree is generally som ew hat m ore th an on sandy soils, but the fruit is less rich in oil and its quality is inferior, while because o f the greater am ount o f m oisture in the soil there is m ore chance o f diseases.

Soils which are a m ixture o f loam and sand and possess a high content o f lime are m ost suited to olive-growing, as the ratio o f yield to oilrichness is highest under these circum stances; unfortunately these favourable conditions do n o t occur in the Sierra de G ata because the sandy as well as the loam y soils contain little lime. * * * As has already been m entioned, the area taken up by olive-trees in the Southern Sierra is very m uch split up. The principal factors which have led to the present fragm entation are the relief, which m ade it impossible to plant extensive, regularly form ed orchards in m ost places, the unorganized allocation o f small pareéis o f land in the form er Encom iendas to inhabitants o f the Sierra villages, the alm ost com plete lack o f large estates, the conversión o f the m any small and dispersed vineyards into olive-groves after the attack o f phylloxera, the grow th o f the population, and finally the law o f succession, by which land had to be equally divided am ong the children. The situation with regard to the parcelling o f land in the Southern Sierra — although partly due to other factors — is much the same as in the northern R ebollar and, if anything, is worse.

The splitting up o f the land within the holdings has raised problem s similar to those which have already been noticed in the grain-grow ing area o f the R ebollar 1: the various pareéis are n o t cultivated at the same time, so th a t m uch tim e is lost, which results in a lowering o f labour-productivity.

The fact th at people live concentrated together does n o t have such a detrim ental effect on the efficiency o f farm ing in the Southern Sierra villages as it does in the grain-growing municipalities o f the north, because the olive-zone is generally situated im m ediately around the settle­ ments. Only in villages with a large m unicipal territory, where olivecultivation takes up a large area, as is the case in Valverde del Fresno and i

Cf. p. 63.

127

Santibáñez el A lto, and in those places where the village proper is n o t centrally situated in the m unicipal territory (for instance in G a ta and Villamiel) does this factor have an unfavourable influence on profits.

He * * Olive-cultivation in the Sierra de G a ta is done alm ost entirely on socalled “ secano” land, th a t is land which is not irrigated; only in Cadalso, Eljas and San M artín de Trevejo are irrigated olive-trees found, in a lim ited area.

In Cilleros an d in the A rrago-valley olive-growing is sometimes com bined w ith viticulture. T he vines are n o t allowed to cover the whole surface, b u t have to be at least one m etre from the olive-trees. A lthough this mixed culture is quite feasible, since w o rk o n land planted w ith vines is fo r the m ost p a rt identical w ith th a t on land planted with olive-trees, yet olivegrowing on its own is preferred; because viticulture is n o t very profitable and the vines are oíd, this cultivo asociado is on the decline.

The only mixed culture which is still generally done, and then on a m odest scale, is olive-culture w ith an underplanting o f rye (which is cut w hen green and used as fodder), and — in irrigated olive-groves — w ith maize and pulses. In this m ore intensive utilization o f the olive-groves, too, at least one m etre around the trees has to be kept free.

Despite some similarities, the operations necessary for olive-culti­ vation difier very m uch from those fo r cereal-growing, which have already been described in the discussion on the R ebollar.

T he w orking-over o f th e soil in olive-cultivation aim a t preserving the m oisture o f the soil — this can also be done by m anuring w ith dung — and loosening the soil so th a t the roots can spread m ore easily and the tree can extend them as far as possible. M oreover regular tillage o f the olivegroves stim ulates good air-circulation in the soil and prevenís to a great extent the grow th o f weeds, so th a t the olive-trees derive the m áxim um benefit from the w ater and food in the soil.

W hen the olive-harvest, w hich takes place in D ecem ber and January, has been gathered, in F ebruary the soil is given its first tillage with the plow, the alzar. T he soil, w hich has been tram pled fíat, and the num erous clods which have form ed during th e harvest-tim e are ploughed and crushed: the soil around the stem o f the tree, where the plough could n o t reach, is dug w ith the spade to a depth o f fifteen centim etres (this is

however, ploughing is done across the furrow s m ade by the alzar. The purpose o f this second tillage, w hich also requires a cava de pies, is n o t only to do aw ay w ith weeds and to gain as m uch benefit as possible from the spring-rains, b u t also to check evaporation in the m onths th a t follow, which becom e ho tter and hotter. Henee no deep furrow s are left, b u t — as has been said — the soil is ploughed very fine across the furrow s o f the “ a/zúr-tillage” so as to restrict any detrim ental effect o f wind and heat to a minim um .

In the sum m er-m onths little is done in the olive-groves. A lthough a continual harrow ing o f the soil could doubtless do m uch to check evapo­ ration, there are but few farm ers th a t realize the profit which could be derived from this, and only the m ost energetic farm ers take the trouble regularly to w ork over the orchards w ith the harrow . W hat is m ore often done is the “ calzar de pies” , the piling up o f soil around the trunks to keep the ground in the im m ediate vicinity o f the trees from becom ing to o dry and to protect them from the heat o f the sum m er-sun. In Septem ber the piled-up earth is taken aw ay again in case the autum n-rains should fall early on; a t the same tim e any harm ful suckers at the boles o f the trees are destroyed.

In order to profit as m uch as possible from the autum n-rains the terciar, the third tillage with the plough, takes place in the same m onth. Some farm ers wait till the first rains have fallen, others start before the westerly and southerly winds have brought these rains. The terciar is n o t done as m uch as the alzar and binar; often only the soil, w hich w as piled up around the trunks in the early sum m er, is rem oved and the third tillage or terciar is om itted.

At the same time the olive-groves are m anured l . The shortage o f sufficient organic m anure, which is only partly m ade up for by artificial fertilizers, m akes it necessary to use less intensive agricultural m eth o d s: the m anure is not spread all over the surface o f the groves, b u t only in a circle aro u n d the trunk, equal to the to p o f the tree (called m anuring “ al goteo”); this m anuring is done only once every three years 2.

From Septem ber onw ards no m ore tilling is done 3. Sheep sometimes

know n as “ cavar de pies” ).

A fter these tillages have been done, the ploughed and loosened land is ready to receive the first spring-rains. In A pril and M ay, partly at the time when the olive-trees are in blossom , these tillages are repeated (binar);

1 Many farmers, however, do some manuring in spring at the time o f the “binartillage”.

2 Some groves are also manured according to the “corraliza-method” : sheep are put into corralizas for the night, movable wooden fences erected in the groves; but this method is not practised by every farmer.

3 Just like manuring, pruning (immediately after the harvest) also takes place once every three years. Pruning, which has to be done very carefully and with great skill so

128

9

129

graze on the weeds which grow in the groves after the autum n-rains, but tow ards the tim e th a t the fruits begin to ripen (N ovem ber and December) grazing in the groves is prohibited. Before the ripe olives are gathered, a t the end o f O ctober and the beginning o f N ovem ber green olives, which are intended for consum ption, are picked in some groves. The green fruits are carefully sorted according to size an d then plunged in to a solution o f lye o f potassium , the concentration o f which varíes according to the tem perature o f the solution and the degree o f ripeness o f the fruits, in order to neutralize the acrid and b itter taste. A fter this they are left in salt w ater, w hich is changed twice a day, for a m onth.

The tim e for picking the green olives has to be determ ined carefully, since they are at their best when they have reached their m áxim um weight b u t have n o t yet begun to ripen. In com parison w ith the yield o f ripe fruits the im portance o f the picking o f green olives is small. It is true th a t p a rt is sold to dealers, but by no m eans all farm ers pick olives when green so th a t th e quan tity obtained is only a small percentage o f the to tal annual yield o f olives.

A fter all w ork has been done in the groves, and after the autum n-rains have m ade the fruits swell o u t an d th e still w arm N ovem ber sun has ripened the olives, at the end o f D ecem ber and the beginning o f January when the fruits begin to wrinkle, the m ost active and im portant period o f th e year has arrived: the gathering o f the dark-brow n to black olives, from which oil is obtained. W hereas the picking o f the green olives is done as to damage the trees as little as possible, and is therefore generally the work o f skilled men, takes place in three operations: “vaciar”, “explanar” and “dirigir”.

The first of these consist in cutting away branches growing within the top o f the tree, especially any improductive twigs and shoots that grow upwards, so that the top is thinned out and sunshine and light can enter freely (“vaciar”). After this the top branches are cut so as to make the top regular, round and flattened, so that the tree will not grow to more than six metres and the ripe olives can be easily gathered („explanar”). The last operation is the “dirigir”, which consists in stimulating the growth and the guiding of those branches which hang downwards (these are the fruit-bearing branches) in such a way that the trunk is as it were encircled by branches.

In pruning the trees any barren parts are removed, so that all the sap can go to the fruit-bearing branches. A difficulty, typical of the Sierra de Gata, is the great density of trees in many places, which makes good pruning hard and does not allow the top branches to spread sufficiently. The result is that olive-growing is becoming less pro­ fitable (harvesting takes up too much time!), and the yield per tree as well.

As the olive-tree can grow very oíd, sometimes more than a thousand years, and as the planting of new groves in this mountain area is a very expensive business, the area taken up by olive-trees has remained more or less static for the last twenty years. Consequently cutting and grafting are not done regularly like ploughing, cavar de pies, piling up earth round the trunks, manuring, pruning and — most important of all — gathering the fruits.

quietly and carefully — the fruits are hand-plucked —, a t the harvesting o f the ripe olives a noisy crowd invades the otherwise peaceful orchards.

F o r all the villages the harvest-tim e is a m ost im p o rtan t event; m en as well as w om en take p a rt. Everywhere in the extensive olive-groves aro u n d the villages sm oke coils up from sm ouldering charcoal-fires before which reapers an d gatherers w arm their benum bed hands, on the roads donkeys and mules jo g to and fro carrying baskets full o f olives to the oil-mills, and in the villages women are busy sorting and selecting fruits which are n o t used in local milis b u t sold to buyers an d m erchants from other regions. E arly in the m orning m en and w om en p o u r fo rth from the villages; the m en arm ed with long sticks, the wom en with sacks, with baskets an d panniers. T he harvesting-system as practised in the Sierra de G ata does n o t take up the same am ount o f tim e and lab o u r as the “ ordeño” , in w hich ladders are placed against the trees and the fruits are h and-plucked; in the Sierra de G a ta the “vareo-m ethod” is used. M en beat the branches w ith long sticks — this is know n as “ varear” — shaking the fruits from the tree s; the fruits are gathered in baskets, sacks etc. by women, w ho move in a long row on their knees over the land. A disadvantage o f the vareo is th a t m any fruits getdam aged orbruised, so th a t there is m ore risk o f ferm en tatio n ; dam age is also done to the trees by the breaking o f branches and young buds. In olive-groves which belong to owners o f some tens o f hectares the w ork is done by hired w orkers, m ale a n d fem ale: wives o f crofters o r agricultural labourers gather the olives, regular w orkers o r casual labourers shake the fruits from the trees.

O n the other hand, on smaller farm s the farm er and his family harvest the fru it themselves, although hired w orkers are also often employed. * * * As the obtaining o f olive-oil for the m ost p a rt takes place in the villages themselves, the gathering is n o t the end o f the w ork. W o rk goes on after the harvest in the num erous “ alm azaras” , sm all oil-mills, generally situated beside a bro o k or a rivulet. These have a fore-court o f “ tro n co s” , a feature o f the Southern Sierra. T he “ troncos” are open storage places, separated from each other by low walls, where the olives are p u t after the harvest. Every farm er gets a num ber corresponding to the num ber o f his tronco. The troncos are allocated in the order in which the fruit arrives, so th a t “ first come, first served” is the m otto here.

M ost o f the oil-mills are oíd and some are rather primitive. In early times advantage was taken o f the energy provided by the num erous fast-running brooks and rivulets, b u t although in some oíd oil-mills the big w aterwheel still does good Service, now adays newer techniques are m ore and 131

m ore being used. In the m ore m odern oil-mills, as well as w ater pow er — the oíd water-wheel in these milis having been replaced by turbines — , electricity is also used as a source o f energy, so th a t there is a wider choice o f location.

W ork in the almazaras is seasonal and lasts only a short tim e; the num ­ ber o f labourers varies very m uch according to the size and capacity o f the oil-mills. M ost o f the labourers are engaged tem porarily by the owners o f the milis for as long as it takes to crush an d press the olives and for any other processing th a t has to be done to the press-cake. G enerally the oilmills are privately owned, in m any cases passed down from father to son '. A fter the milling m any owners, ju st like other villagers, apply themselves to w ork in th e olive-groves, huertas or grain-fields. In general it is usual for farm ers w ho m ake use o f an oil-mill, to give up p a rt o f their oil — from 8 % to 10 % — to the ow ner in paym ent fo r services rendered 2.

The m ethod o f obtaining oil is a rath er simple one as the oil is obtained purely mechanically. In the m illing-process there is no dilferentiation between the various kinds, which w ould be practically im possible, as in the groves all kinds o f varieties grow side by side 3.

A lthough, due to the p o o r quality o f the soil in the Sierra de G ata, the percentage o f oil tak en from olives suitable for hum an consum ption is rath er small (16% — 19%) 4, its quality is excellent. Olive-oil o f the Sierra de G ata even has the repu tatio n o f being am ong the very best in Spain!

Oil w ith an acidity o f less th a n 1 % is by no m eans an exception. The “ p u lp a” , i.e. the m esocarp, is the p art o f the fruit th a t is richest in oil (approxim ately 30% ). The oil-content o f the stone on the other hand

1 Sometimes there are a number o f joint-owners, the so-called “condominio de almazara” .

2 It sometimes happens that farmers who do not possess an oil-mill of their own, sell their olives to the owners of milis or to merchants, and buy olive-oil for prívate consumption at market-price. The sale of fruits in order to save harvest- and transportexpenses, and the percentage of the oil that has to be given up in payment for the pressing of the fruits, is only profitable if the olives have a low oil-content or if the groves are scattered or situated far from the village, so that there is much loss o f time and transport-expenses are high. Usually, however, farmers prefer to sell oil rather than olives.

3 The most common species of olive in the Sierra de Gata are the “ Manzanilla” — a variety that ripens fairly early, is rich in oil and is especially valuable when green — the “Cornezuelo” and most of all the “Picudo”, which ripens late in the season but is very valuable because of its rich oil-yield.

4 According to Ortega Nieto the average content of oil suitable for human con­ sumption in olives is 20%, while in the experiments of the Estación de Olivicultura of Jaén an oil-content was found which varied between 18% and 26%. J. Miguel Ortega Nieto, “Cartilla de la Almazara”, 1943. p. 53.

varíes a great deal; besides th e o ilc a n n o tb e e x tra c te d in a m e c h a n ic a lw a y .

A s has been said before, in this century im portant changes have taken place in the techniques fo r obtaining oil as com pared w ith the m ethods fo r m aking wine. In form er tim es olives, after having been crushed by large stones, were pressed in the following w ay: a thick beam , fastened in the w all b u t vertically m ovable, was forced dow nw ard by screwing up a heavy block o f granite, w hich was attached to a cross-bar fixed in to the pressing-beam . The heavy pressing-beam rested on a high pile o f “ cap a­ chos” , thick ro u n d hem pen pressing-bags o f esparto-grass, filled w ith olives, w hich were pressed by forcing the beam dow nw ards (see draw ing below).

This old-fashioned and less efficient m ethod is being used less and less, an d the prim itive pressing-beam s have been replaced by m odern hydraulic presses.

T he draw ing below shows an oil-mill o f a type often found in the Sierra de G ata.

-Jlsstove

w in d o w

reiervoir» fo r u n p u rific d o il re s e rv ó ir' p u n fio d o

A fter a short period o f storage in the troncos in order to restrict ferm entatio n an d to prevent a consequent low ering o f the quality as m uch as possible, the olives are p u t into a shoot or basin, after which the process o f obtaining oil can begin.

By means o f the “rulos”, large conical stones, which are moved mechanically by means o f water-power, or by means of electricity, as in the more modern milis, the olives are crushed. In the most modern oil-mills the olives are often crushed with the “torba”, a large granite stone, before being squashed with the rulos. The finely crushed mass then goes to the “batidora”, an important link in the process of extracting oil, where it is heated by steam or hot water so that the oil can be separated more quickly.

In former times only a press was used, besides the rulos, but in the modern methods of extracting oil the “batidora” appears to be of far greater importance than the press.

The temperature in the “batidora”, which can be regulated, should not be too high, for high temperatures, while making for quicker oil-secretion, give the oil a bad taste and increase acidity i.

Once the olive-mass has reached the required temperature, it is scooped out o f the “batidora” into the pressing-bags which, piled up like a high tower, are put into the press. Because of the “batidora” nowadays one pressing is enough instead of the many which used to be necessary and were also less profitable.

By means of the hydraulic press, which has considerably more capacity than the oíd primitive pressing-beams, the oil is pressed out from the mass; the bags act as filters, allowing the oil to pass through, but keeping back the stones and the pulp.

An important factor in oil-extraction is the temperature in the oil-mill: the room has to be heated well, so that the oil remains fluid and can flow through small grooves, which have been made in the floor around the press, into the deep reservoirs where it can settle. The extraction of olive-oil for human consumption is over now 2; after the

1 In the oil-mills o f the villages in the Southern Sierra de Gata the mass in the “batidora” is heated to about 35°C to 40°C; Miguel Ortega Nieto, however, in his “ Cartilla de la Almazara” points out that the most suitable temperature is 20°C to 25°C. J. Miguel Ortega Nieto, op. cit. p. 20.

2 Olives are not only used for the making o f olive-oil; an important by-product is what is known as “orujo-oil”, this is oil which is obtained from the press-cake or “orujo” that has been left over. It is only used in industry; it is, for instance, one o f the principal ingredients for making soap.

The process of extracting orujo-oil was mechanized long ago, as the oíd method by which the cake was rinsed many times with hot water was no longer satisfactory.

Because of modernization and new techniques the making of press-cake oil nowadays only takes place in a few factories — which are generally part of oil-mills — where, as well as local orujo, press-cakes from milis which are only equipped to extract olive-oil are treated. The production of press-cake oil, which is unfit for human consumption, in contrast to the extraction of olive-oil, is done chemically, as no further oil can be obtained by other methods.

Before the remaining oil is extracted from the press-cake, the orujo is dried in ovens till it becomes a kind of powder. By a complicated process carbon-disulphide in liquid form is added, which dissolves the oil from the powder. Afterwards the carbon-disul­ phide is separated from the oil in large distillers.

In former times, when oil was extracted from the press-cake by means o f primitive techniques, many farmers made soap. Press-cake oil was put, together with lye, into large boilers which were heated over fires, so that after some time a seething soapy mass was formed. The residue could be used as fodder to fatten up pigs or as fuel for

oil has been purified from “alpechín”, solid impurities which gradually settle down in the reservoirs, it is transferred after some time into barréis for storage and sale l . *

*

* The Spanish saying “ aceituna abundante, buen año p o r delante” is certainly true fo r the Southern Sierra, w here fo r all villages a good oliveharvest m eans a good year. The whole econom y o f this area is centred on olive-growing!

However, the yield o f olives per tree is far from constant, b u t varíes con­ siderably and depends on m any facto rs: it is greatly alfected by pedological and m eteorological conditions, the age o f the trees and the degree o f intensivation o f olive-growing. A nother, n o t unim portant, factor is the so-called “ vecería” , i.e. the annual variability in yield, ab o u t which m ore will be said below.

The average yield o f a good tree in a “ n orm al” year am ounts to a b o u t 18 to 20 kgs. o f olives, from which three to four kilogram m es 2 o f oil are ex tracted ; this m eans th at a huebra o f forty trees o f m édium quality produces nine to ten cántaros o f oil (135— 150 kgs.). I f m uch tim e is spent on the care o f the trees, a yield o f m ore th an 40 kgs. o f olives per tree m ay som etimes be obtained! In com parison w ith the eighteenth century it appears th a t even if the production-figures m entioned in the Respuestas G enerales referred only to a bad year i , the production o f oil p er huebra o f olive-trees has increased considerably since then. This in­ crease is due rath er to im proved m ethods o f extracting oil th an to an in­ creased use o f artificial fertilizers. The yield o f olives has n o t changed m uch: according to the statem ents on the m unicipality o f San M artín de Trevejo in 1752, the yield from a huebra (in this village fifty trees), planted with olive-trees o f good quality am ounted to 16 fanegas o f olives, approxim ately 880 litres (or m ore th an seventeen litres o f olives per tree), small potteries or tile-works, some of which are still in existence in the Sierra de Gata.

Now that press-cake oil is obtained chemically, and this oil is extracted only in some modern factories, these practices have largely gone out, as the press-cakes are now sold to these factories.

1 A new method o f purifying which is only used in the most modern oil-mills is the use o f centrifugal forcé and filtering the oil, which takes less time.

2 Olive-oil is sold per kilogramme and not per litre, which is advantageous for the sale of the heavy and less liquid oil from Andalusia, but is disadvantageous for the producers o f the light and thin olive-oil of the Sierra de Gata.

3 This is doubtful, however, as in the Respuestas Generales o f Santibáñez el Alto it is explicitly stated that “una huebra de tierra de primera calidad puesta de olivar con quarenta pies produze hasta quatro cantaras de azeite en cada un año”, while it is stated in Eljas at that time “Que unos años con otros produzen los de primera cinco cantaras de azeite de a treinta y dos quartillos cada una”, that is to say on an average five cántaras o f oil o f more than sixteen litres each. Resp. Gen. 13, Villa de Santibáñez; Resp. Gen. 13, Villa de las Heljas.

135

while only 80 litres o f oil could be obtained from this, less than 10% o f the to tal am ount o f gathered fruits K The following statistics show the quantities o f crushed olives, olive-oil and press-cake in kilogram m es o f the Southern Sierra municipalities in the production-year 1954— 1955 2; in the fourth colum n the average yield o f crushed olives per hectare for th a t year is given in round figures.

Acebo Cadalso Cilleros Descargamaría Eljas Gata Hernán-Pérez Hoyos Perales del Puerto Robledillo de Gata S. Martín de Trevejo Santibáñez el Alto Torrecilla de los A. Torre de D. Miguel Valverde del Fresno Villamiel Villasbuenas de Gata

crushed olives

olive-oil

press-cake

average yield of crushed olives per hectare

811,340 kgs.

331,800 „ 765,140 „ 470,948 „ 401,000 „ 942,888 „ 258,550 „ 1,137,800 „ 1,100,262 „ 144,000 „ 1,183,045 „ 547,800 „ 189,400 „ 969,385 „ 1,207,225 „ 1,131,019 „ 777,750 „

139,388 kgs.

55,518 „ 119,687 „ 81,390 „ 68,442 „ 132,299 „ 42,597 „ 182,634 „ 189,056 „ 22,764 „ 202,564 „ 90,478 „ 30,161 „ 157,791 „ 205,754 „ 213,762 „ 129,885 „

297,499 kgs.

109,596 „ 226,665 „ 162,167 „ 143,170 „ 319,912 „ 83,137 „ 409,403 „ 337,717 „ 50,830 „ 397,563 „ 187,300 „ 63,924 „ 354,356 „ 399,169 „ 373,281 „ 264,534 „

1398 kgs.

1451 „ 1183 „ 1626 „ 1092 „ 1089 „ 901 „ 2510 „ 1580 „ 1700 „ 1391 „ 656 „ 594 „ 1994 „ 880 „ 974 „ 1166 „

In interpreting the above statistics one has to be careful: these figures can n o t be considered as averages over a long period, b u t only refer to the year o f production m entioned above. The fact, however, th a t “ good” and “ b ad ” years generally alternate at the same tim e in all municipalities m akes it possible to get a general im pression o f the productivity o f olivegrow ing in the various m unicipalities o f the Southern Sierra 3.

T he relatively high production-figures for H oyos, T orre de D on M iguel, C adalso and — to a lesser degree — San M artín de Trevejo are striking. In these rath er small m unicipalities, where olive-groves take up a considerable percentage o f the m unicipal territory 4 and the trees are 1 Resp. Gen. 12, Villa de San Martín de Trevejo.

2 Delegación Provincial de Abastecimientos y Transportes, Reseña Estadística de la Provincia de Cáceres, 1957.

3 Not all the olives are crushed and pressed in the local oil-mills; as has already been said, some merchants transport fruits uncrushed in order to crush them in their own oil-mills. Because of the longer storage time and the increased risk of fermentation this brings with it, the quantity of olives crushed elsewhere is limited.

4 Cf. p. 95.

136

generally planted m ore densely th a n elsewhere, m uch tim e is spent on this, by far the m ost im portant, form o f agriculture, which o f course infiuences production. The same can be said w ith regard to the m ountainm unicipalities o f Acebo, D escargam aría and Robledillo de G ata, m unici­ palities w ith a limited area o f cultivated land, where the q u antity o f crushed olives is also large, considering the area taken up by olive-trees.

O n the other hand the production-figures appear to be lowest in the less accidented and lower-lying municipalities — w ith the exception o f Perales del Puerto — where cereal-growing and a m ore extensive cultivated area result in less tim e being spent on the groves. Besides, the topography o f these m unicipalities m akes it possible to plant olive-trees a t a regular and good distance from each other, so th at there are generally fewer trees per hectare here th an in the m unicipalities m entioned above. W hen on to p o f this m any olive-groves are young, as for instance in Torrecilla de los Angeles, the production-figure is kept low because m any trees have n o t yet reached full production.

N o t only geographical, b u t also purely econom ic and agricultural factors play an im portant p a rt in infiuencing profits m ade on olivegrowing. U ntil 1960 the am ount th a t was paid to the grow er for the oil was tied to prices which were fixed by the G overnm ent; these and other public m easures regarding the sale and distribution o f olive-oil influenced the m argins o f profit and the incomes o f those w ho produced olive-oil.

Part of the oil-production, the so-called “cupo”, had to be sold at fixed prices to the Comisaría de Abastecimientos y Transportes, a public body concerned with foodsupply, which looks after distribution. This cupo therefore could not be sold on a free market, but that part which was in excess of the compulsory amount could be sold at unfixed prices to merchants, who at harvest-time came from León, Salamanca, Cáceres and even from Zaragoza and Barcelona to the Sierra de Gata. The table below gives an idea of the difference between the fixed prices of the cupo and the unfixed ones: Cupo-prices o f olive-oil per kg. in 1958—1959 Oil with an acidity up till 0.5° 19.50 psts.

Oil with an acidity from 0.5°— 1.5° 19 „ Oil with an acidity from 1.5°—3° 18.50 „ Unfixed prices o f olive-oil per kg. in 1958—1959 21.65 psts. to 23.60 psts. per kilogramme The cupo varied from village to village and depended on the amount produced in the preceding year >. The great drawback of this was that in a year when production was low the compulsory amount could be a very high percentage of the total yield, so that a comparatively small quantity was left to the profitable free market. This disadvantage was felt all too often, as in olive-growing especially the yield varíes con-

1 For example the cupo for Hoyos in the production-year 1958— 1959 had been fixed at 44,414 kgs. of olive-oil, which was divided by the town-council among the six oil-mills according to their capacity.

137

siderably — the vecería mentioned above. In the oil-mills every producer had to hand over a fixed percentage of his oil, which percentage was part of the compulsory delivery. If the cupo was not handed over in full a fine of four pesetas was imposed for every kilogramme short

Since 1960, when the cupo was given up, the price which the producer gets for his oil has risen by some pesetas p er kilogram m e: now adays the price is 24.50 pesetas for a kilogram m e o f olive-oil w ith an acidity of m ore th an I o — the so-called “ corriente” — a n d 25 pesetas per kilogram ­ me o f oil w ith an acidity below this.

N ow, however, there is a disadvantage which did n o t exist before and which counteracts the advantages o f unfixed prices: this is th a t before people could count on the prices fixed by the Com isaría de A basteci­ m ientos, b u t now producers will be subject to the fluctuations o f the m arket. It should n o t be forgotten th a t the price o f olive-oil is very m uch infiuenced by the prices on the w orld-m arket for vegetable oils intended for consum ption; as a result o f this it seldom happens th a t a low oliveproduction is com pensated for by a rise in the price o f olive-oil, while on the oth er h and an a b u n d an t harvest m akes for difficulties in selling, as the dem and for olive-oil does n o t vary m uch 2. Henee it m ay be said th at the increased im portance o f olive-cultivation in the Southern Sierra since the eighteenth century — and because o f the m ountainous nature o f this area olive-growing is the obvious form o f cultivation here — has m ade the area m ore econom ically vulnerable, especially o f late.

However, an even greater disadvantage o f to o m uch specialization in this usually profitable culture is the variations o f yields; because o f this, the risk o f spending m oney on im provem ent is n o t easily taken, but, if possible, the m oney is k ept in h and for those years when the yields are poor.

W e have already m entioned this variability o f yields, called vecería, which m akes profits on this culture d rop and which has an unfavourable influence on the econom ic stability. W hereas the oil-production from a huebra o f trees o f reasonable quality am ounts in a “ norm al” year to an average o f nine to ten cántaros, in a very good year productionfigures o f fifteen cántaros are no exception; on the other hand the oilproduction in a particularly bad year m ay d rop to six or seven cántaros per huebra. i Before this the trade in olives and olive-oil was subject to even more restrictions: apart from the amount of olive-oil which could be kept per member o f the family (30 kgs.), it was compulsory to sell all the oil to the Comisaría de Abastecimientos at prices which had previously been fixed. z “Improvement in olive cultivation”, FAO Agricultural Studies nr. 50, 1961. p. 12.

138

This variability o f production is n o t only caused by natu ral conditions, b u t is also due to factors o f an agricultural-scientific nature. A p art from m eteorological conditions, such as drought during the flowering-time, or unexpected frost, the lack o f well-balanced nutrition, according to José G arcía Fernández 1, also has a great influence on the yield. Biologically this m eans th a t in years when production is high not only are the nutritious substances taken up by the tree used, b u t also the reserves accum ulated in the tissues 2. The lack o f good nutrition also depends on the am ount o f w ater in the soil, the natu ral fertility and th a t effected by m an (the agricultural-scientific aspect). Finally other agricultural factors, such as harvesting- and pruning-m ethods th a t are used, also play an im por­ ta n t p art in the com plicated problem o f the vecería.

M eteorological and biological conditions have to be considered as m ore o r less unalterable; those factors, however, th a t are o f an agriculturalscientific nature can be changed, even in such a way th a t the vecería need no longer be an economic problem . T hat is the reason why frequent tilling is necessary in order to store up as m uch w ater as possible in the soil during the dry sum m er-m onths, and intensive m anuring is necessary to im pro ve the low natu ral fertility o f the land.

W hen discussing the activities necessary fo r olive-cultivation it was pointed out th a t the olive-groves are generally m anured only once every three years, and then only around the trunks. In order to have a regular and reasonable yield each year, however, m anuring every th ird year is insufficient. Besides the “ a/ goíeo-system ” is inefficient, as the m anure is n o t spread where it can be absorbed by those roots which are far away from the trunk. The lack o f sufficient organic m anure on m ost o f the farm s so th a t the whole o f the groves can be m anured every year compels farm ers to m anure only once every three years — the n o t very intensive " a l goteo-m ethod” . This has an unfavourable influence on the yield o f the trees, the m ore so as artificial fertilizers are generally n o t used sufficiently 3.

1 José García Fernández, “La vecería del olivo y su corrección” ; Campo, Revista Agropecuaria, 1956. p. 6.

2 After a good harvest the number of buds which flower in the spring and later turn into fruits is considerably less than that o f the previous year. The sap which the buds need in order to blossom is also used to ripen the fruits, and there is very little of it in the year after a good harvest. During that time when the tree only produces a small amount of olives, the leaves produce new sap of which not very much is used because there are not many fruits. Thus much sap is accumulated in the tissues of the tree through which a high production is made possible in the following year.

3 Although the kind and degree of manuring depends on the age of the tree, on the size of the previous yield of olives and on conditions of soil and climate, José García Fernández, ignoring these factors, made the following calculation for a “basic

139

Ignorance o f the progress m ade by agricultural research on the use o f artificial fertilizers, which prevents these from being used to the m áxi­ m um ; the fact th a t people are rath er reluctant to accept anything other th an traditional m ethods (“ the trees m ust n o t be coddled”); and finally the sm all farm ers’ lack o f capital; these are the reasons why artificial fertilizers are n o t used sufficiently.

The pruning- an d harvesting-m ethods which are used influence the vecería in another way. A nnual pruning w ould correct deviations sooner and m ake sm aller cuts in the trees th an the pruning-system used in the Sierra de G ata. The m ethod used a t present — which is m ore drastic — causes great and sometimes unnecessary dam age to the tre e ; the excessive loss o f leaves by w hich the p roduction o f sap is checked, lessens the chances o f a good harvest. Lastly the harvesting o f olives according to the “ vareo-m ethod” is n o t only very harm ful to the buds and leaves b u t also to the fruits, as these are often bruised in falling, which increases ferm entation o f the olives and also acidity.

A ny im provem ent and intensivation o f these m ethods o f pruning and harvesting, however, come up against great difficulties. Just as in the intensification o f m anuring, econom ic factors partly restrict im prove­ m en t: yearly pruning and a harvesting-system which needs m ore labour, instead o f the “ vareo-m ethod” , will increase the cost price o f olive-oil and, as olive-oil is com ing u p against m ore com petition from other vege­ table oils and artificial oils th a t resem ble o liv e-o ill, the producers’ price can n o t be expected to rise in proportion.

It is, however, n o t only econom ic factors which are im portant fo r the vareo, social conditions too play an im p o rtan t p a r t: the lack o f sufficient lab o u r during the relatively short harvesting-season m akes the intensifi­ cation o f harvesting by switching over to hand-picking im possible 2. * * * F ro m w hat has been said in this chapter it is apparent th a t when com ­ pared w ith the eighteenth century olive-culture in the Southern Sierra has increased in im portance. This increase has been relatively m ost in the

sm aller m unicipalities and in the m ost accidented ones, where this kind o f culture, due to its being so profitable and because o f the nature o f the land, com pensates best for the disappearance o f viticulture and the decay o f chestnut-w oods. Especially in these m unicipalities over-specialization in olive-cultivation m eans th a t the num ber o f w orkers required at certain tim es varíes considerably in the course o f the year. As we have seen, m ost o f the w ork in the olive-groves is done in February, A pril and M ay, when the land gets its two chief workings-over with the plough, and w hen the trees, although n o t always, are pruned and m anured. A nother busy tim e is D ecem ber and January, the harvest-tim e, when there is always a shortage o f w orkers, so th a t harvesting often takes so long th a t the danger o f ferm entation increases. The calzar de pies and harrow ing in the sum m er, and the terciar with the three-yearly m anuring al goteo in the autum n only take a short time. It can be said th at in general during the sum m er and autum n — in so far as cattle, sheep and goats are left in the care o f herdsm en — except for attending to the huertas and gathering in various garden crops, there is little to do. Only in those m unicipalities which do n o t specialize in olive-cultivation to such an extent and where there is cereal-growing as well, can m ore profitable use be m ade o f the other m onths o f the year.

W hereas in this chapter special consideration has been given to the variety o f agriculture in the various m unicipalities o f the Sierra de G ata in the next chapter we shall try to com pare the farm s; w ith the help o f concrete examples the different types o f farm s in a num ber o f specially selected villages will be exam ined in detail.

manuring” containing all the necessary elements, which would be needed per hectare in order to obtain a yearly production o f at least twenty kilogrammes o f olives per tree, without the balance of nutrition being disturbed: 200 kgs. of potassium-sulphate, 400 kgs. of superphosphate (16%)and 150kgs. of ammonia-sulphate. Besides this, the soils in the Southern Sierra which are lacking in lime, would need this added. José García Fernández, op. cit. p. 9.

1 “Improvement in olive cultivation”, pp. 5, 213.

2 The great density of the number o f trees per hectare in some places, which makes the olive-trees grow upwards instead of outwards, is a third impediment to a more intensive method of harvesting.

140

141

IV IN V E ST IG A T IO N IN T O T H E A G R IC U L T U R E O F T H E SIE R ­ RA O N T H E BASIS O F A N A N A L Y SIS O F F A R M S T R U C T U R E S

Statistics o f the working population in Hoyos

In the in troduction it was pointed o u t th a t because there were no in­ dustries and no im p o rtan t com m ercial activities n o t connected with agriculture, the character o f the Sierra de G ata is entirely agricultural.

This is also true o f the D uero and E xtrem adura regions, between which the Sierra de G ata is the boundary i. T he statistics given below, which were taken from the Censo Electoral o f 1955 2, give an idea o f the kinds o f em ploym ent found in seven specially selected villages; the choice o f these villages will be discussed later.

Statistics o f the working population in Hoyos I Agriculture and Stockkeeping people engaged in agriculture 3 herdmen total and % o f working population II Crafts and Trades blacksmiths & farriers electricians mechanics tin-smiths bakers butchers millers cobblers

Descarga­ maría

Eljas

Santibáñez el Alto

El Payo

Robleda

_

total

287 (158) 14

188 (127)

301 = 62.2%

190 = 79.8%

2

548 (389) 7

287 (152) 19

439 (338) 15

351 (125)

555 = 87.8%

306 = 90.2%

454 = 89.5%

353 = 80.9%

2 1

4

1 1 1

—

1

2 1

—

5

1

1

3

4 3

—

—

—

—

2 1

—

—

2

1 2

—

3

2

213 (107) — 213 = 88.7%

2 1

1 1

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

1

1

2

1

—

9

1

2 8 2

—

46

total

Santibáñez el Alto

El Payo

2 3 — 5

—

5

---

—

_

5

6

—

3

3

4

---

1

—

-----

2 1

_

1

9

21

6

19

14

1

Villasrubias

Robleda

I 3 —

12

2 18 6

1 11

IV The Professions, Education and Administrative Service chemists physicians and medical assistents lawyers solicitors veterinary surgeons school-teachers tax-collectors telephone-operators officials & clerks

Eljas

2

3

III Commerce and Transport “merchants” carriers drivers inn-keepers total

1 According to the statistics on the working population per región in 1950, published in a study of the Instituto de Estudios Agro-Sociales in 1959, entitled “ Pro­ yecto de Desarrollo de la región mediterránea, España” (p. 35), the percentage of the population working in agriculture in both regions respectively amounts to 60% and 69%, which means that Duero and Extremadura, together with Galicia, are among the most pronounced agricultural regions o f Spain.

2 The Censo Electoral only refers to people who are of age and have the right to vote. It should be pointed out that the occupations mentioned are often rather general and ill-defined: “comerciantes” and “industriales” comprise merchants and industrialists (owners of flour-mills, saw-mills, oil-mills etc.) in the strict sense of the word, as well as shopkeepers, barkeepers and café-owners. Moreover the Censo Electoral only takes into consideration a persons’ main occupation, while any sidelines are left out.

3 The number in brackets refers to the “jornaleros”, i.e. those who have to work for others as day-labourers over a long or short period, either because they do not make enough money on their own farms, or do not possess land or livestock o f their own.

142

Villasrubias

saddlers carpenters painters bricklayers tile-makers hairdressers tailors seamstresses

Descarga­ maría

20

—

1

2

1 1

3

4

2

7

1

1

10

1 1

1

35

4

7

5

1

1 1

58

11

16

12

7

10

18

10 1 2 2

1

3

11 1

16

Other Occupations & Unclassified “industrialists” priests keepers 1 domestic servants (fem.) municipal policemen & Guardias Civiles others

10 22

_

total

2

1

1

1

5 1

8

3

3 3

4 4

10

6

1

e J

3

5

17

68

1 1

25

20

15

24

56

11

Total 484 Total Population in 1955 > 21 years o f age 1037

238

632

339

507

436

240

898

515

8 8

498

g

yQ

, 1233 | 719 .1028 Translation of Guardas de Campo and Guardas de Monte

The great num ber o f people who w ork in agriculture 1 is striking, as is the fact th a t in m ost o f the villages crafts are o f little im portance, which is largely due to the generally low standard o f living in the Sierra de G a­ ta. Only in H oyos less th a n 70% o f the population w ork in agriculture, which is closely bou n d u p w ith the fact th a t this village is the headquarters o f the Partido Judicial, which includes all seventeen m unicipali­ ties o f the Southern Sierra. This is why the num ber o f people em ployed o u t­ side agriculture is high in com parison w ith the rest o f the villages, and especially the group o f officials and clerks. In this respect, however, H oyos is an exceptional case: as far as their occupational structure is concerned, the other Sierra villages are m ore like those quoted in the statistics.

Even in a place like Valverde del Fresno which, in 1955, w ith its 4395 inhabitants was the largest village in the Sierra de G ata, m ore th an 70 % o f the population, according to the Censo Electoral, are engaged in agriculture.

A lthough the above statistics do give an idea o f the com position o f the population according to occupation in the various villages, yet the data provided by the Censo Electoral do n o t show clearly the com position o f the large group o f people engaged in agriculture 2. The descriptions are vague (“ farm er” , “ agrarian w orker” ) and arbitrary — often the term

1 In so far as the Respuestas Generales give clear data about the occupational structure of the population, it even appears that in the last two centuries the percen­ tage of people working in agriculture in some villages has increased rather than de­ creased! % of people working in agriculture in 1753 Descargamaría Hoyos * Eljas Santibáñez el Alto El Payo Villasrubias

± ± ± ± ± ±

“ day-labourer” is used, when on further investigation it turned o u t th a t m any thus classified were only em ployed for short periods as daylabourers, and because they possessed their own farm s m ight equally well be called “ farm ers” . Henee, in order to obtain a m ore specified división o f the group o f those engaged in agriculture, it was necessary to m ake use o f another source. This was provided by statistics concerning the social structure o f the agrarian population m ade in the year 1956 by the D elegación N acional de Sindicatos.

It m ust be stressed, however, th a t the figures given in these statistics are not entirely reliable, as they are sometimes based on estim ates (this is explicitly stated in the cases o f some villages). M oreover in some cases the figures given are the result o f counting twice over: landow ners who have leased som e land are som etim es stated also as being tenants, agri­ cultural labourers w ho have a num ber o f olive-trees o r a piece o f irrigated land in share tenaney (aparcería) are sometimes stated also as being share tenants (aparceros) l. N evertheless we have tried to get som e idea — although a superficial one — o f the social structure o f the villages in the northern and Southern Sierra de G ata in 1956 with the aid o f these inaccurate data. In the statistics below n o t only are the percentages o f owners, tenants, share tenants and agricultural labourers given for the whole o f the no rth ern and Southern Sierra, b u t also the percentage per groups o f those m unicipalities which are very like each other, n o t only as regards land use and type o f farm s, b u t also w ith respect to the social structure o f the population. T he above m entioned m unicipalities are villages th at are typical o f the group to w hich they belong 2.

% of people working in agriculture in 1955

SI.8% 85.4% 81.5% 78.3% 88.5% 78 %

79.8% 62.2% 87.8% 90.2% 89.5% 88.7%

2 The only conclusión which can be drawn from the figures concerning the group “people engaged in agriculture” is that the number of those whose financial circumstances do not forcé to work for others as day-labourers or as regular workers is less than half in most villages, in El Payo and Eljas even less than one third o f the whole agrarian population.

1 In the case of Robledillo de Gata the total number of inhabitants has actually been filled in in the column “owners”. For this reason the data concerning this village have been left out of account.

2 Navasfrías, El Payo and Peñaparda are regarded as belonging to the western Rebollar; it is true that Villasrubias, in having a relatively large area of monte and pastos, links up with the western Rebollar, but because of its different types of farms and its social structure, it has not been included in this area.The municipalities of the eastern Rebollar are Herguijuela de Ciudad Rodrigo, Martiago, Robleda, El Saúgo and — as a transition to the western Rebollar — Villasrubias.

In the Southern Sierra the “mountain-municipalities” of Acebo, Descargamaría, Gata and Robledillo de Gata (of which the latter has not been taken into account) are among the most accidented ones; Cadalso, Hoyos, San Martin de Trevejo and Torre de Don Miguel are “small municipalities specializing in olive-cultivation”, while Cilleros, Eljas, Hernán-Pérez, Perales del Puerto, Santibáñez el Alto, Torrecilla de los Angeles, Valverde del Fresno, Villamiel and Villasbuenas de Gata form the third group of “lower situated olive- and grain-growing municipalities”.

144

10

*

before it was made the headquarters of the Partido Judicial.

Resp. Gen. 21, 23, 29, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38 of the various villages.

145

Statistics concerning the social structure o f the Sierra municipalities. owners

tenants

share tenants

agricultural labourers 1

Northern Sierra

65.3%

3.1%

0.3%

31.3%

western Rebollar eastern Rebollar

60.6% 79.4%

2.2 % 5.9%

1.2%,

37.2% 13.5%

Southern Sierra

40.4%

5.7%

12.4%

41.5%

mountain-municipalities small municipalities specialized in olive-culti­ vation lower situated olive- and grain-growing munici­ palities

57.9%

2.3%

2-6%

37.2%

37.5%,

8.4%

16.2%

37.9%

32.1%

6.5%

16.2%

45.2%

—

A lthough, as we have seen, it would be w rong to rely to o m uch on the percentages given here, it appears th a t in general the Southern Sierra villages have a m ore varied social structure th an the n o rthern m unici­ palities. This is due m ore to the presence o f olive-groves, which are often partly o r wholly leased o u t by the owners in tenancy o r share tenancy, th an to any different form o f p roperty distribution 2. This is the reason w hy tenancy an d share tenancy are especially found in municipalities w ith a large area taken up by olive-trees, th a t is to say the small m uni­ cipalities which specialize in olive-growing, and the low er situated, less accidented villages w ith a considerable area o f cultivated land.

T he Southern Sierra also differs from the north ern p a rt in the percen­ tage o f agí ¡cultural labourers, although the villages o f the western R ebollar, where there is potato-grow ing which requires m uch labour, in this respect show great similarities w ith the Southern Sierra villages,

1 In accordance with the criteria o f the “encuesta” o f the Delegación Nacional de Sindicatos, in the above statistics only those who are employed by others for at least 90 days per year, and whose work is entirely o f an agricultural nature, are counted as agricultural labourers.

2 As was said in the preceding chapter (p. 107 ), only in a few municipalities, be­ longing to the former territory of the Encomienda of Alcántara, are landed properties of more than a hundred hectares to be found. They mainly date from after the time of the desamortization in the last century, and for the most part they are leased out as grazing-land to inhabitants o f the municipalities concemed. As tenancy and share tenancy, however, can be found to just the same extent in municipalities where no such situation occurs, these large landed properties cannot be considered as the chief cause of the higher percentage of tenants and share tenants in the Southern Sierra.

It should be noted, however, that this kind o f exploitation — although to a lesser degree — is also used for huertas, grain-land and in some villages even for livestock. i/iA

where m uch labour is required in the w inter m onths for the olive-harvest and in the spring for ploughing and digging the groves.

Both the Southern Sierra and its northern counterpart are areas where th e sm all holding predom inates, as has been said before. W hereas the d a ta o f the E stadística de Población Agrícola, despite their unreliability, m ake it possible to get a t least som e general im pression o f the social structure o f the population, the lack o f any F arm Census m akes it impossible to give a quantitative survey o f farm s classified according to size.

From a F arm Census in w hich farm s were only classified according to size it w ould also be difficult to get a good idea o f the character o f these farm s, for then land use as an influencing factor w ould n o t be given the im portance it deserves. Especially in the Southern Sierra w ith its varied lan d use great differences can be found between farm s o f the same size: farm incom es vary very m uch according to w hether m uch land is taken u p by huertas and olive-groves o r w hether the greater p a rt o f the farm acreage consists o f grain-fields and pastures. This is why it is even possible fo r the incom e from a farm o f 6 hectares, w hich specializes in olivegrowing, o f which there are m any in the smaller m unicipalities, to exceed th a t from a farm o f 12 hectares w ith a large acreage o f grain- and fallowland in the lower-lying municipalities. F o r the R ebollar, too, a knowledge o f the land use is ju st as im p o rtan t as inform ation as to the size o f the farm s, because the area o f meadow s and land under perm anent culti­ vation — w hether irrigated o r n o t — strongly influences the num ber o f cattle, horses and mules and the im portance o f potato-grow ing on any p articular farm .

A classification w ith the help o f d a ta taken from the land registry o f properties according to the percentage o f land taken up by the various crops is n o t a solution to the problem either. A p a rt from the fact th a t the land registry does n o t always reflect the real situation and th a t in a w ork o f such scope the study o f farm ing in a large area w hich com prises m any villages is necessarily restricted to one or tw o municipalities, a classification on the basis o f land use does n o t take into account differen­ ces in the quality o f the soil, a fact w hich can m ake the yields per hectare o f the same crop vary very m uch, even w ithin the same m unicipality.

Y et in order to get some insight into the econom ic situation o f farm s in a particular m unicipality and in order to avoid these difRculties, E. G arcía M a n riq u e 1 has tried to evolve a m ethod which takes as its starting-point

1 E. García Manrique, “Utilización del Catastro para un conocimiento mayor de la situación social de nuestros municipios rurales”, Revista Geographica, años IV y V, 1957— 1958.

147

for the ealeulation o f the incom es o f farm operators the d a ta provided by the land registry o n the “ R iqueza im ponible” . This is a theoretical am o u n t which is used as a basis for fixing the am ount o f tax which a landow ner has to pay to the State 1. T he “ R iqueza im ponible” does n o t reflect the real situation accurately: the gross yields from the land, as calculated by the agents o f the M inisterio de H acienda, form the basis for determ ining the “ R iqueza im ponible” and, in view o f the possible failure o f crops, fluctuations in prices an d other variable factors, these are kept on the low side. As there is, however, always som e relationship which rem ains constant betw een the gross income purposely calculated on the low side and the “ R iqueza im ponible” , it is possible, according to G arcía M anrique, by m aking an inquiry into the real valué o f p ro ­ duction from the areas cultivated w ith various crops, to establish figures correlating w ith those o f the “ R iqueza im ponible” 2. This m akes it pos­ sible to calcúlate the real incom e o f every landow ner. A draw back o f the m ethod which has been briefly described is th a t the production valué o f natu ral pastures is n o t fully taken into account, as there is no fixed correlation w ith the “ Riqueza im ponible” . Y et these pastures play an extremely im portant p a rt in the econom ic life of the Sierra villages, as they provide food for a large num ber o f livestock, one o f the m ain sources o f income for the farm ers. Henee an additional inquiry into the am ount o f livestock kept by each farm er m ust be considered as essential in order to obtain an idea o f the real incom e w hich the landow ner receives from his land.

T he greatest objection to this m ethod o f determ ining the social and econom ic structure o f the agrarian population, which takes up m uch time and labour, is th a t one does get some idea o f the incomes o f landow ners but not o f those o f the farm operators themselves. Henee this m ethod is ju s t as unsuited for form ing any exact idea o f the econom ic and social structure as is th at o f ju st copying d a ta on landow nership from the land registry. In the above m ethod atten tio n is only paid to those whose ñam es are actually on the register, th a t is the legal owners o f the land who some­ tim es do n o t even live in the village itself, b u t one gets to know nothing a b o u t those farm ers w ho have leased o r rented out land, and ab o u t those who are share tenants o f olive-trees or land w ithout owning land them ­

In view o f these practical difficulties, the only way to get inform ation ab o u t agricultural holdings in the Sierra de G ata is by m eans o f farm structure analysis. In such an analysis account is n o t only taken o f the num ber o f livestock and the acreage — w hether leased or n o t — taken up by crops grow n on a farm , b u t it also brings o u t the econom ically m ost im p o rta n t aspect o f any particular farm .

It m ust be stressed th at an analysis o f farm structure is n o t the same as a farm business analysis: the latter takes into account such purely econo­ m ic concepts as rate o f interest and depreciation, while an analysis o f farm structure aims especially a t getting an idea o f the way in w hich a farm er in a certain area has been able to m ake a living w ith the m eans at his disposal. T he lack o f any reliable farm statistics, however, m akes it difficult to find o u t exactly how far these analyses give a true picture o f the agrarian situation in the Sierra de G ata. This is why from the analyses o f farm structure which follow only some idea can be obtained, b o th o f the farm s here concerned and o f the different types o f farm o f which those analysed here are representative, b u t about which there are no general quantitative data. T hrough inquines, however, it was established th a t the average size o f a farm in the n o rthern Sierra is from eight to ten hectares (in El Payo and P eñaparda it is even less). This is small if the fact th at often only one third o f the land on the campo abierto is cropped annually is taken into account; no w onder th a t stock-keeping is an essential p art o f farm ing and is the chief source o f incom e for the m ajority o f farm ers in this area.

selves.

The average farm in some o f the so uthem Sierra m unicipalities is even smaller, especially in those m unicipalities w here the cultivated area is m ainly taken up with olive-groves, as in the small m unicipalities o f C a­ dalso, H oyos and T orre de D on M iguel, and in the “m ountain-m unicipalities” A cebo, D escargam aría and Robledillo de G ata: here farm s o f less th an seven hectares predom ínate. O n the other hand the average farm is larger in the less accidented Southern Sierra m unicipalities, where m ore o f the m unicipal territory is taken up by grain-fields th an by olivegroves: in Eljas, H ernán-Pérez, Villasbuenas de G ata and Torrecilla de lo s Angeles this am ounts to a b o u t eight to ten hectares, in extensive m unicipalities such as Cilleros, Santibáñez el A lto and Valverde del Fresno, to twelve to fifteen hectares.

> The “Riqueza imponible” is the sum total of the “ Tipos evaluatorios” which differ per hectare, depending on the quality of the soil and the various crops cultivated on the land.

2 E. García Manrique, op. cit. p. 82.

In view o f the variety o f agriculture in the different areas, which was outlined in the previous chapter, and taking into account the n o t wholly reliable d a ta on the social structure o f the Sierra m unicipalities, an d the m ap on p. 150, showing the population density per agro-pastoral area 149

in the Sierra de G a ta *, we have chosen a num ber o f villages for an inquiry into the various types o f farm in the Sierra de G ata. Each o f these villages can be regarded as being representative o f a group o f m unicipalities.

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Types o f farm in El Payo, a village in the w estern Rebollar

111

Number of people per agro-pastoral area.

(D ata taken from the Catastro de la Riqueza Rústica and the Padrones Municipales of the Sierra municipalities).

1 The following are regarded as belonging to the agro-pastoral area: arable land (whether irrigated or not), vineyards and olive-groves, chestnut-woods, irrigated me'adows, natural pastures, oak- and holmoak-woods and part of the land covered with monte bajo which, after the periodical cutting of shrubs, is used as pasture-land for some years.

The map does not aim at giving an exact picture of agrarian density, as it does not show landed properties lying outside the municipality proper. Moreover the figures 150

The northern villages show m ore diíference in land use and social structure th an in density o f population per agro-pastoral area. This is why the fol­ lowing m unicipalities have been ch o sen : 1. El Payo, where up to recently potato-grow ing — besides stock-keeping — played an im p o rtan t p a rt in farm ing and where the consequences o f the re-afforestation o f m unicipal pasture-land are very m arked; 2. Villasrubias, w here arable farm ing has always been less concentrated on potato-grow ing th an in El Payo and its neighbouring municipalities, and which thus form s a kind o f transition to the eastern R ebollar m unicipalities; 3. R obleda, where — also because the soil is m ore suited to cereal-culture — the grow ing o f w heat and rye is an im p o rtan t source o f incom e besides stock-keeping.

The following villages were chosen as representative o f the Southern Sierra: 1. H oyos, a small m unicipality w hich concentrates on olivegrowing, w ith a large num ber o f people per agro-pastoral area; 2. cargam aría, a “ m ountain village” which, because o f its very accidented character, has only a small area o f cultivated land, so th a t olive-cultivation has generally a less im p o rtan t position in farm ing 1; 3. the extensive, lower situated m unicipality o f Santibáñez el A lto, w hich has a considerable area o f grain-fields and farm s th a t are generally larger th a n in the first tw o m unicipalities; 4. lastly the village o f Eljas, w hich also belongs to the group o f “ olive- and grain-grow ing m unicipalities” .

Some farm structure analyses o f farm s in other m unicipalities have also been included; these farm s differ in some ways from those chosen as representative o f the villages m entioned above.

I f the decline o f the carrying-trade and flax-growing m eant a substantial decrease in incom e for the inhabitants o f E l Payo, stock-keeping and potato-grow ing still provided reasonable m eans o f livelihood fo r m any.

T he following analysis gives an idea o f the holding o f a farm er w ho, for El Payo, can be looked upon as a rich m an.

refer to the total population, not just to the agrarian population. As, however, most of the villagers work in agriculture, it is possible to gain from the map some idea of the average agro-pastoral area available per inhabitant in the various Sierra munici­ palities.

1 In spite of the fact that it is in this municipality that more than 90% of the cul­ tivated area is taken up by olive-trees.

151

Size of the family: 8 persons, of whom two sons work on the farm; 1 shepherd who also works for two other farmers Farm-acreage: 31 ha.

Land use 5 ha. meadow 5 ha. irrigated land (of which 4.2 ha., as well as for the growing of fodder-crops, is used for potato-growing) 8 ha. cereals 12 ha. fallow-land (of which 5 ha. are worked fallow and 2 ha. cropped with fallow-crops, i.e. potatoes) 1 ha. planted with pines.

Livestock 4

draught-cows

1 horse 11 cows for breeding purposes 12 chickens 3 pigs

100 sheep

T he livestock gives an average m anure-production o f m ore th an 92,000 kgs., o f which m ore th a n 50,000 kgs. is used fo r the irrigated area; the rest is used for m anuring those fields which are cropped w ith cereals (2 ha. o f wheat, 6 ha. o f rye). This am o u n t o f m anure is to o small for the grain-fields: 9,000 to 10,000 kgs. o f m anure per hectare o f cropped land is considered as the m inim um quan tity required. T hus the m anure-pro­ duction is n o t adequate for the needs o f the farm , w hich is only partly due to the fact th a t three years ago 35 goats were done aw ay w ith because o f the reduction o f the area o f n atu ral pasture-land for re-afforestation.

This m eans th a t — a p a rt from a considerable decrease in incom e — an n u ­ ally ab o u t 4500 kgs. o f m anure less can be given to the land.

This is the reason why m anure is in the first place intended for the best parts o f the land, where the growing o f fallow-crops is also possible; the shortage o f m anure on less good soil is p artly com pensated for by using m ore artificial fertilizer p er hectare o f cropped land >.

A n extensión o f the cultivated area is n o t only restricted by the available m anure, b u t also by a shortage o f lab o u r: as m any o f the poorer villagers have left o f late, agricultural labourers are m ore difficult to get th an ten years ago. The farm er can ju st m anage the w ork w ith the help o f his sons; only in Septem ber and O ctober does he have to engage tw o or three la­ bourers and some w om en to help w ith the gathering-in o f the potatoes.

The available tractive pow er is better suited to the needs o f the farm th a n the am o u n t o f m anure produced. T he draught-cow s are used for ploughing, harrow ing, threshing and the tran sp o rt o f cereals, a task for which tw o team s are certainly needed in view o f the distance between the tw enty-one pareéis (the one furthest aw ay being 4 T/2 kms. from the village). i 15?

260 kgs. of artificial fertilizer instead of 150 to 200 kgs. per hectare usual here.

The horse, its ow ner’s pride, is especially used for the tran sp o rt o f hay, grain and potatoes, b u t one o f its m ain tasks is the tra n sp o rt o f m anure which, because the pareéis are so dispersed, takes m ore th an th irty days per year.

U nder norm al circum stances the receipts and expenditure o f the farm er on the holding described above would be as foliow s: Receipts calves, foals, cows lambs, sheep piglets wool cheese and milk potatoes eggs

Principal expenditure 36,000 psts.

25,000 „ 1,500 „ 5,500 „ 5,000 „ 70,000 „ 600 „

milling wheat insecticides for “escarbejo” 1 grazing-fees artificial fertilizer wages 2 valué of goods for shepherd

400 psts.

1,500 „ 2,200 „ 6,100 „ 5,200 „ 5,500 „

This shows th a t the grains are n o t so ld : the w heat is intended for hum an consum ption — for the farm er and his family as well as for the shepherd and his fam ily; p a rt o f the grain is used as sowing-seed, while rye is used for fodder.

W hereas the fodder-crops from the irrigated land are principally intended for the cattle and horse, the sheep, as well as being given extra fodder during the w inter m onths, have to find food chiefly on those p a rts o f the m unicipal pasture-lands which have n o t yet been afforested, for which grazing-fees have to be paid to the m unicipality.

The sm all im portance o f the incom e from m ilk and cheese is am azing.

It has already been noted that, because o f the diíficulty in m arketing milk, it is m ainly given to the young anim als or kept for dom estic use, which is one o f the m ain reasons why in the Sierra de G ata rearing anim als for slaughter is far m ore im p o rtan t th an dairy-farm ing.

The above table o f receipts and principal expenditure, however, no longer accords with the actual situation. D ue to the potato-disease the yields o f potatoes per hectare have becom e very m uch less. It is true th at the farm er in our example was lucky enough to get 32 quintáis o f potatoes per hectare from his irrigated land (3,200 kgs.), b u t on the unirrigated land production was only a tenth o f w hat it used to be 3, so th a t the in­ come from potato-grow ing is now less th a n 18,000 psts. Therefore the farm er intends to crop his potato-fields in future w ith fodder-crops, so

1 See p. 67.

2 N ot included are wages paid to members of the family!

3 Cf. p. 65.

153

th a t the num ber o f cattle can be increased, which also m eans less w ork th a n potato-grow ing and will m ake it no longer necessary to hire labourers in the autum n.

The one hectare o f land where pines have been set a t his own expense — because o f the small am o u n t o f land, according to the farm er, planting o f pines in conjunction w ith the State was o u t o f the question — will only becom e productive in tw enty years’ tim e l .

This is done especially by p o o rer villagers who possess no cattle and only a small piece o f land an d who, because o f the potato-disease and the decrease in the area o f n atu ral pastures, have had to find a living else­ where — in the industrial districts o f N o rth ern Spain or France — as unskilled labourer 2 over a long period 3. A t their own expense they have partly planted their unirrigated lands, w hich are practically valueless as a result o f the podredumbre seca, w ith pines, hoping to be able to reap some benefit in fifteen to tw enty years’ time. Pines, house and irri­ gated fields are left in the charge o f m em bers o f the fam ily w ho are left behind and w ho, providing they pay the land taxes, have the usufruct o f the huertos.

In the following example, which represents the farm o f a “ m ediano” — in El Payo a farm er w ith a m oderate-size farm — potato-grow ing as a source o f incom e has becom e o f very little im portance, m ore so th an was the case in the previous example.

Size o f the family: four persons, of whom one son not yet o f age working on the farm; 1 shepherd who also works for three other farmers Size of the farm:

15.2 ha.

Latid use

Livestock

2.2 ha.

2 ha.

2 ha.

6 ha.

3 draught-cows 1 donky 3 cows for breeding 1 Pig 6 chickens 90 sheep

3

meadow irrigated land (of which 1 ha. in lease) rye fallow-land (of which 2 ha. worked fallow and 1 ha. cropped with vetches) ha. pastures

1 One hectare of pines is expected to yield at least 6,500 pesetas after twenty years.

2 N ot only are these emigrants unskilled in the industrial field, but many of them can neither read ñor write! In 1955, according to the Censo Electoral, no less than 44.5 % of the people in El Payo who were of age, were illiterate, a percentage very different from that of most of the other Sierra villages, where in general one-fifth to one-third can neither read ñor write.

3 See the next chapter, p. 208, for the decrease in population in El Payo.

Income calves lambs and sheep wool cheese and milk

Principal expenditure 6,000 psts.

20,000 „ 3,800 „ 4,500 „

milling grain 250 grazing-fees 1,750 artificial fertilizer 1,700 rent 1,500 wages and valué of goods for shepherd 4,000

psts. „ „ „ „

D espite the lower yield, potatoes are still grow n for dom estic consum p­ tion, bu t m ost o f the land is at present taken up by fodder-crops, such as barley and rye. In 1960 “ p atacas” were grow n fo r the first time, i.e.

Jerusalem artichokes intended for fodder, a crop im m une to the fatal podredumbre seca, the yield from which is expected to exceed th a t o f potatoes.

F rom the above example it is apparent th a t there is too m uch tractive pow er: two draught-cow s are sufficient, b u t the th ird cow is im p o rtan t for m anure and for breeding. Because 25 goats were done away w ith in connection w ith re-aíforestation there was a great decrease in incom e, estim ated by the farm er at 7,500 pesetas, and it is possible th a t as m ore pasture-grounds become afforested a reduction o f the num ber o f sheep will also becom e necessary. This is why the farm er wishes to lease m ore irrigated land from possible “ em igrants” , so th a t he can grow m ore fodder-crops. In this way he will be able to keep m ore cows, w hich do n o t only ensure m anure-production, b u t also provide an extra incom e l.

The tendency o f a shift-over to cattle, w hich to o k place in the R ebollar after 1752, also appears to be going on today, not, as in form er times, as a result o f clearings in the zone o f monte and pastos, b u t because of afforestation in this zone.

Even m ore so th an in the case o f the “ m ediano” there is to o m uch tractive pow er in our next exam ple — one o f the kind th at is m ost typical for El Payo. It is a farm owned by a small farm er who also has to w ork tem porarily as a day-labourer, in order to provide for his family. The fam ily also m ake some extra m oney because wife and daughter help to pick co tton on the plain o f M oraleja during Septem ber and O ctober (for 50 pesetas per head a day) and at the harvesting o f olives in January

1 Thanks to these extra earnings it may in future be possible to replace the donkey by a horse, which means a considerable saving of time in transporting agricultural produce, hay and manure.

155

in the Southern Sierra (for 30 pesetas a day), which takes ab o u t fifteen d a y s !.

Size of the family: 5 persons, including two that are under age and a grandmother Size of the farm: 5 ha.

Land use

Livestock

1 ha. meadow 1 ha. irrigated land 1 ha. wheat

2 draught-cows 1 donkey 2 goats 6 chickens

2 ha. fallow-land (of which 0.9 ha. worked fallow and 0.1 ha. cropped with vetches and garbanzos) Income calf milk and cheese young goat

Principal expenditure 3,000 psts.

1,200 „ 220 „

artificial fertilizer milling grain

200 psts.

260

„

A reduction o f tractive pow er is im possible, as two draught-cow s are needed for a plough-team . Besides, the anim als — ju st as in the preceding case — are o f great valué for producing calves and m anure 2; in addition this farm er is lucky enough to be able to hire him self out together with his team o f draught-cow s, so th a t his daily earnings are three tim es the am ou n t o f those o f an agricultural labourer w ho has no d raught-anim als: 125 psts. instead o f 40 psts.

O f the irrigated land h alf a hectare belongs to a relative w ho has recently gone away, land o f w hich the farm er in question has the usufruct. D ue to the potato-disease this land is to d ay used entirely for the growing o f fodder-crops and crops for dom estic consum ption, w hich is also the case w ith the hectare cropped w ith wheat. Instead o f potatoes a small p art o f the fallow-land has now been sown w ith vetches and — less usual for El Payo — w ith pulses for hum an consum ption, such as yellow peas.

These so-called garbanzos, which are harvested in July (at a b o u t the same tim e as w heat) entail no labour problem for the farm er, as the harvest and the threshing o f w heat usually take no m ore th an eight to nine days on this small farm .

Just as in the form er cases, the incom e o f this farm er has considerably decreased in the last few years. A p art from the fact th a t eight goats were done aw ay w ith because o f the decrease in the area o f natu ral pastures,-

1 It was estimated that the earnings were 4,500 pesetas.

2 The manure-production of over 10,000 kilogrammes is not sufficient for manuring the grain-field, which was different in former times when the farmer kept more goats and the farm comprised only half a hectare of irrigated land.

156

before the re-afforestation the w inter m onths were spent in m aking charcoal from heather-stubs, w hich used to be done by m ore th an forty p o o r villagers. Sometimes the earnings from the m aking o f charcoal am ounted to 90 pesetas daily; the average earnings, however, were ab o u t 30 to t 35 pesetas l . True, this “ obrero eventual” w ith his team o f draughtanim als now helps for the tim e being to prepare the pasture-lands for afforestation, which brings him in 75 psts. daily. M oreover, in the spring he and his wife — together w ith 22 other people — help to thin o u t eightyear oíd trees 2 for 50 and 40 pesetas daily respectively. Y et in his opinion these earnings do n o t com pénsate for the loss o f his goats and the discontinuation o f charcoal-m aking. In spite o f re-afforestation and p o tatodisease, this farm er was n o t forced to leave the village, as he had draughtanim als, in co n trast to m any others who were entirely dependent on hired draught-anim als for the cultivation o f land and the threshing o f grain, and whose m ain sources o f incom e, besides their earnings as day-labourers, were potato-grow ing and goat-keeping.

Nevertheless this “ farm er-labourer” also intends to sell his livestock and to leave the village, in the hope o f finding a better livelihood as an u n ­ skilled industrial w orker in Bilbao, Avilés or G ijón. If possible, he hopes to keep one or tw o pigs and to have a small garden where he can grow things for himself.

The next farm -unit is entirely different. It is situated in the m unicipality o f P eñaparda, and n o t only because o f its size and type o f land use, b u t also because o f the kind o f farm ing carried on, it is a great co ntrast to the farm s previously described. Therefore it m ust be considered as exceptional.

O n this dehesa 3 stock-keeping and forestry are the only sources o f in­ come ; arable farm ing has a very subordínate place and is restricted to the growing o f fodder-crops and huerta-produce for dom estic use. There is no cereal-growing on the estáte described here — n o t even to provide for the ow ner’s needs. W ithin the acreage o f the estáte, which form s a continuous unit, are the houses o f the ow ner and servants, and the stables; a m anager is in charge, as the ow ner and his family only live on the estáte during the sum m er-m onths.

1 As a result of the rise in charcoal-prices the average earnings today would be Ihree times as much.

2 In El Payo the afforestation of municipal pasture-grounds was started in 1945.

3 There are only a few in the northern Sierra, as this area — as has been said before — is predominantly a district of small holdings.

157

Family: Farming staff:

parents, three children, three domestic servants manager and his family and six hired labourers

Land use

Livestock

770 ha. monte (oaks and pastures) 200 ha. pastures covered with heather 4 ha. irrigated land

10 draught-cows 150 breeding-cows, including 70 one-year oíd calves 260 goats

The ow ner intends to stop grow ing fodder-crops — especially tuberous plants, such as potatoes and m angolds — on the irrigated land, as these crops require a great deal o f attention, are easily subject to attacks o f disease and susceptible to night-frosts 1. In future the farm er plans to change the use to which he puts his irrigated land. D ue to the fact th at the western R ebollar affords opportunities for further irrigation, the laying o u t o f praderas will be a great help in this respect: n o t only are pastures well suited to the raw clim ate o f the R ebollar and require less la b o u r th an p o tato - and mangold-fields, b u t after the hay-harvest in June they are excellent grazing-fields o n which cattle can feed up till February.

W ood will have an even m ore im p o rtan t place in future th an it has today on the estáte. The ow ner has had 100 hectares o f the least valuable grazing-land afforested w ith pinasters at his own expense. These trees are grow n m ore for the valué o f the w ood th an for resin. In order to enable as m uch o f the seed as possible to grow despite the frequent occurrence o f night-frost in this area, sowing was not done until the spring and m ore than the double q uantity o f seed per hectare 2 was sown th an usual in El Payo and other m unicipalities where pasture-grounds are re-afforested.

O n this estáte, too, a shift will take place in stock-keeping in favour o f c a ttle : on his ow n initiative the ow ner is going to do away w ith his goats and to increase the num ber o f cattle, as the goats n o t only dam age the existing oak-w oods b u t are also a danger to the newly afforested pastures.

1 Up till now this estáte has not been troubled by the notorious podredumbre seca, but “escarbejo” is a great nuisance and every year insecticides are used to combat it.

2 That is, over 22 kgs. per hectare; as 16 persons with 9 teams o f draught-animals were busy for more than six weeks on re-afforestation, the total expenses for the owner' amounted to about 7,900 pesetas for seed and nearly 30,000 pesetas for wages. The expenditure on wages, however, will for the most part be only temporary, because for the work of re-afforestation labourers could be hired from the surrounding villages (especially from Peñaparda), which will also be the case in about four years’time when the time has come for thinning out, for which much labour is required.

158

A larger incom e is expected 1 from these future pine-w oods th an when these lands were used as pastures for the g o a ts: the expected incom e from the afforested lands will directly benefit the ow ner himself, different from El Payo and the m any other Sierra municipalities, where re-afforestation was done on m unicipal grazing-land, w hich m eant a decline in the earnings o f the villagers 2.

B.

Types o f farm in Villasrubias and Robleda, tw o examples o f eastern m unicipalities

W hereas it appears that, because potato-grow ing is no longer carried on in El Payo, stock-keeping is going to be by far the m ost im p o rtan t and in m any cases even the only source o f incom e here 3, in the m ore easterly m unicipalities on the other hand agriculture is o f m ore im portance, together w ith stock-keeping. This is m ade possible by the fact th a t there is m ore arable land and because podredumbre seca does n o t occur here. It is true th a t p a rt o f the agricultural produce is used for fodder or fo r the farm ers’ families, b u t in addition a considerable quantity o f grain is sold to the “ Servicio N acional del Trigo” , a public body which buys up and distributes grains in Spain.

In these m unicipalities the position w ith regard to m anure-production is on the w hole less favourable th an in the villages o f the western R e­ bollar. This is because the stubble-fields, which since re-afforestation have been the principal grazing-lands for sheep and goats 4, and the limited area o f praderas (the area is sm all because there are fewer possibilities fo r irrigation) do n o t provide enough food to keep the num ber o f live­ stock necessary for producing the m anure on the farms.

1 In twenty years’ time, when various thinnings have taken place, the number of trees per hectare is estimated at 400; the valué of the trees when they are ready to be cut down will presumably be about 250 pesetas each.

2 It is true, however, that the trees will provide future employment for some o f the male villagers; owing to a well-filled treasury, a reduction in the local taxes may be expected and — in some cases —• it will be possible to abolish the grazing-fees on the pastures that are still left. In addition, just as in Descargamaría, as a result of the in­ crease in the municipal income, improvements, such as sewerage, paving of streets etc., can be carried out, from which the whole community will indirectly profit.

3 That is, apart from the income obtained from working on re-afforestation or the thinning-out of young pines and from activities elsewhere, such as picking cotton or harvesting olives.

4 What is left of the pastures after the re-afforestation (in Villasrubias, as in most o f the eastern municipalities this was partly done before 1956) is in the first place used as dehesas boyales for cattle, mules and horses —draught-animals as wel as breedingcattle.

159

A typical example is the following farm o f a “ fam ilia cam pesina” , chiefly ru n by the m em bers o f the fam ily themselves, which is the case on m ost o f the holdings in V illasrubias an d R obleda.

Family: Size of the farm:

parents, grandmother, three children 13.35 ha.

Land use

Livestock

4 ha. rye 2 draught-cows 0.5 ha. wheat 1 calf 8 ha. fallow (of which 0.8 ha. cropped with 1 donkey vetches, 0.5 ha. with potatoes and 3 2 pigs ha. tilled fallow-land) 1 goat 0.85 ha. irrigated land on the campo cerrado, 5 sheep o f which 0.5 ha. is cropped with mangolds and 0.35 ha. with potatoes, pulses and cabbages, alternated with a crop of fodder-rye in winter and spring.

W hereas the m inim um q uantity o f m anure, necessary for an annual m anuring o f the — in this case irrigated — arable land on the campo cerrado and a triennial m anuring o f the grain-fields on the campo abierto is m ore than 48,000 kgs., the actual am o u n t o f m anure produced, which is a b o u t 15,000 kgs., falls far sh o rt o f this figure. A lthough in the grazing o f the fallow -land m anure is a t the sam e tim e provided fo r the fields, this is n o t sufficient, as is show n by the low yields per hectare o f ab o u t 500 kgs. o f rye instead o f 650 to 700 kgs. w hich is obtained when the land is sufficiently m anured '. Because o f the low incom e o f the farm concerned (on account o f w hich the eldest son has to go to w ork as a day-labourer for three m onths o f the year on oth er farm s o r as a forest-w orker in the m unicipal w oods, which brings in ab o u t 3,000 pesetas extra) 2, n o t enough artificial fertilizer can be bought. This is why any artificial fertilizer is in the first place given to those p arts o f the cultivated area which are m ost profitable o r w hich are necessary in providing for the needs o f the family and livestock, th a t is the “ w heat-land” an d the “ cortina” .

Income potatoes grain bull-calf young stock cheese 3

Principal expenditure 2,500 psts.

1,800 „ 3,500 „ 1,400 „ 800 „

milling grain grazing-fees artificial fertilizer

425 psts.

250 „ 600 „

1 Cf. p. 62.

2 Other members of the family, too, work in the woods during the winter months; last winter this brought in 4,500 pesetas.

3 The relatively high income from the sale of cheese is due to the fact that most of the goat’s milk (a yearly average of 350 litres) is made into cheese.

160

The owner keeps a heifer for himself, as he hopes to increase the num ber o f cow s; he intends to rent some eighty ares o f land m ore in the campo cerrado, in order to grow fodder-crops.

As the farm can provide sufficient labour it is n o t necessary to hire a shepherd for the sheep (the goat rem ains in the village). T ogether w ith the sheep and goats o f three other farm ers the anim als are looked after by the younger m em bers o f the family, who take tum s. In sum m er the ani­ m als are usually p u t in enclosures w ith m ovable fences erected in the fields; in w inter the sheep are p u t in the stone corral, because o f the danger o f wolves.

Just as in the previous case, on the following holding, w hich belongs to a “ w ell-to-do” farm er, the lack o f m anure is also a great problem .

It is m uch m ore easily solved, however, as the farm er, due to his larger income, can use m ore artificial fertilizer.

Size of the family: six persons, including a grown-up son who works on the holding Extra hand: one casual labourer who assists in lifting potatoes Farm-acreage: 30 ha.

Land use

Livestock

5 ha. wheat 3 ha. rye 17 ha. fallow (of which 3 ha. cropped with vetches) 3 ha. permanently cropped land in low places in the campo abierto: potatoes in crop rotation with wheat and vetches 2 ha. unirrigated land in the campo cerrado

6 draught-animals 4 breeding-cows 5 calves 12 sheep 3 goats 2 pigs 1 mulé

Income

Principal expenditure

wheat potatoes calves young sheep and goats, piglets and oíd animals milk and cheese wool

14,000 psts.

7,500 „ 15,000 „ 3,500

„

1,100 „ 400

milling grain grazing-fees artificial fertilizer insecticides for combating “escarbejo” wages

460 psts.

1,200 „ 4,700

„

250 450

„ „

„

A lthough this farm is only twice as large as the last one, the gross i ncome from it is m ore th a n four tim es as m uch, because the quality o f the arable land (especially “ w heat-land” and perm anently cultivated fields) is considerably higher, and m ore cattle are kept. As on the sm aller farm o f 13 hectares, no shepherd has to be hired to look after the sheep and goats — o f which there are few — b u t this is left to one o f the younger 161

m em bers o f the family. This, together w ith the fact th a t since the reafforestation fewer sheep and especially goats are kept in Villasrubias, accounts for the small num ber o f paid shepherds in this village and in the m ore easterly m unicipalities as com pared w ith the villages in the western R ebollar. O n the oth er hand too m any draught-anim als are kept on this farm : the p roduction o f m anure and young anim als are n o t the only reason for this, b u t they are also necessary for the threshing o f grain, w hich — as has been said before — is done by m eans o f a threshingsledge, pulled by one o r tw o draught-anim als and guided by a m an, a w om an o r sometimes by a child '. W ith the aid o f this threshing-sledge — which is very sim ilar to the oíd R om án “ tribulum ” — the grain is n o t only rem oved from the husk, b u t a t the same time, even better th an by the hoofs o f draught-anim als, the straw is chopped in such a way th at it can be used as fodder.

Ju st as is the case a t present in El Payo after the decline o f potatogrowing, it appears th a t also in V illasrubias a farm sm aller th an five hectares does n o t provide a sufficient incom e to support a family.

Family: Size of the farm:

parents with one daughter 4.5 ha.

Land use

Livestock

1.3 ha. wheat (of which 0.5 ha. on lease) 1.7 ha. fallow-land (of which 0.65 ha. tilled and 0.15 ha. cropped with potatoes as fallow-crop) 1.5 ha. irrigated land in the campo cerrado

2 draught-cows 1 calf 1 goat

Income

Principal expenditure

potatoes calf

1,750 psts.

3,000 „

250 psts.

210 400 „

„

A lthough on this farm , too, there is n o t enough m anure, artificial fertilizer cannot be used because o f the expenses in volved. T he farm er on this small holding is worse off th a n the small farm er in El Payo, because in V illasrubias day-labourers w ith draught-anim als o f their own i As Bierhenke observed in 1927, the flail is much less important than the thresh­ ing-sledge. The flail is only used when long straw is required. Threshing by means o f horses and mules walking round and separating the grains from the husks with their hoofs, is no longer done in the Sierra de Gata. W. Bierhenke, “Das Dreschen in der Sierra de Gata”, Volkstum und Kultur der Romanen II, Jahrgang I. Heft 1929—1930, pp. 20, 64, 65.

162

A lthough in the R ebollar, m ore th an in the Southern Sierra, the m ajority o f the agricultural holdings are owned by the farm -operators themselves, tenancy is n o t unknow n in this area. Especially those sm all farm ers who do n o t get enough from their farm s to provide for the needs o f their families and w ho have no opportunity or are n o t willing to w ork tem porarily as day-labourers on farm s o f m ore well-to-do villagers !, can earn extra m oney by renting land. The following analysis gives an idea o f a farm belonging to a small farm er in Robleda, a m an who — because he has rented four hectares o f land from a villager w ho m igrated to A sturias — m ay be called an “ agricultor autó n o m o ” .

Family: Farm-acreage:

1 pig

grazing-fees milling grain rent

are n o t required. The farm er has to supplem ent his incom e by doing m anual w o rk : he hires him self o u t as a m ower during harvest-tim e in m ore northerly grain-grow ing m unicipalities, som etim es for a daily wage o f 75 pesetas, including b o ard , b u t in m ost cases “ a destajo” , i.e. per m ow ed area, for 300 pesetas per fanega o f w heat o r 200 pesetas per fanega o f rye. In w inter, w orking on the afforested land and — especially fo r the wife — the picking o f co tton in the plain o f M oraleja and the harvesting o f olives in the Southern Sierra provide indispensable extra earnings. * * *

parents, son (two married daughters) 8 ha. (of which 4 ha. rented)

Land use

Livestock

0.4 ha.

0.6 ha.

2.5 ha.

1.5 ha.

1.2 ha.

1.8 ha.

2 draught-animals

irrigated land in the campo cerrado unirrigated land in the campo cerrado wheat rye vetches fallow

Income calf goat’s cheese wheat potatoes

3 goats 1 Pig 5chickens

Principal expenditure 3,000 psts.

1,200

„

6.500 „ 3.500 „

rent 2,400 psts. milling grain 360 „ insecticides for combating “escarbejo” 300 „ artificial fertilizer 2,500 „

I n order to benefit as m uch as possible from the rented area o f “ secano” , i.c. unirrigated land, the farm er spends a relatively high am o u n t on purchusing artificial fertilizer, especially as the pro d u ctio n o f m anure from

1 This is often due to the fact that the father used to be “autónomo” and the son despite the splitting-up of the farm after his father’s death — still wants to continué being one.

163

the small num ber o f livestock is n o t enough for his farm . The am pie use o f fertilizer and the good quality o f the arable land enable the farm er to crop 1.2 ha. o f “barbecho-lan d ” w ith vetches and to restrict the fallowarea to only 1.8 ha. N evertheless the renting o f grain-land is n o t very profitable, so th at, if possible, this farm er w ants to rent m eadows or irrigated cropland for growing fodder-crops, w hich will enable him to keep m ore cattle. It is true th a t a future reduction o f the grain-cropped area and a bias tow ards cattle-farm ing will m ean the buying o f flour, b u t on the other h an d it will be possible to greatly econom ize on the ex­ penditure for artificial m anure. M oreover the son — who helps his father o n the farm as well as w orking in the m onte o f R obleda — will then be free to carry o u t his plans o f going to Bilbao, as his help in harvesting grain will no longer be required for the sm all grain-cropped area left over.

A n example o f the thesis th a t the mere size o f a farm does n o t tell us m uch ab o u t the character and incom e o f an agricultural holding — at least n o t in the Sierra de G a ta — is the following analysis o f a farm , a large holding in com parison w ith the usual size o f farm s in R obleda.

Size of the family: 6 persons, including one grown-up son who works on the farm Extra hands: 1 shepherd who works for five other farmers, 2 hired mowers during the grain-harvest Farm-acreage:

48.8 ha.

Land use

0.8 ha. irrigated cortina 2 ha. meadows 3

ha. wheat 6 ha. rye 12 ha. fallow (of which 3 ha. tilled and 3.8 ha. cropped with vetches) 15 ha. pastures 10 ha. planted with pines

Livestock

6 cows for breeding, 4 o f which are also used as draught-animals 2 mules 1 goat 20 sheep 4 pigs 10 chickens

Income

Principal expenditure

potatoes 3,000 psts. wheat and rye 8,500 calves 12,000 piglets 1,800 lambs and fully-grown animals 5,400 milk and cheese 2,500 wool 800 eggs 400

milling grain 400 psts. grazing-fees 1,600 „ artificial fertilizer 6,000 „ insecticides for combating “escarbejo” 150 „ wages and valué of goods in kind for the shepherd 2,000 „ wages for mowers 1,000 „

164

The low incom e obtained from cereal-culture in com parison with that from the 30 ha.-farm in V illasrubias is striking. A part from the fact th a t the production per hectare did n o t com e up to expectations, because o f the unfavourable clim atological conditions — 450 kgs. instead o f the norm al yield o f 650 kgs. per hectare — the low proceeds are also due to three hectares o f land cropped w ith w heat being exploited in share tenancy. In this case, however, it is n o t the usual type o f share tenancy “ al tercio” , where the share te n an t is only entitled to one th ird o f the yield: here tw o thirds o f the grain-yield is for the farm er, as the landow ner — a cattle-dealer — leaves it to the farm er to provide m anure and sowingseed.

Ju st as in Villasrubias, there is n o t enough m anure, especially as the m anure fo r the area w orked in share tenancy is n o t chargeable to the ow ner; th a t is why here, too, extra m anuring w ith artificial fertilizer is necessary.

In order to increase future incom e from the farm , the farm er, looking ahead, has planted ten hectares o f the least valuable land w ith pines at his own expense, in the hope th a t in th irty years’ time these trees will bring him in a t least 6,000 pesetas per hectare at present prices. In R obleda — unlike El Payo — this prívate re-afforestation has m ainly been restricted to large-scale farm ers. Because o f the extensive area o f stubble-fields in R obleda and the existence o f natu ral pastures, in spite o f re-afforestation, there has been no substantial decrease in the num ber o f sheep and goats. Ñ o r did the podredumbre seca forcé the p o orer villagers to leave their village in great num bers after having sown p a rt o f their land w ith “ pinos” , as happened in El Payo and P eñ aparda >.

C.

Types o f farm in H oyos, a small m unicipality specializing in olivegrowing

The farm s in the small m ountainous m unicipalities o f the Southern Sierra are o f an entirely different character th a n those in the R ebollar.

The natu ral conditions o f m any o f the Southern Sierra m unicipalities m ake these villages m ore suited to sheep- and goat-keeping th a n cattlebreeding. M oreover, as there are olive-groves and there is no graingrowing in the m ore accidented m unicipalities the farm ers here prefer to use mules and donkeys rath er th an cows as draught-anim als. A lthough stock-keeping, especially on the larger farms, is a n o t u n im portant source i

Cf. p. 208.

o f incom e, arboriculture form s the basis o f econom y on the holdings in the sm aller Sierra m unicipalities. Especially those few farm ers w ho run larger farm s w ith some hundreds o f olive-trees are olive-growers in the real sense o f the w ord, producing olives and olive-oil for the m arket.

This is an exam ple o f such a farm.

Size of the family: 5 persons, including two sons who work on the farm Extra hands: 1 regular worker, 1 shepherd Farm-acreage:

33.5 ha.

Land use

Livestock

ha. olives (of which 6 ha. underplanting of barley and rye) 0.5 ha. vines 2 ha. irrigated land 3 ha. chestnut-trees 10 ha. oaks

4 mules (two teams) 4 breeding-cows 50 sheep 30 goats 5 pigs 20 chickens

Income

Principal expenditure

18

lambs, goats, sheep milk and cheese wool calves pigs and piglets green olives orujo olive-oil figs 1 oranges 1 eggs

17.000 psts.

5,800 1,600 9.000 5.000 15.000 3,600

artificial fertilizer 5,400 psts. wages (including valué of wages in kind for shepherd) 55,000 „ grazing-fees 1,200 „

120,000 2.000 20.000 1,000

F ro m the above analysis it clearly emerges th a t olive-growing brings in by far the m ost incom e, although the profits are inclined to fluctuate very m uch on this farm , varying from 70,000 pesetas to m ore th an 180,000 pesetas! O ther profitable form s o f arboriculture are the orange- and figtrees planted in the huerta', on the other h and the crops grown annually on the huerta are entirely for dom estic use, as is the produce from the vineyard.

The ow ner has rented out a q u arter o f the irrigated area in métayage to the agricultural labourer. This is know n as “ aparcería de sem entera de

1 The average yield o f figs per tree amounts to approximately 50 kgs.; they are for the most part sold for a price of 2 pesetas per kilogramme of green figs. The production o f an orange-tree, just as that of the olive-tree, is subject to great fluctuations: the average production is from 70 to 80 kgs. per tree, but in a good year yields o f 120 kgs. per tree can be obtained, while production-figures of 50 kgs. or less in bad years are by no means exceptional.

166

h uertas” , and is done by well-to-do farm ers in the Southern Sierra as a rew ard o r stim ulus. The owner pays the land-taxes, he also takes care of the tillages done by the plough, and pays for h alf o f the seed and h ar­ vesting expenses; the m étayer has to pay the other half and has to see to the irrigation, weeding and other jobs which have to be done, and the yields are divided equally between ow ner and m étayer.

The m anure produced by the livestock is com pletely inadequate to sufficiently m anure the cultivated area *, but, as in the R ebollar, the sale o f anim als and products from livestock form an im p o rtan t source o f incom e, thus increasing the bias in favour o f m arket-farm ing on this holding.

A part from the yearly incom e from agriculture and stock-keeping the area planted w ith chestnut-trees and oaks, which provides food for the farm anim als, also brings in extra earnings every six to eight years: two years ago the w ood from trees th a t were cut dow n was sold for as m uch as 160,000 psts.!

The large am ount paid o u t in wages is rem arkable, com pared w ith farm s o f ab o u t the same size in the n o rthern Sierra. As in El Payo, it is n o t usual in H oyos for the farm er him self to look after the sheep and g o a ts; owing to the relatively high incom e the farm er in question can afford to keep a shepherd entirely to him self; this m an is em ployed only to look after the farm er’s anim als on the grazing-fields o r in the olive-groves.

A p art from the care o f livestock and the w ork in the vineyards, huerta and olive-groves, done by the ow ner himself, his sons and the regular w orker, twelve w om en and som e m en have to be engaged for som e weeks during the w inter to gather and varear the olives, and in the spring some casual labourers are employed in cavar de pies. Every three years some men have to com e to prune the trees. N o extra w orkers are needed to pick green olives, as the fruits are sold on the trees.

W hereas the well-to-do farm ers usually have their own shepherd, small farm ers, w ho have to graze their anim als m ostly on the grazing-fields of others — on paym ent o f a certain am ount per anim al — em ploy a hired shepherd between them to look after their anim als, ju st as in El Payo.

The farm er him self devotes all his tim e to the land, which is for the m ost part planted w ith olive-trees; these are a relatively even m ore im p o rtan t source o f income th an the groves on the larger holdings.

1 This is why each year on one third of the land planted with olive-trees 1,800 kgs. o f fertilizer, “compuesto”, a mixture of calcareous superphosphate, potassiumsulphate and nitrates, is given to the soil.

167

Size of the family: 4 persons (1 son in Madrid); 1 shepherd who also works for five other farmers Farm-acreage:

7.2 ha.

Land use 6.5 ha. olives 0.3 ha. huerta 0.1 ha. unirrigated garden 0.3 ha. vines Income olive-oil green olives orujo oranges figs young animals milk & cheese piglets

Livestock

Size o f the family: 4 persons (two daughters) Size of the farm: 4.05 ha.

2 mules 10 goats 2 pigs 5 chickens

Land use

Principal expenditure 45,000 psts. artificial fertilizer 900 2,500 „ grazing-fees 200 1,400 „ rent 6,000 4,000 „ pruning o f olive-trees 1,500 500 „ wages of shepherd 2,800 1,300 „ harvesting of olives 500 3,200 „ 1,200 „

psts. „ „ „ „ „

A fter the splitting-up o f the farm on his fath er’s death, the farm er rented p a rt o f the area tak en up by olive-trees (three hectares) from his brother w ho is em ployed as an industrial labourer in A sturias, as otherwise the farm w ould be to o sm all to provide fo r tw o families. T he relatively high ren t o f 2,000 pesetas per hectare o f olive-grove — com pared w ith 2,500 pesetas for one hectare o f irrigated land perm anently cropped — is due to the fact th a t one hectare o f land planted w ith olive-trees requires less w ork th a n a sim ilar acreage does when taken up by huerta-crops.

In spite o f the fact th a t no grain fo r m aking bread is grow n on the farm (one hectare, however, is cropped w ith rye for fodder as an underplanting in the olive-groves), so th a t flour has to be bought, and despite the vari­ able incom e from olive-cultivation — 25,000 psts. in the previous year — th e farm er on this holding has n o t had to hire him self o u t as a casual labourer. Besides the incom e obtained from the farm , w hich is a typical one in H oyos, the w om en m ake som e n o t u nim p o rtan t extra earnings from lace-m aking I t is w orthy o f note th a t “ encaje de bolillo” o r lace (the m aking o f which is m ainly restricted to H oyos and the neighbouring village o f A cebo) is n o t sold directly by the inhabitants o f H oyos them ­ selves, b u t is b o u g h t u p by m erchants from A cebo, w ho sell it elsewhere, especially in M ad rid and C atalonia.

W hereas a farm er w ith 4 ha. o f land in the northern Sierra is an “ obrero eventual” , i.e. a m an who has to w ork fo r a certain tim e as a day-labourer,

1 Lace can be made to bring in twenty to thirty pesetas per day.

168

in H oyos a farm er on a holding o f the same size, provided th a t it is m ostly concentrated on olive-growing, can still be counted am ong the “ agricul­ tores autón om os” , i.e. independent farmers.

Livestock

3.3 ha. olives (of which 1 ha. with an under- 1 mulé planting of fodder-crops) 1 milking-cow 0.5 ha. huerta 1 goat 0.25 ha. vines 8 chickens Income green olives orujo olive-oil figs oranges eggs milk

Principal expenditure 1,600 psts.

600 „ 19,000 „

fodder for cow and mulé artificial fertilizer 1,000 „ 3,500 „ 200 ,, 12,000 „

200 psts.

300

„

The econom ic condition o f the above farm , however, contrasts favourably w ith other holdings o f ab o u t the same size and w ith the same land use, as this farm er is lucky enough to possess a milking-cow, even if it is oíd. By selling the m ilk which, because o f better m arketing opportunities in H oyos (where, as we have seen, m ore people have em ploym ent outside ag ricu ltu re1 th an in any other Sierra village), together w ith oliveoil, is the principal source o f incom e, and also by selling hand-m ade lace, this farm er is n o t so dependent on the yields o f the trees. M oreover keeping a cow and a mulé m akes it possible to m eet the need fo r m anure on this small holding.

The following holding has a smaller econom ic basis. I t is n o t very different in area from the one described above, b u t m ore th a n h alf o f the land is exploited in share tenancy “ al tercio” , w hich m eans th a t only one th ird o f the yield from the area farm ed in share tenancy goes to the share tenant.

Size of the family: six persons, one of whom is an adult male worker.

Farm-acreage: 3.4 ha.

Land use

Livestock

0.2 ha. unirrigated land 0.2 ha. huerta

1 mulé 1 goat

3

2 pigs 6 chickens

ha. olives (of which 2 ha. in share tenancy)

' Cf. the statistics on the working population in Hoyos according to the data from the Censo Electoral of 1955 on pp. 142 and 143.

169

The incom e from this holding in a “ norm al olive-year” comes to 13,000 psts. (11,000 psts. from olive-oil, 400 psts. orujo, 700 psts. figs, 900 psts. piglets), an d in addition 4,000 psts. from lace-m aking. A lthough the chief costs o f running the farm are small, viz. 200 psts. for fertilizer used on the huerta an d the unirrigated land (the farm er prunes his olivetrees himself) and the incom e from this farm is considerably higher th an th a t from the sm all farm s in the R ebollar, the farm er and his wife hire themselves o u t during the olive-harvest (for 40 and 30 pesetas respectively a day), in order to m ake som ething on which they can fall back in those years when the olive-yields do n o t bring in m ore th an 8,000 pesetas.

The m any small farm ers w ith little land o f their own, who do n o t earn enough from their farm s to m ake them entirely independent, usually hire themselves o u t as casual w orkers on larger farm s, when there is no w ork to be done on their own small holdings.

partly used for dom estic consum ption and partly for providing fodder for the tw o draught-anim als, owing to which the land can be m anured sufficiently. As the farm er possesses draught-anim als o f his ow n he can hire him self out w ith his mules in spring and autum n for eighty to hundred pesetas daily (in which case the tem porary em ployer has to pay fo r fodder for the anim als); besides this, the mules are used during harvest-tim e for transporting the olives. E xtra earnings are got from lace-m aking, from harvesting olives in the m unicipality and from picking cotton in the plain o f M oraleja, all o f which is done by his wife and daughters. As there are no cows, b o th because o f lack o f m oney and because it is im possible to grow sufficient fodder-crops on the small irrigated area, the incom e o f this farm er or “ obrero eventual ” is hardly any higher th an th a t o f the farm er-cum -labourer in the Rebollar.

D. Family:

parents, two daughters (the son works in Northern Spain)

0.30 ha. irrigated land (rented) 80 olive-trees

1 team of mules 1 goat 1 Pig

The farm er only owns the olive-trees, b u t does n o t own the land its e lf l.

T he owner o f the land can use any weeds th a t m ight grow for feeding his livestock and is allowed to crop the land w ith rye, b u t he has to be careful o f tw o things: he has to leave a space o f eight feet around the trees free, and he is n o t allowed to bring his sheep to the olive-grove during the “ acoto” , i.e. the period from Septem ber up to and including the harvest-time, when the trees bear fruit. The farm er here concerned has the right to all the fruit from the olive-trees, and also the right to till the space o f eight feet aro u n d each tru n k whenever he likes and, if necessary, to replace oíd trees by new ones.

T he farm ers in this class, together w ith the agricultural labourers (who often have a small p lo t o f their own, either irrigated o r not) form the group which for the m ost p a rt farm only to provide for their own needs.

They usually have n o anim als o f their own which they can sell, and only a small p art o f the little olive-oil th a t is produced is left over for sale. Y et in o u r exam ple the olive-trees bring the farm er in an average incom e o f 2,700 pesetas, b u t the yield from the garden (rented a t 750 pesetas) is

1 This “suelo y vuelo” or split property often gives rise to quarrels and does not promote an intensive form of olive-cultivation; therefore many owners o f land rent it out to the owners o f the trees, which makes for more efficiency.

170

D escargam aría, types o f farm in an accidented Sierra m unicipality

A som ew hat different situation is found in D escargam aría, where the area taken up by olive-trees is restricted as a result o f the very accidented m unicipal territory, w hich m akes stock-keeping on the sm aller farm s relatively m ore im portant th an is the case in H oyos. The abolition o f grazing-fees on the rem aining pastures, due to the revenues w hich the m unicipality is receiving annually from the forests, also helps in this respect. A lthough there is no lace-m aking in D escargam aría to provide extra earnings, the m unicipal pine-w oods — which are m ore th a n forty years oíd here — provide em ploym ent for p o o r villagers w ho w ork on these “ pinares” some m onths o f the year, in order to support their families. As in H oyos, because there are no grain-fields, flour has to be bought. This m eans th a t in a fam ily o f five persons, as in the following case, a t least 3,000 pesetas are spent on buying flour, a heavy burden on the family budget i, especially th a t o f the p o orer villagers — agricultural labourers and small farm ers.

1 According to calculations of the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States Department of Agriculture in 1956— 1957, consumption of flour per head in Spain amounted to 128 kgs. Tamames, in his “Estructura Económica de España”, puts the consumption of flour in recent years at 125 kgs. per head annually. If we put the price of flour at 7 pesetas per kilogramme the money spent on flour for the family in the above example appears to be on the low side in this municipality where there is no cereal-culture.

“Recent Developments in Agricultural Production & Food Consumption in Western Europe” ; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service; March 1959, p. 11 .

R. Tamames, op. cit. p. 66.

171

farm er where the earnings from apiculture and stock-keeping are above those obtained by selling olive-oil, even in a “ good olive-year” .

Size of the family: 5 persons (two of whom work on the farm) Farm-acreage: 0.93 ha.

Land use 0.50 ha.

0.10 ha.

0.25 ha.

0.08 ha.

Livestock olives vines pines huerta

Income olives young stock cheese Pig

wood

Size of the family: 5 persons (two daughters); 1 shepherd who also works for six other farmers Farm-acreage: 1.75 ha.

1 donkey 6 goats (2 domestic goats producing much milk) 2 pigs 5 chickens

1

Principal expenditure 3,500 psts.

880 „ 1,800 „ 2,000 „ 800 „

fodder

500 psts.

A s the farm er w ould have to h an d over 10% o f the oil to the owner o f the oil-mill in paym ent for the pressing o f the olives, and the oilcontent o f the fruits is o n the low side, he sells the fruits instead o f the oil. N o fertilizer is used on the olive-grove — which m ight m ake for larger yields — for, according to the farm er, his livestock produces enough m anure to enable the land to be sufficiently m a n u re d : ab o u t 1,500 kgs. a year for the garden and the vineyard, 120 to 150 kgs. o f m anure per olive-tree {al goteo) every three years.

T he small huerta hardly provides enough vegetables and potatoes for the needs o f the fam ily; therefore the feeding o f the livestock is quite a p ro b ­ lem , despite the fact th a t p a rt o f the olive-grove is cropped w ith barley.

The farm er, however, hires him self o u t for three m onths a year w ith his donkey fo r 70 pesetas daily and during this tim e his em ployer has to provide fo r his anim al; even so he has to buy extra fodder.

As well as his earnings from w orking as an agricultural labourer, the farm er also gets some m oney by w orking in the m unicipal pine-w oods — for tw o m onths, a t an average o f 65 pesetas a day. H is wife helps on oth er farm s during the olive-harvest, an d his son has found em ploym ent w ith the D istrito Forestal, a public b o d y which looks after the forests.

Owing to the incom e obtained from w orking in the m unicipal forests, this fam ily’s earnings are above those o f an “ obrero eventual” in H oyos, El Payo and Villasrubias.

Olive-growing is relatively less im p o rtan t on the following holding, w hich is typical fo r D escargam aría: the farm o f a small independent 172

Livestock

Land use ha.

0.5 ha.

0.1 ha.

0.15 ha.

1 2 20 10

mulé pigs goats chickens 50 bee-hives

olives (80 trees rented) pines huerta vines

Principal expenditure

Income olive-oil green olives orujo eggs young stock and goats bees, wax and honey wood milk and cheese

7,500psts.

1,000 300 „

„

200

„ „ „ „

share of shepherd’s wages pruning of olive-trees rent

400 psts.

300 „ 800 „

5.000 „ 6.000

1,200 1,200

Bee-keeping, although quite a risky business l , is m ore profitable for the owner th a n goat-keeping. Buyers from M adrid, A licante and the near-by tow n o f G ranadilla com e a t certain times to buy the honey, b u t the m ost profit comes from “ enjam bres” , new sw arm s o f bees th a t form in the spring 2 and are sold to bee-keepers from the provinces o f Valencia and A licante a t ab o u t 150 pesetas per swarm.

A lthough viticulture has decreased considerably in the last 150 years, so m uch so th a t the yields from the rem aining vineyards are m ostly used fo r dom estic consum ption, on some farm s p a rt o f the hom e-m ade wine is still sold. However, ju st as on the previous holding, olive-growing, goat-keeping and apiculture — in this case together w ith the sale o f w ood from the area planted w ith pines 3 — are the principal sources o f incom e on the following farm , which is for D escargam aría an exceptionally large one, belonging to a w ell-to-do- farm er.

1 Four years ago forty bee-hives were lost, because of the low temperatures and coid winds in the northern Sierra.

2 Catching new swarms of bees is quite an exciting business, because according to art. 612 of the Civil Code whoever manages to catch a flying swarm has the right to it, that is if the owner of the hives has not tried to capture it.

3 Resin is mostly obtained in the municipal woods.

173

Size of the family: 4 persons ( + two married daughters), one son who works on the farm; 1 shepherd who also works for other farmers Farm-acreage:

39.5 ha.

Livestock

Land use

1 10 10 10 8

ha. ha. ha. ha. ha.

0.5 ha.

2 mules

vines olives pines pastures young plantation o f pines huerta

1 Pig 80 goats 150 bee-hives

*

Principal expenditure

Income wine olive-oil green olives orujo wood milk and cheese young stock and fully-grown animals bees, wax and honey

1,500 psts.

75,000 „ 8,000 „ 2,400 „ 15,000 „ 4,500 „ 16,000 15,000

wages (shepherd’s wa­ ges partly in kind) 18,000 psts. artificial fertilizer 4,500 „ fees to Distrito Forestal for keeping pines 2,500 „

„ „

The dem and for lab o u r on this farm is rath er heavy: n o t only does a shepherd look after the goats, while father and son w ork in the olivegroves, vineyard an d huerta, b u t in addition some day-labourers are em ployed in M arch to tu rn over the soil in the vineyard, and some extra labourers are hired at this tim e to atten d to the olive-groves. M oreover eight to ten w om en are needed yearly for an average period o f over four weeks, when the grapes and olives are harvested l .

T he m anure produced is insufficient to m anure the land adequately.

G oats and mules are alm ost the only anim als th a t provide it — w hich is the case on nearly all the farm s in D escargam aría and other accidented Sierra m unicipalities, where the n atu ral pasture-lands are unsuited for cattle and where no grain-fields and m eadow s are to be found. The greater p a rt o f this organic m anure is used for the olive-trees and the huerta.

As p a rt o f the huerta is cropped w ith clover, used as fodder for the mules, the soil is m ade richer in nitrogen. D ue to the relatively high incom e w hich the farm er gets from this holding, he can afford to give the olivegroves a reasonable am ount o f extra fertilizer: every two years three h undred kilogram m es o f “ com puesto” per hectare, in addition ,to a m anuring a¡ goteo every three years w ith organic m anure. i As is the case with the farmer in Hoyos who possesses an extensive area of olivetrees, on this farm too the green olives are sold on the tree, so that no extra labourers have to be hired to pick them.

174

As the vines are oíd and are producing less, there will come a tim e when there will be no area o f vines; m oreover the replacem ent o f vines by olivetrees will m ean a saving in labour and wages. It is true th a t a change-over to olive-trees takes time, as it is estim ated th a t it will be a t least fifteen years before the trees produce sufficiently. However, the farm er can afford the expense o f planting an olive-grove, and besides the decrease in income caused by the disappearance o f the vineyard will n o t be great. * * W hereas the sale o f w ood from prívate pine-w oods in D escargam aría is awelcom e addition to the farm incom e and whereas the m unicipal forests provide perm anent o r periodical em ploym ent for some villagers who possess too little land and livestock to support themselves, in the near-by village o f Robledillo de G a ta on the other hand — where there are farm s o f a sim ilar average size varying from 3 to 5 hectares — the traditional means o f livelihood, such as olive-growing and goat- and bee-keeping, are still a b o u t the only sources o f incom e for the vast m ajority o f the villagers, for here the w ork o f re-afforestation has n o t yet begun.

Size of the family: 8 persons, including five young children Farm-acreage: 0.55 ha.

Land use

Livestock

0.25 ha. huerta 0.3 ha. olives (sixty trees)

1 donkey 1 pig 12 goats 7 bee-hives

Income young stock and fully-grown animals goat’s cheese bees, honey, wax

2,700 psts.

600 „ 450 „

The above exam ple shows th at the farm er cannot live on the incom e from his farm . The olive-trees are n o t his property, b u t are held in share tenancy according to the al tercio, by w hich two thirds o f the yield are for the owner o f the trees and only one third for the share tenant. This is w hy it is n o t possible to sell olive-oil: the seventy to eighty litres o f oliveoil to which the share ten an t is entitled are only sufficient for his own needs. It is true th a t charcoal-burning and tem porary jobs bring in extra earnings, b u t nevertheless this share tenant-cum -agricultural labourer is worse off th a n the “ obrero eventual” in the exam ple given, w hich is typical for H oyos, as there is no lace-m aking in the hom es in R obledillo de G ata — a t least n o t on a com m ercial level. M oreover, because the 175

area planted w ith olive-trees is restricted in this very accidented m unici­ pality, the olive-harvest does n o t provide as m uch em ploym ent for wives o f day-labourers as in the lower situated municipalities and in the smaller ones which specialize in olive-growing, in all o f w hich there is a larger area o f olive- trees.

The poverty o f this in h ab itan t o f Robledillo de G ata is best seen from the fact th a t flour in this family only p artly comes from w heat; it is partly obtained from chestnuts w hich are sold for forty to fifty pesetas per fanega (55 V2 litres).

In spite o f the fact th a t the area planted w ith chestnut-trees has becom e sm aller and th a t since the chestnut-disease the valué o f w ood has dropped, the sale o f chestnut-w ood in the following “ large holding” three years ago still b rought in ab o u t 90,000 pesetas, while in addition every year 5,000 pesetas w orth o f chestnuts are sold, so th a t the “ castañar” is even m ore econom ically im p o rtan t th a n the small olive-grove.

Size of the family: 7 persons (two adult male workers); 1 shepherd who also works for other farmers Farm-acreage: 13.9 ha.

Land use

Livestock

1 ha. olives 0.5 ha. vines 0.6 ha. huerta 11.8 ha. chestnut-trees

1 mulé 1 donkey 40 goats 2 pigs

Moreover a share in the “Comunidad el 12 chickens Monte”, which provides fire-wood, timber 30 bee-hives and wood for agricultural implements and gives a right for grazing goats

E.

As well as goat-keeping, apiculture is an essential p a rt o f farm ing on this holding; Principal expenditure

Income olive-oil 7,200 psts wine 800 young stock and fully-grown ani­ mals 8,000 cheese 3,000 bees, wax, honey 3,000 eggs 100

„ „ „ „ „

wages (partly in kind for shepherd) artificial fertilizer pruning of olive-trees

primitive. The bee-hives are o f the so-called “ tipo fijista” , i.e. they are m ade from the b ark o f cork-oaks and are n o t suitable for being frequently m oved, unlike the wooden bee-hives, “ tipo m obilista” , found in Levante and in other p arts o f Spain, w hich are m oved every two or three weeks so th at four times as m uch honey can be obtained. The bee-hives in the Sierra de G ata are usually m oved no m ore th an tw o o r three times a year: in spring to the n o rthern Sierra, in O ctober — after the vintage — back to the south, so th a t the area from w hich the bees can get néctar is rath er restricted. As in D escargam aría, bee-keeping is chiefly im p o rtan t for the production o f new swarms.

R e-afforestation in Robledillo de G ata, too, will no doubt bring problems in its wake. The goat-stock will have to be reduced, and charcoalm aking will go out, as it has already done in El Payo.

It will probably m ean th a t a num ber o f villagers will have to leave R o ­ bledillo de G a ta in future, especially those for w hom the disappearance o f the above-m entioned sources o f incom e cannot sufliciently be m ade up for by an adequate income from olive-growing o r from other m eans o f subsistence, such as “ castañares” and apiculture. The fact, however, th a t m any inhabitants have a share in the “ C om unidad el M onte” , which owns m ost o f the pastures th a t are to be afforested, so th a t they can assert their right to the w ood produced, m eans th a t future incom e from forestry will for the greater p a rt directly go to them and n o t in the first place to the m unicipal treasury, as is expected to happen in El Payo and as has already happened in D escargam aría.

1,000 psts.

200 „ 250

„

A grarian form s o f subsistence in the olive- and grain-growing m uni­ cipalities : Santibáñez el A lto and Eljas

A lthough the farm s in Santibáñez el A lto and in other lower situated m unicipalities are very different in land use from agricultural holdings in the m ore accidented m unicipalities, their principal sources o f incom e are also olive-growing and stock-breeding '. B oth large-scale and small farm ers possess olive-trees, b u t in m ost cases only the smaller p a rt o f the farm -acreage is taken up by olive-groves. O n the larger farm s the area planted w ith olive-trees rarely takes up m ore th a n tw enty hectares; the rest o f the farm -acreage is m ainly used for cereal-culture o r consists o f

Ju st as in D escargam aría and other Southern Sierra municipalities where there are bee-keepers, apiculture in Robledillo de G ata is rather

1 Because re-afforestation in Santibáñez el Alto has not made much progress and has moreover chiefly been restricted to the most accidented and least valuable grazingland of this extensive municipality, there has up to now been no cut in the number of sheep and goats.

176

12

177

fallow land an d n atu ral pastures. T here are several reasons why cattlebreeding has becom e generally m ore im p o rtan t in the lower situated m unicipalities o f the Southern Sierra. T here is in the first place the fact th a t grain is grow n, which m eans th a t m ore m anure is needed on the farm s. A second factor is th a t it is possible to use cows as draught-anim als.

Finally the pastures are good and n o t very accidented.

A lthough in the extensive m unicipality of Santibáñez el Alto the average size o f a farm is m ore th an in H oyos and D escargam aría, yet the predom in an t type o f holding here is the small farm with less th an twelve hectares o f land. The higher average o f 12 to 15 hectares in this m unicipality, w hich belongs to the land o f the form er Encom ienda o f A lcántara, is chiefly due to the fact th a t there are some very large farm s run by the owners themselves.

The richest farm ers are those w ho ow n dehesas, extensive and often en­ closed pastures, where n o t only sheep, goats and sometimes pigs feed, b u t which are also used as grazing-land for cattle or — as on the following farm — fo r “ novillos” , i.e. young, finely bred fighting-bulls. This is why stock-keeping is m ore im p o rtan t on the larger farm s th a n on those o f the large group o f “ fam ilias cam pesinas” .

Income

Principal expenditure

foal, cows, “novillos” 110,000 psts. lambs, young goats & fullygrown animals 80,000 „ wool 18,000 „ milk and cheese 12,000 „ pigs 6,000 „ eggs 3,000 „ orujo 3,000 „ olive-oil 100,000 „

fertilizer 5,000 psts. milling of grain 380 „ wages (valué of pay in kind not included) 90,000 „ pruning of olive-trees 5,000 „

In spite o f the fact th a t m ore th an tw enty five hectares of the farm acreage is cropped w ith grain, still it cannot be called a grain-growing farm , for, unlike the eastern m unicipalities o f the R ebollar, none o f the grain is usually sold: all the rye and barley are given to the farm ’s live­ stock, and w heat is for the use o f the owner and his family as well as the servants, w ho receive p a rt o f their wages in kind !.

The low incom e per hectare from olive-growing is striking, w hen com ­ pared w ith th a t in H oyos and D escargam aría. This is n o t only a result o f less care being taken o f the trees, because m uch tim e is taken up in looking after the large num ber o f livestock, b u t is also due to the fact th a t there are generally fewer trees per hectare th an in an area o f the same size planted w ith olive-trees in the accidented Sierra m unicipalities, which specialize m ore in olive-growing. Still it is n o t exceptional in good years to obtain over 150,000 pesetas o f oil.

As regards cattle-farm ing this holding differs from those o f the R ebollar in th a t the sale o f young calves is less im portant. Because grazing-fields are privately owned, and because there is plenty o f extra fodder, the breed­ ing o f young bulls is m ore im p o rtan t here. These so-called novillos are usually sold when they are three years oíd, and they bring in on the average 10,000 pesetas each. D espite the large num ber o f livestock the production o f m anure is n o t enough to sufficiently m anure the cultivated area, so th a t for the olive-groves as well as for the annually cropped fields, the huerta and unirrigated cortina, extra fertilizer is necessary. The secondary im portance o f cereal-growing is seen from the fact th a t there is practically no form o f crop ro tatio n (only three hectares o f the best land are cropped w ith vetches before the sowing o f w heat in the autum n), and th a t there is a fallow-period o f three years, when the land is used for the farm anim als to graze on. M oreover the grain-fields do n o t get any extra m anuring w ith fertilizer, although the lack o f sufficient organic m anure m akes even a m inim um m anuring o f 9,000 to 10,000 kilogram m es per hectare impossible, which is seen from the low er grain-yields per h ec tare : 450 kgs. o f rye 1 to 800 kgs. o f w heat on the better m anured fields! As cereals — as has been said before — are n o t grow n for com m ercial purposes, and the production o f rye and barley (also because o f the good pastures and the annual yields o f fodder-crops from huerta and cortina) is sufficient

i The same can be said of the production of the area planted with vines, which only yields eight to nine hectolitres yearly because the plants are very oíd.

1 With better manuring 600 to 700 kgs. of rye per hectare can, however, be ob­ tained in Santibáñez el Alto.

Size of the family: 5 persons, including two sons who work on the farm Extra hands: 4 regular workers, 2 herdsmen Size of the farm: 173.8 ha.

Land use

Livestock

1.55 ha. huerta 2 ha. vines 0.8 ha. cortina (fodder-crops) 3 ha. wheat 22 ha. rye and barley 75 ha. fallow-land 21.4 ha. olives 48.05 ha. pastures

2 horses 4 mules 2 donkeys 8 draught-cows (4 teams) 26 breeding-cows 12 bull-calves 9 goats 278 sheep 8 pigs 50 chickens

178

179

to provide the draught- and pack-anim als and breeding-cattle with fodder, the farm er is n o t willing to spend extra labour and m oney on fertilizer to increase grain-production.

Ju st as w ith well-to-do farm ers in H oyos and D escargam aría, the yearly expenditure on wages contrasts sharply w ith the relatively low item s for wages on the larger holdings o f the n o rth ern Sierra municipalities. A p art fro m the herdsm en and regular w orkers w ho, as well as receiving wages, are also paid in kind, an average sum o f 6,500 pesetas is paid to hired m ow ers during th e grain-harvest. T hey are paid a destajo, i.e. per mowed area, at the rate o f 200 to 210 pesetas per fanega (0.64 hectare) o f grainland, while fo r th e picking o f grapes and the harvesting o f olives a t least 23,000 pesetas m ust be p u t aside to pay the hired — m ostly female — labourers.

T he “ m ediano” o f o u r next exam ple is less well-off th a n the rich farm er we have ju s t been dealing with. This is a farm er w ith a m edium-sized farm , for w hom stock-breeding is also the principal source o f incom e, b u t w ho does n o t possess enough grazing-fields for his livestock, so th a t he has to use m unicipal pasture-grounds o r grazing-lands rented from prívate persons. H ow ever, as he possesses olive-trees (o f w hich 2 hectares are rented), the yearly earnings obtained from this farm are higher th an those o f the well-to-do farm ers tak en as typical examples o f the n o rthern Sierra villages. H is earnings are even m ore th an those o f the “ rico” in El Payo, w here — as has been show n — potato-grow ing has becom e m uch less im p o rtan t as a source o f income.

Size of the family: 7 persons, including two married sons who work on the farm 1 shepherd Farm-acreage:

36.36 ha.

Land use

Livestock

0.5 ha. huerta 2 ha. unirrigated cortina 5.16 ha.

1 ha.

4 ha.

15 ha.

8.7 ha.

1 horse 2 mules

olives wheat (permanently cropped) rye fallow pastures

Income olive-oil orujo 1X0

4 draught-cows

12 breeding-cows 4 goats 190 sheep 10 chickens 4 pigs Principal expenditure

30,000 psts.

800 „

rent for grain-field and for 2 ha. olive-trees 5,000 psts.

calves and cows 34,000 psts. wool 9,000 „ young goats, lambs and fullygrown animals 55,000 „ milk and cheese 9,000 „

grazing-fees and rent for pastures 6,000 psts.

milling of grain 400 „ wages (partly in kind) 12,000 „ fertilizer 800 „ pruning of olives 1,500 „

It is clear th a t there are really too m any draught-anim als on this farm but, as on m any farm s in the R ebollar, the production o f young stock — a t least as far as the horse and the cows are concerned — and the pro d u c­ tion o f m anure justify this. This is also the reason why, in co n trast to the previous holding, the m anure-production for a cultivated area o f over twelve hectares, according to the way m anuring is done here, is m ore than sufficient. This m eans th a t n o t m uch need be spent on artificial fertilizer and it enables the farm er to lease tw o hectares o f land to grow rye on.

The larger area cropped w ith rye m akes it possible to econom ise to some extent on grazing-fees, b u t w hat is m ore im p o rtan t is th at calves can be kept m uch longer on the farm , which increases their valué to betw een 2,800 and 3,000 pesetas w hen they are sold. The extra tim e th a t has to be spent on looking after the calves does n o t present any difficulties, as the w ork done by the farm er and his sons is n o t considered as expense.

Because there are three adult able-bodied m en, this farm needs only one regular w orker to look after the sheep and g o a ts; only for som e weeks, during the olive-harvest and in spring, extra labourers have to be hired.

A lthough on the smaller farm s (i.e. those o f less th an twelve hectares, which are in the m ajority in Santibáñez el A lto) stock-breeding is less im p o rtan t th an olive-growing, this b ran ch o f farm ing is still im p o rtan t enough, especially when there are cattle.

Size o f the family: 6 persons, including two grown-up sons Size o f the farm: 9.9 ha.

Land use 0.3 ha. huerta 1.5 ha. wheat, permanently cropped 1 ha. rye 2.2 ha. fallow (of which 0.2 ha. cropped with vetches and yellow peas) 2.7 ha. olives 2.2 ha. pastures Income olives calves eggs pig

12,000 psts.

9,000 „ 200 „ 2,000 „

Livestock

1 team of mules 4 cows 1 goat 3 pigs 8 chickens

Principal expenditure rent for wheat-land grazing-fees fertilizer

1,500 psts.

600 „ 250 „

101

As on the previous farm s, the grain grow n is only m eant to provide the family w ith bread, and rye an d vetches are used for fodder. As there is n o t enough w ork for three grow n-up m en on this farm , the two sons w ork on oth er farm s for an average o f eighty days a year — as wage-mowers a destajo during the grain-harvest, an d as “ obreros eventuales” in w inter in the varear and the pressing o f olives for a daily wage o f ab o u t 35 pese­ tas. T hus the farm er in question is n o t entirely dependent on the annual incom e from the farm .

W hen the head o f the family has to hire him self o u t as a shepherd in o rder to su p p o rt his wife and children, their life is one o f the direst poverty. H e has to spend m ost nights o u t o f doors w ith only a p o o r shed to shelter in w ith the sheep and goats.

Size of the family: parents, three daughters, one son Land and livestock : 0.25 ha. huerta, 6 sheep, 4 goats, 1 pig and 10 chickens

As well as a yearly wage o f 500 pesetas paid in cash 1 this shepherd receives ab o u t 12,000 pesetas in kin d : flour, olive-oil, wool and wine, shelter for his family, and a small piece o f huerta w hich his wife and child­ ren take care of. Because he has sheep and goats o f his own, which he looks after together w ith the anim als o f his em ployer, this shepherd m anages to sell young stock to the valué o f ab o u t 1,500 pesetas per year.

The female m em bers o f the fam ily earn extra m oney by w orking on the cotton-lields o f M oraleja and in the olive-groves o f Santibáñez el A lto, which adds an average o f 4,000 to t 5,000 pesetas to the family incom e.

The shepherd’s wages are n o t raised when the num ber o f anim als he has to lo o k after increases, which is generally the case in Eljas and some other Southern Sierra villages, under agreem ents between em ployer and shep­ herd: a p a rt from their wages in m oney and kind the shepherds receive five per cent o f the valué o f the young stock b o rn while the shepherds are employed. *

*

*

In Eljas, ju st as in Santibáñez el A lto, a large holding o f m ore th an a hundred hectares — as the exam ple given below — concentrates m ostly on stock-keeping, while olive-growing is o f secondary im portance as a source o f income.

1 The contracts made with shepherds vary very much from one village to another.

Because this shepherd has a small amount of land, his wages are chiefly paid in kind, in other cases the daily wages amount to 30 to 35 pesetas plus something extra in kind.

Size of the family: 8 persons (four children under age) Extra hands: 4 labourers, 1 herdsman Farm-acreage: 148 ha.

Land use

6 ha. huerta 12 ha. olives 3 ha. rye 7 ha. fallow 120 ha. pastures

Livestock

2 mules 3 4 50 150

horses donkeys cows sheep 20 goats 8 pigs

As com pared w ith the large farm in Santibáñez el A lto there are obviously too m any draught-anim als on this farm (ten cows are also used as draught-anim als); the large num ber o f draught-cow s is n o t necessary for the relatively small acreage o f arable land, especially as the anim als are n o t used in the olive-groves and the huerta, and as m anure-production is m ore th an sufficient for the needs o f the farm . Consequently they are no t draught-cow s in the real sense o f the w ord, as they spend m ost o f the tim e on the pastures.

O n this farm , too, the grain-fields are chiefly given organic m anure l, and the rye is used as fodder. The relatively large area o f irrigated land — p a rt­ ly planted w ith fig-trees— provides w heat and vegetables, b o th for prívate consum ption and for sale. H owever, two hectares are cultivated by m étayers who hand over h a lf o f the crops reaped to the owner, in pay­ m ent for the land, m anure and seed w hich he provides.

Income

Principal expenditure

calves, foal, fully grown ani-140,000 psts. mals lambs, goats, fully grown ani­ mals 45,000 milk and cheese 8,000 wool 7,500 pigs 8,000 figs 3,000 olives 66,000 vegetables 4,000 wheat 8,000

milling grain fertilizer pruning of olives wages (including pay in kind)

350 psts.

6,400 „ 3,500 „ 80,000

„

1 Fertilizer is only intended for huerta and olive-groves. Besides being given organic manure, every two years the irrigated area is made richer by about 200 kilogrammes of nitrogenous manure per hectare, costing 4.25 pesetas per kilogramme. The olivegroves every two years are given 200 kgs. of compuesto per hectare, costing 3 pesetas per kilogramme.

181

W hat is striking is th a t olive-oil is o f no com m ercial im portance on this farm . V arious factors have contributed to the fact th at o f late the farm er has been selling olives — green as well as ripe ones — on the trees.

T he abolition o f the cupo, the com pulsory deliveries o f olive-oil to the C om isaría de A bastecim ientos y T ransportes a t a price fixed by the au th o r­ ities, has m eant th a t there is less need to have a large p a rt o f the olives pressed a t the almazaras. I t is tru e th a t the sale o f olive-oil brings in considerably m ore th an the sale o f olives ], b u t the incom e obtained from stock-breeding enables the farm er to sell the olives in this way. The in­ creased shortage o f agricultural labourers a t the tim e when the olives are harvested is an o th er im p o rtan t factor in favour o f olives being sold on the trees, because it m eans th a t it is the buyer who has to see to recruiting labourers. The decrease in the num ber o f econom ically active people is a direct result o f the great d rop in the num ber o f inhabitants in the m unicipality o f Eljas since 1950. This fact is closely related to the decline in the im portance o f the carrying-trade 2. The po o r m unicipality o f Eljas, where agriculture is restricted, was the only one in the Southern Sierra where the carrying-trade form ed an im p o rtan t m eans o f earning a living for m any people (not only in the nineteenth b u t also in this cen­ tury). The incom es from it were sometimes m ore th an those from farm ing.

W hereas in the villages o f the R ebollar where the carrying-trade, which was so im p o rtan t in the eighteenth century, had fo r the m ost p a rt gone out by the beginning o f this century, in Eljas this form o f economic activity has only com e to an end in m ore recent tim es 3. The end was b ro u g h t ab o u t by the setting-up o f the C om isaría G eneral de A basteci­ m ientos y T ransportes after the Civil W ar and especially the increased activities o f this governm ental body after the Second W orld W ar, in­ cluding the prohibition o f prívate tran sp o rt — a t least o f oil and grain, which were the m ost im p o rtan t goods carried.

1 A hundred kilogrammes of ripe olives bring in a máximum of 275 pesetas, when they are sold, whereas from the same quantity o f olives (after deduction of the expen­ ses of harvesting, transport o f the fruits to the oil-mill and pressing) at least 330 pesetas worth o f oil may be obtained.

2 In the next chapter, in which the demographical development o f the various Sierra villages will be examined, the demographical consequences of the dying out of this carrying-trade will be dealt with at greater length.

3 The enormous decrease in the number of draught-animals in Eljas — 120 teams o f oxen and 400 “caballerías” in 1850, according to Pascual Madoz, to 224 cows (not all used as draught-animals however) and 87 horses, donkeys and mules in 1956 — is mainly due to the dying out of the carrying-trade after the Second World War, which meant that Eljas, alone in the Sierra de Gata, was deprived of one of its chief means of subsistence.

1SM

The loss o f goods and pack-anim als, together w ith the high fines imposed for infringem ent o f the regulation which forbade prívate persons to tran sp o rt grain and oil for com m ercial purposes, forced m any carriers to sell their possessions and to m igrate. It som etim es happened th a t carriers were repeatedly charged and could n o t pay the high fines. T hen the pos­ sessions o f these “ arrieros” were seized and p u t up for auction.

The dying o u t o f the carrying-trade m ade it possible for the farm er in the exam ple given below, an “ agricultor autó n o m o ” , to enlarge his holding by two hectares.

Size of the family: parents and seven children, including one grown-up son who works on the farm Size of the farm: 13.2 ha.

Land use 3

ha.

0.6 ha.

2 ha.

4.6 ha.

3 ha.

Livestock

olives huerta rye fallow-land pastures

1 horse 2 cows 1 pig 10 chickens

Income olive-oil young stock reared calves eggs

Principal expenditure

21,000 psts.

3,700

„

fertilizer 860 psts. 1 milling of grain 320 „ 5,000 „ 400 „

D espite the tw o hectares o f extra purchased land, o f which a q u arter is planted w ith olive-trees while on the rem ainder rye is grown, it is ne­ cessary fo r this farm er to get extra earnings, because the incom e from olive-cultivation is very variable and in “ lean years” can drop to 14,000 pesetas. As there is no lace-m aking industry in Eljas, the farm er tries to m ake extra m oney by buying and rearing bull-calves, which he sells for a profit o f ab o u t 2,500 pesetas. However, there is only enough w ork on the farm to provide em ploym ent for tw o adult m en at m ost; therefore the younger m ale m em bers o f the family will have to go somewhere else to m ake a living, probably to the industrial districts in N o rthern Spain, as m any people from this village have already done.

The sale o f reared bull-calves is also a welcome addition to the paltry incom e o f a form er carrier, o u r next example. D espite his very reduced i 120 kgs. of nitrogenous manure every other year for the huerta, 200 kgs. of compuesto every three years per hectare of land planted with olive-trees (not every other year “because otherwise the roots would be burned”).

185

incom e after the carrying-trade h ad died out, this in h ab itan t o f Eljas did n o t have to leave the village, because he could fall back on an — unm ortgaged — agrarian holding, w hich only happened in a few cases.

Size of the family: parents, four children Size of the farm: 0.64 ha.

Land use

Livestock

0.05 ha. huerta 0.06 ha. olives 0.53 ha. pastures

1 donkey 1 pig 4 chickens

The area planted w ith olive-trees brings in nothing in the way o f in­ come, as the produ ctio n from the twelve olive-trees is n o t even sufficient to cover the yearly consum ption o f five cántaros o f oil (equal to 75 kgs. o f oil). As this small farm does n o t provide sufficient em ploym ent and incom e, the farm er hires him self out, either w ith his donkey or not, whenever he can. A p art from his daily wages o f 40 pesetas, which are ab o u t 70 pesetas w hen he hires him self o u t w ith his donkey, and the m oney earned by his wife an d daughters from harvesting olives (in all ab o u t 1,500 pesetas), his only extra earnings are those from rearing tw o bullcalves. U nlike the above-m entioned “ au tó n o m o” , this “ obrero eventual” did n o t buy calves w ith a view to selling them after seven or eight m onths w ith a profit, b u t he obtained tw o fo ur-m onth oíd calves from a stockbreeder to rear them . The anim als are reared on w hat the small area o f pastures provides in the way o f food, together w ith the waste left over from the crops grow n in the huerta and the rye grow n as underplanting in the small olive-grove, and after ab o u t seven m onths they are returned to the owner, who sells them . F ro m the price he receives for the anim als he deducís 6,000 pesetas, this being the valué o f the calves when they were handed over to the “ o b rero ” , and the profit is divided equally am ong the tw o, so th a t each o f them receives 2,000 to 2,400 pesetas. T he advantage o f this system is th a t instead o f selling the calves w hen they are four m onths oíd, which is the usual way, the owner m akes an extra profit w ithout having to spend labour, tim e and fodder on rearing the calves.

O n the other h and this form o f “ share tenancy o f livestock” , where a w ealthier farm er provides the capital (in this case young stock) and a p o o r villager looks after the anim als and rears them fo r h alf the profit, helps the p o o rer farm er to have m ore econom ic security *.

1 Having lambs reared by others is less usual, because the profit from selling oneyear oíd animals is relatively much lower than that from selling one-year oíd calves.

That ¡s why lambs are usually sold when they are four or five months oíd.

186

A lthough the above-described agreem ent allows the share ten an t the use o f the m anure, this system o f rearing “ borrow ed anim als” , is less profi­ table th an buying young cattle, w hen the one w ho rears them gets the whole profit. The small incom e o f the farm er-labourer in our example, however, m akes it im possible for him to buy young stock, so th a t he has to resort to this m ethod in order to obtain some extra income. ** * The ham let o f D ivina Pastora, which com prises some three hundred inhabitants, is com pletely different econom ically from Eljas, to w hich it belongs. It is situated high up on a steep m ountain-slope in the accidented n o rthern p a rt o f the m unicipal territory and can only be reached by a fo o tp ath w hich m akes h ard going.

Because o f the rocky land arable farm ing and olive-growing are o f little im portance; only in the low er situated and less accidented parts, where the residual layer is better preserved, are there some small fields, cropped w ith maize and rye, often set o u t on terraces and enclosed by sm all walls.

Alongside a brook, w hich form s the boundary betw een the m unicipalities o f Eljas and San M artín de Trevejo, some small gardens have been laid out, and in some places olive-trees have been planted.

There is a striking contrast between the right b an k o f the bro o k — w hich is rath er grandly called R ío de la Vega — where D ivina P astora is situated and the left bank, which is m unicipal territory o f San M artín de Trevejo: the woods w hich used to cover the bare rocks ro u n d D ivina P asto ra have com pletely disappeared because o f the indiscrim inate cutting dow n o f trees and overgrazing as a result o f com m unal exploitation. In m any places erosion has washed away the thin residual layer and only po o r pasture-land is left. The territory o f San M artín de Trevejo on the other side, which is covered by a monte alto o f chestnut-, oak- and pine-woods, has been prívate property fo r m any years and has therefore been saved from prem ature exhaustion.

G oats, the only anim als th a t can live in the barren land round D ivina Pastora, are the richest possessions o f the inhabitants o f this very po o r ham let o f chozos, which n o t only has no gas, electricity and sewerage, b u t n o church or school either.

D ue to the sale o f cheese and young anim als, the twenty-five goats owned by the fam ily o f our next exam ple bring in over nine thousand pesetas p er year. This fam ily consists o f nine persons, o f w hom three are m ale w orkers. The female m em bers look after the flock and m ake goat-cheese, and they also cultívate the small maize-field and the garden alongside the brook, the yields from w hich are entirely for dom estic use. Besides 187

this, the w om en have to carry w ater from the valley below. The three m ale m em bers o f the fam ily— as nearly all the m en in D ivina P a sto ra — are em ployed as agricultural labourers by farm ers in San M artin de Trevejo. D ue to the m oney th u s obtained and the incom e from the goats, the to tal annual incom e am ounts to ab o u t 23,000 pesetas, so th a t in D ivina P asto ra this fam ily is considered as belonging to the few “ wellto -d o ” .

A no th er family, where only the head can hire him self o u t as a daylabourer, is m uch poorer. As he is only employed in this way for an aver­ age four m onths a year, and as p a rt o f his wages is paid to him in kind (oil, w ool and flour), his earnings as “ obrero eventual” o r casual w orker are n o t m ore th a n 3,500 pesetas p er year. H is eight goats bring him in a yearly profit o f tw o thousand pesetas from young stock and cheese, while an extra 1,500 pesetas are earned by the m an and his wife b o th w orking a t the harvesting o f olives. The annual incom e o f this fam ily o f seven per­ sons (including fo u r children und er age) thus am ounts to a b o u t seven thou san d pesetas. A lthough nothing has to be paid for flour, oil, vege­ tables an d r e n t 1, an d there is n o expenditure on artificial fertilizer, this fam ily — as m ost families in D ivina P astora — leads a life o f extrem e poverty. ** *

size in the R ebollar. This is chiefly due to the fact th a t olive-growing is rath er profitable, in spite o f the variability o f the yields. The same can be said o f the incom es o f the larger farm s, although on these farm s, which generally concéntrate m ore on stock-breeding, incom es are m ore vari­ able, which is largely due to the differences in the num bers and type o f livestock kept.

Y et farm ing in the Sierra de G ata does n o t provide a com fortable living for the m ajority o f farm ers, especially when external factors, such as potato-disease, re-afforestation and the resulting reduction o f pasturelands, and the disappearance o f the carrying-trade, from w hich extra earnings were obtained, m ake for a decrease in the already small incom es o f m ost farm ers.

The Sierra de G ata only offers some sort o f subsistence to those w ith few livestock and little land, if they are content to p u t up w ith a standard o f living considerably low er th an th a t in those parts o f Spain w hich are m ore developed, such as C atalonia, the Basque country, the A sturias, and the nearer developm ent-areas o f the “ Plan Salam anca” and the “ Plan Cáceres” .

The fact, however, th at, especially in the last twelve years, ever increasing num bers o f people have left the Sierra de G ata, clearly shows th a t also in this rem óte m ountain area m odern ideas on labour-productivity and a higher standard o f living have becom e accepted.

The above analysis o f the chief types o f farm in a num ber o f specimen villages, based on concrete examples, clearly shows th a t there is n o t only a great con trast in farm structure betw een the n o rth ern and the Southern Sierra de G ata, b u t also a rem arkable variety in types o f farm , especially in the Southern p a rt o f the Sierra. T he analyses o f farm structure given show, as was said in the introduction to this chapter, th a t the size o f a farm in itself has less effect on the am o u nt o f incom e th an the way in w hich the land is used and the am o u n t o f livestock, especially the num ber o f cattle. The la tte r in its tu rn very m uch depends on the available area o f grazing-land and on the yield o f fodder-crops grow n on the farm .

A lthough the earnings o f casual w orkers in the Southern Sierra do n o t differ very m uch from those o f casual w orkers in the R ebollar, it appears th a t the incom es from farm s o f fo u r to six hectares in the Southern Sierra are considerably higher th a n those from agricultural holdings o f the same

1 The yield of the huerta and the small field cropped with grain, together with that part of the daily wages which is paid in kind, only provide a frugal diet of bread, porridge, potato-pancakes, goat’s milk and — on special occasions — meat; the humble hovel (chozó), consisting o f two small and low-ceilinged rooms, together with the adjoining goat-shed are the only property of this family.

188

189

V

A G R IC U L T U R E A N D D E M O G R A P H IC A L D E V E L O PM E N T

The whole pop u latio n o f the territo ry which in this study is considered as belonging to the Sierra de G a ta cam e to 42,389 inhabitants according to the Census o f 1950, 11,178 o f w hom were living in the R ebollar and 31,211 in the seventeen Southern Sierra m unicipalities. W hen we take into consideration the size o f the tw o areas, which take up respectively 431 sq.km s. and 1052 sq.km s., the density o f p o pulation appears to be on the low side: on the basis o f the figures given above, the num ber o f people per square kilom etre is 25 to 26 in the R ebollar, and 29 in the Southern Sierra. A ccording to the table on the density o f p o pulation in Partidos Judiciales by Luis de H oyos Sainz, b o th areas belong to the third category, th a t o f thinly populated P a rtid o s1. However, considering the m ountainous condition o f the Southern p a rt o f the Sierra and the low natu ral fertility o f the north, as com pared w ith lower situated p arts o f the province o f Salam anca, the Sierra de G a ta appears to be “ overpop u lated ” according to present-day technical standards, despite the low num ber o f inh ab itan ts per square kilom etre. This is shown by the poverty and the low standard o f living in the R ebollar and, to some extent, in the Southern Sierra, which are caused m ore by the low yields from the land and the low productivity o f lab o u r th an by an irregular distribution o f property, in the sense th a t there are a few latifundia and a great rural m ass o f people possessing no land.

1 Table o f population density and increase in density per square kilom etre fo r Partidos Judiciales: Density per square kilometre Group

I II III IV V VI VII

Increase in density per sq. kilometre

People/ sq.km.

Category

Group

People/ sq.km.

Category

7— 14 15— 24 25— 49 50— 74 75— 99 100—249 250—

“depopulated” very thinly populated thinly populated moderately popul. densely populated very densely popul. urban concentration

I II III IV V VI VII

------ 0 0— 3 4— 15 16— 50 51— 100 101—250 250—

decrease stagnant slow increase moderate increase large increase very large increase excessive increase

Luis de Hoyos Sainz, “La densidad de población y el acrecentamiento en España”, 1952, p. 19.

190

As far as density o f population is concerned, the Sierra de G ata is n o t very different from the adjacent a re a s: the density figure o f over 29 per square kilom etre in the Southern Sierra is som ew hat above the 1950 average o f 27.5 for the whole o f the province o f C áceres; the density figure o f 25 to 26 per square kilom etre for the R ebollar i, however, is below the provincial average o f Salam anca, where there are over 33 people per square kilom etre. It should be noted th a t this last figure is greatly affected by the higher figures for the tow n and Legal D istrict o f Sala­ m anca. W hen we com pare the density figure o f the R ebollar w ith the average for the whole Legal D istrict o f C iudad R odrigo, which is alm ost a small province on its own because o f its extent and its varied natu ral landscape, such as the C am po de A rgañán and L a Berzosa, we again find an obvious resem blance w ith adjacent areas.

The lack o f reliable historical d ata m akes it im possible to trace the rise o f villages and the grow th o f population in the first centuries after the reconquest o f the land from the M oors. It is certain th a t the settle­ m ents in the R ebollar, an area which was com pletely depopulated in the turbulent period o f the reconquest, were no m ore th an ham lets in the m iddle o f the eighteenth century (with the exception o f M artiago), u n ­ like the Southern Sierra, where in 1752— 1753 m ost o f the villages already had m ore th a n 500 inhabitants and in m ost cases had been continuously populated from M oorish tim es onw ards.

O n the other hand, a com parison between the dem ographical d ata from the C atastro de la E nsenada and the official Census o f 1887 shows th a t the population o f the settlem ents in the R ebollar increased m ore rapidly in the interim period o f 135 years th an the num ber o f inhabitants o f the villages in the Southern Sierra (See statistics on p. 192).

In general, however, it can be said th a t the increase in population was partly checked by a continuous em igration o f people from the Sierra to other areas, in the nineteenth century to L atin A m erica, am ongst other places. The graphs on p. 193 show the dem ographical developm ent o f both parts o f the Sierra in the years 1887— 1950, a period during which Censuses were m ade regularly. F ro m these graphs it appears th a t the first decades after 1887, which differed very little from earlier periods in ways o f life and “ am biente” , show a gradual grow th o f population, which was suddenly interrupted in the period following.

1 The Rebollar does not constitute a separate Legal District, however, but is part of the Partido Judicial of Ciudad Rodrigo, which with a population of 24 per square kilometre belongs to the second category, that of the very thinly populated Partidos.

191

Inhabitants

Comparison o f the number o f inhabitants o f some Sierra settlements in the years 1752— 1753 and 1887 i Southern Sierra:

______________________ number of inhabitants 2

♦

1887

1752— 1753 t

Acebo Descargamaría Eljas Hoyos Perales del Puerto S. Martín de Trevejo Santibáñez el Alto Torre de Don Miguel Valverde del Fresno Total

Rebollar:

Martiago Navasfrías El Payo Peñaparda Villasrubias Total

297 vecinos 66 „ (+ 19w id ow s) 313 ,, 233 „ 163 „ ( + 2 priests) 384 „ 60 „ 240 „ 283 „ 2,039 „ (+ 2 1 people mentioned separately)

164 vecinos 49 „ 26 „ ( + 4 widows) 42 „ ( + 10 widows) 41 „ ( + 8 widows) 322 „ ( + 2 2 people mentioned separately)

increase in %

: ± 1,485 1,767 802 :± 349 : ± 1,565 1,895 : ± 1,165 1,519 :± 817 1,092 : ± 1,920 1,760 954 :± 300 : ± 1,200 1,570 : ± 1,415 1,927 : ± 10,216 13,286

:± 820 :± 245 :± 134 :± 220 :± 213 : ± 1,632

1,095 1,314

1,120 1,281 641 5,451

± 19 % ± 129 % ± 21 % ± 30 % ± 34 % ± -8 % ± 218 % ± 31 % ± 36 % ± 30 %

±331/2 ± 436 ± 736 ± 482 ± 201 ± 234

% % % % % %

in the village and who pay tax (note 1, p. 39). As a vecino can generally be regarded as head of the family, the number of vecinos is usually multiplied by five in order to ascertain the approximate total number of inhabitants.

3 Data taken from the Censo de la Población de España of 1887, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, and 1950.

The com plete disappearance o f viticulture in the Southern Sierra as a result o f the fatal phylloxera at the beginning o f this century did n o t bring ab o u t any apparent decrease in a dem ographical respect, as was pointed o u t before. Even m ore attention was devoted to olive-growing th an before, although underem ploym ent, which no d o ubt already existed, will probably have greatly increased. Y et the level o f prosperity o f the Sierra de G ata did n o t contrast unfavourably with th a t o f the econom ically poorly developed neighbouring areas. The realization th at there were worse social conditions and less econom ic independence in other places strengthened people’s ties with their own district and their own village; em igration was m ostly restricted to those who had no prospects o f ever having a farm o f their ow n and w ho were n o t satisfied to live as agricul­ tural labourers.

A terrible epidemic o f influenza, know n as “ Spanish flu” , w hich affected the whole o f W estern Europe, the unfavourable position o f farm ing and the increasing m igration to the tow ns were the principal causes o f the decrease in the num ber o f inhabitants in the years 1910— 1920. M oreover

192

13

Number o f inhabitants o f the northern and Southern Sierra in the period 1887— 1950 3.

Southern Sierra:

Northern Sierra: year 1887 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950

number of inhabitants

year

number of inhabitants

8,435 8,640 9,560 9,278 8,600 10,444 11,178

1887 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950

22,720 23,341 25,651 23,671 25,948 29,430 31,211

1 Respuestas Generales nr. 21 of the villages mentioned.

2 As has been said before, those counted as vecinos are people who possess a hearth

193

1 this demographical decline was probably furthered by a greater fall in the birth rate at that time which, acoording to the Census occurred throughout Spain.

In contrast to the Rebollar, the Southern Sierra in the following years had again an increase in population. This was chiefly the result of the improved economic situation, from which the Southern Sierra especially profited, due to the fact that here — more than in the Rebollar — the trend in agriculture was towards market-farming. The growth of population in the years after 1930, however, was concurrent with very unfavourable eco­ nomic conditions; as a result of the world crisis emigration very much declined, and some emigrants even returned. The Civil W ar of 1936— 1939, which fortunately did not effect this mountain area, and the subsequent political isolation of Spain was an impediment to large-scale emigration. In addition, the higher birth rate in Spain after the end o f the Civil W ar will have greatly influenced the growth of the Sierra population.

Despite all these circumstances, the increase in the number of inhabitants of the Sierra de G ata since 1930 appears to have run parallel with an increase in population in the whole province of Cáceres 2: the real in­ crease in population is less than the natural or biological growth, which is due to socio-economic factors, such as the low profitability of farming, the generally small size of farms, better conditions of living for daylabourers in industry and the great attraction of the big cities 3, factors which lead to migration to other regions, temporarily as well as permanently. * * * Although the Rebollar and the Southern Sierra, despite some small differences, show great conformity in their demographical development, in that in both areas the population increased by about thirty per cent in the period 1900— 1950, there is no such conformity between the various villages, as can be seen from the following graphs: 1 Censo de la Población de España, 1930. Tomo I, p. XXII. 2 According to the official Census of 1950 the birth rate in the province of Cáceres was 23.24 %o, the mortality 11.08 °/oo, so that the natural increase in population was 12.16°/oo- Because of the migration of many people the real increase carne to only 7.4 0/oo!

3 Whereas the growth of population for the whole of Spain in 1941—1950 carne to 8.16 %, in the same period the total population of the fifty provincial capitals increased by 21.78 % (almost half of which carne from the metropolises Madrid and Barcelona) which represents 65 % of the national increase. Amando G. Melón y Ruiz de Gordejuela, “La población de España en 1950”, Estudios Geográficos nr. 48, 1952. p. 447.

194

Increase in population in % during the period 1900—1950 in the municipalities of the Rebollar.

120

100

80

60

40

20 10

0 -

10

Increase in population in % during the period 1900—1950 in the municipalities o f the S o u t h e r n Sierra.

(Data taken from the Censo de la Población de España of 1900—1950).

The graphs show th a t only a few villages in this period had an increase in population o f 25 % to 35 %, ro u n d ab o u t the averages for the northern an d Southern Sierra. H ow far the percentages o f the various municipalities were the result o f n atu ral increase in this period, o r were influenced by o th er factors, can n o t be traced w ith any precisión, as the official figures on births and deaths per m unicipality for the Southern Sierra villages go back to 1943, and for those o f the R ebollar to 1940 (with an interruption from 1942 to 1945). However, on the basis o f the an n u al average natu ral increase in population, which can be calculated from the scanty d ata for the years concerned (especially th a t before 1950 w hen em igration on a large scale had n o t yet taken place), it is possible to obtain an idea — although only a rough one — o f the natu re o f the grow th in population.

As far as the n o rth ern m unicipalities o f N avasfrías and Peñaparda, and the Southern Sierra villages o f Cilleros, H ernán-Pérez, Perales del Puerto an d Villasbuenas de G ata are concerned, it can be established with a fair degree o f certainty th a t th e percentages representing the grow th in the population are chiefly the result o f a n atu ral increase. In the first two villages the intensive, profitable and com m ercial cultivation o f potatoes (which, together w ith stock-keeping, was the chief source o f income) m ade small-scale farm ing m ore possible th an in the eastern grain-growing m unicipalities o f the R ebollar l. In the four Southern, less accidented and relatively low-lying Sierra m unicipalities, the n atu ral increase could for the m ost p a rt be absorbed w ithin the m unicipality proper, due to other reasons: the extensión o f lucrative olive-growing, and am pie opportunities to enlarge the cultivated area (helped by an extensive m unicipal territory in the case o f Cilleros, and by the fact th a t in 1900 H ernán-Pérez and Villasbuenas de G ata had a sm all num ber o f inhabitants).

The p o pulation increase in El Payo, Valverde del Fresno, Torrecilla de los Angeles and A cebo from 1900 to 1950 was n o t only the result o f a n atu ral increase. I t was also due to net im m igration, although from the m ap on page 197 it appears th at, in spite o f a relatively large increase in p opu latio n in this period, the population density only increased in a “ slow” to “ m oderate” degree (according to the criteria in H oyos Sainz’s table) 2. As far as V alverde del F resno is concerned, the net im m igration was m ostly caused by illegal occupation and the breaking-in o f unculti-

vated publicly owned la n d s !, partly by p o o r Portuguese. El Payo was flooded by “ forasteros” , m ostly agricultural labourers, because o f potatogrowing and the new fields which had to be laid o u t for this. On the other hand, in the m ountainous m unicipality o f A cebo and in Torrecilla de los Angeles im m igration was largely due to the exploitation o f w olfram - and tin-ore by the “ M inas M etalúrgicas de N oroeste de E spaña” com pany, which provided em ploym ent for m any people.

* 1 Although the prices of wheat and rye rose three times as quickly as those of po­ tatoes from 1939 till 1956, yet in 1956 the gross receipts for the production o f a hectare o f land cropped with potatoes in the Rebollar, because of the larger yield per hectare, were three to four times higher than the receipts from a hectare cropped with grain.

2 Cf. p. 190.

Map representing the increase or decrease in population per square kilometre in the municipalities of the Sierra de Gata during the period 1900— 1950, according to the categories in the table o f Luis de Hoyos Sainz.

(Data taken from the Censo de la Población de España of 1900—1950 and from the “Nomen­ clátor oí tne provinces ot Salamanca and Cáceres concerning the year 1950).

1 Cf. p. 90.

196

197

In the other m unicipalities the increase in population was less th a n the n atu ral increase. The graphs show th a t in some villages the num ber o f inhabitants rem ained stationary o r even declined, particularly in the small an d the accidented municipalities, such as H erguijuela de C iudad R odrigo, Robledillo de G ata, D escargam aría, T orre de D on Miguel, H oyos and San M artín de Trevejo, villages which have for the m ost p art only a small area o f cultivated land 1.

Municipalities in the northern Sierra Herguijuela de Ciudad Rodrigo Cespedosa de Agadones Martiago Navasfrías El Payo Peñaparda Robleda El Saúgo Villasrubias

265 253 1,207 1,801 1,836 1,939 1,547 844 835

— — 44 305 246 14 — 36

6

518 1,251 2,106 2,082 1,953 1,547 880 841

The statistics below, taken from the Census o f 31 D ecem ber 1950, show the num ber o f people living in the twenty-five Sierra municipalities on th a t date 2, while the m ap on page 199 gives an idea o f population density in the Sierra de G a ta in the sam e year.

Num ber o f people living in the Sierra municipalities according to the Census o f 1950 Municipalities in the Southern Sierra

Population eoncentrated

Acebo Cadalso Cilleros Descargamaría Eljas Gata Hernán-Pérez Hoyos Perales del Puerto Robledillo de Gata San Martín de Trevejo Santibáñez el Alto Torrecilla de los Angeles Torre de Don Miguel Valverde del Fresno Villamiel Trevejo Villasbuenas de Gata

2,814 1,017 3,928 774 1,994 2,561

686 1,631 1,796 536 1,589 1,143 837 1,590 4,142 1,677 284 979

dis­ persed 41 —

235 —

240 24 —

—

20 —

77 19 — —

309 268 —

—

total 2,855 1,017 4,163 774 2,234 2,585

686 1,631 1,816 536

1,666 1,162 837 1,590 4,451 2,229 979

1 An exception is the small municipality of Cadalso, one o f the few villages where the increase in population is proportionate to that of the whole Southern Sierra. As has been said before, this village, even more than Torre de Don Miguel, has landed properties and grazing-rights in the municipality of Santibáñez el Alto, so that its economic living-space is considerably larger than its small municipal territory would lead us to believe.

2 The figures given refer to the “Población de hecho”, the actual number o f people present on the day when the Census was taken, and not to the “Población de derecho”, the number of people registered officially. As a rule the latter does not have any relation to reality, as many people do not give notice when they leave their municipality.

198

(Data taken from the “Nomenclátor” of the provinces of Salamanca and Cáceres concerning the year 1950)

199

The next table is based on the theory o f Luis de H oyos Sainz, according to which there is a certain connection betw een the return per hectare and the num ber o f people p er square kilom etre l .

A lthough in general po pulation density, as represented on the m ap above, is determ ined by m any factors, in the Sierra de G ata the relation between the productivity o f land and density o f population is striking. This re­ lation is especially clear between the figures for the Sierra villages m entioned in the table, because they are m unicipalities with a predom inantly agrarian stru c tu re ; for the figures only refer to the productivity o f huertas, grain-fields, olive-groves, monte an d pastures, as assum ed in the C atastro de la R iqueza R ústica, and represent the “ to tal average re tu rn ” per hectare in a given m unicipality, w ithout taking account o f incomes obtained from com m erce, industry or other non-agrarian m eans o f sub­ sistence.

T he m ethod o f com paring productivity o f land and density o f population, as it is applied here, is m ore inform ative as a sm aller area is taken into consideration. It is then possible to trace the influence o f non-econom ic factors on population density in greater detail, and useless generalizations can m ore easily be avoided.

A ny relation w hich may be established between productivity and popu­ latio n density, however, should certainly n o t be interpreted to o simply an d to o “ logically” ; it will often be found th a t factors other th an eco­ nom ic ones are o f prim ary im portance for a correct interpretation o f these figures. Finally, it should be noted th a t the productivity figures for the various m unicipalities do n o t all refer to the same year, b u t refer to 1952, 1953, 1954, and in some cases even to 1956. The idea is, however, to bring out a certain relation between the tw o categories and n o t to establish a causal connection valid fo r each territory and for every hum an group.

The result of a calculation of correlation has been to show a high degree of positive correlation between productivity o f land and density of population, both for the Sierra de Gata as a whole and for the Southern Sierra ( + 0.88 and + 0.90 respectively), but practically no correlation for the northern Sierra ( + 0.14). This is due to the fact that in some northern Sierra municipalities the total average return per hectare has decreased considerably on account of the potato-disease and — to a smaller extent — the re-afforestation o f pastos, whereas there was, at first, no decrease in the number of inhabitants in these municipalities (Cf. pp. 207 and 208).

1 “El verdadero complemento o, mejor, la aproximación, afinamiento y utilidad de las comparaciones entre la densidad y los datos de la agricultura, se obtienen por la relación directa entre el hecho demográfico y el rendimiento por hectárea en cada provincia, bien sea por la cultivada o propiamente agrícola, o ya se extienda, por ser más completa y total, a los aprovechamientos y frutos de toda clase que de la tierra se obtienen”. Luis de Hoyos Sainz, op. cit. p. 177.

200

Correlation (and divergence) between the “total average return" per hectare (expressed in pesetas) and the number o f people per square kilom etre 1: Southern Sierra Acebo Cadalso Cilleros Descargamaría Eljas Gata Hernán-Pérez Hoyos Perales del Puerto Robledillo de Gata San Martín de Trevejo Santibáñez el Alto Torrecilla de los Angeles Torre de Don Miguel Valverde del Fresno Villamiel Villasbuenas de Gata

total average return

density/square kilometre

83.97 279.67 98.23 88.32 124.07 114.49 84.48 220.40 160.45 44.24 236.47 93.94 64.39 306.58

49.9 135.3 20.4 14.9 69.2 28.2 18.6 110.5 52.1 16.2 56.2 11.4 19.3 136.7 23.6 32.5 21.3

88 .—

100.76 122.50

Northern Sierra Herguijuela de Ciudad Rodrigo Martiago Navasfrías El Payo Peñaparda Robleda El Saúgo Villasrubias

128.55 126.63 119.80 112.25 143.03 130.95 120.99 87.03

22.6

25.9 35.1 33.8 31.5 19.6 15.— 21.1

The first im p o rtan t conclusión th a t can be draw n from the figures given above is th a t the Southern Sierra m unicipalities w ith their accidented relief show less conform ity, in so far as population density is concerned, th an the m unicipalities in the R ebollar.

In contrast to the R ebollar, there are striking differences in population density between the various villages in the Southern Sierra, differences which are largely due to the peculiar nature o f this area. The greatest density is found in those m unicipalities where the to tal average return p er hectare is highest, th a t is in the small m unicipalities specializing in

1 Data on productivity per hectare taken from the Servicio de Catastro de la Ri­ queza Rústica, Dirección General de Propiedades y Contribución territorial, Minis­ terio de Hacienda, Madrid.

Number of inhabitants and data on the area per municipality taken from the “Nomen­ clátor” of the provinces of Salamanca and Cáceres concerning the year 1950.

201

olive-growing, which are characterized by a rath er intensive cultivation, such as Cadalso, H oyos and T orre de D o n M iguel. M unicipalities situated in the h eart o f the m ountains, such as D escargam aría and R obledillo de G ata, where the greater p a rt o f the m unicipal territory is monte and pastos, have only a sm all pop u latio n density 1; in these m ountain m unicipalities th e returns p er hectare are low, which, strangely enough, is also the case in the lower situated m unicipalities o f Cilleros, H ernán-Pérez, Torrecilla de los Angeles an d Valverde del Fresno. In these m unicipalities olivegrow ing is still the principal, b u t no longer the predom inant type o f farm ing (stock-keeping n o t in clu d ed ): owing to the usually rather exten­ sive m unicipal territo ry and especially to the less accidented relief the farm ers did n o t have to specialize alm ost exclusively in olive-growing (practised less intensively here), but could also use p a rt o f their land for cereal-growing, usually non-intensive.

The density figures for some m unicipalities, such as A cebo, Eljas, San M artín de Trevejo and Santibáñez el A lto, are perhaps rather surprising.

T he relatively great density in Eljas and the small num ber o f people per square kilom etre in the neighbouring olive-growing m unicipality o f San M artín de Trevejo are p artly due, however, to the fact th a t m any m en from Eljas, and particularly from th e ham let o f D ivina P astora, which belongs to it, are em ployed as day-labourers o r regular w orkers by the m ostly rath er w ealthy farm ers in San M artín de Trevejo. Therefore the possibilities o f earning a living for the population o f Eljas are no longer restricted to the m unicipal territo ry proper.

Som ething sim ilar occurs in A cebo an d — to a lesser degree — in Perales del P u e rto : in A cebo m any m en (and in some cases the w om en too) are aw ay from hom e for nine to ten m onths o f the year selling hom e-m ade lace in Barcelona, M adrid, Salam anca an d other tow ns. Tow ards D ecem ­ b er they return in o rder to help in harvesting the olives. D ue to these extra earnings they do n o t have to rely entirely on the produce from their own, often p o o r land, and m any inhabitants o f Acebo have a m uch higher incom e th a n w ould otherwise have been the case. In Perales del Puerto m any people are em ployed as casual labourers o r regular w orkers on the irrigated an d intensively tilled fields o f M oraleja, o r are engaged in the

1 As has already been said, a large part of the land in Descargamaría (chiefly grown with pines) is municipal property. Thus the “economic living-space” for the inhabitants who are not employed in forestry is considerably smaller than in Robledillo de Gata, which may account for the fact that the number of people per square kilometre in Des­ cargamaría is lower than in Robledillo de Gata, despite a higher average return per hectare in Descargamaría.

202

construction o f irrigation-w orks in the plain o f M oraleja, which m eans th at here to o the econom ic ties w ith the m unicipal territory pro p er are less strong. In Santibáñez el A lto the reverse is the case. The num ber o f people per square kilom etre is very sm all here w hen com pared w ith other sim ilar m unicipalities w ith the same o r a lower return per hectare, such as Cille­ ros, H ernán-Pérez, T orrecilla de los Angeles and Valverde del Fresno where also, as well as olive-growing, cereal-culture is practised. I t should be noted, however, th a t the “ econom ic living-space” in Santibáñez el A lto does n o t correspond to the territory which legally belongs to this m unici­ pality, as the inhabitants from the neighbouring villages o f G ata, T orre de D on M iguel and especially from C adalso possess large parts o f Santi­ báñez el A lto on account o f the traditional, long-standing rights o f p astu ­ rage and usufruct and the acquisition o f land in the nineteenth century.

I f we knew the real extent o f the area exploited by the inhabitants o f Santibáñez el A lto, we should probably find th a t the density figure was n o t very different from the figures fo r the other m unicipalities, w hich are in m any ways similar.

As has been said, the m unicipalities o f the R ebollar do n o t show such great divergences w ith regard to population density as those of the Southern Sierra. N evertheless here to o a distinction can be m ade between two groups o f villages: the group o f grain-grow ing m unicipalities w ith a density figure varying from fifteen inhabitants per square kilom etre in El Saúgo to over twenty-five in M artiago, and the group o f “ m unicipali­ ties on sandy soil” , El Payo and Peñaparda, which in 1950 had a p o p u ­ lation density o f m ore th an th irty people per square kilom etre. F ro m w hat has been said it is clear th a t in the last two villages 1 the villagers have applied themselves to intensive potato-grow ing as well as stock-farm ing.

As the n ature o f potato-grow ing and its profitability (at least before the appearance o f podredumbre seca) perm it a sm aller size o f farm th an is usual for cereal-growing, m ost farm s are seven hectares or less in these m unicipalities. It is largely due to this th a t the population density here is greater th an in the eastern “ grain-grow ing m unicipalities” , where the average size o f farm s is larger. ** * W hereas on the whole the population o f the Sierra de G ata in the tw o decades before 1950 showed a regular increase, in the years th a t followed, in m ost municipalities, there has been a decrease in the num ber o f inhabit­ ants. M igration to the tow ns, w hich has increased considerably as Spain i Navasfrías, where arable land mainly consists of loamy soils, is rather like the villages of El Payo and Peñaparda in agrarian structure.

203

has becom e m ore industrialized an d urbanized, also m akes its influence felt in the rem óte Sierra de G ata. It is tru e th a t before the w ar, too, people from this area m igrated to M ad rid an d to the industrial regions o f N o rth ern Spain, b u t the Civil W ar o f 1936-—1939 and the diíficult period w hich followed p u t a tem porary check on this m igration.

C onditions having m ore o r less com e back to “ n orm al” by now, the “éxodo ru ra l” has becom e increasingly im p o rtan t in this m ountain area.

Table showing population trends in the period 1950— 1959 in some Sierra municipalities 1: Municipalities

Population 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 Population in 1950 in 1959

Martiago El Payo Peñaparda Robleda Villasrubias

1,251 2,082 1,953 1,547 841

Acebo Cilleros Descargamaría Eljas Hoyos Robledillo de Gata Santibáñez el Alto Torre de D. Miguel Valverde del Fresno

2,855 4,163 774 2,234 1,631 536 1,162 1,590 4,451

—

+ + + O + + • + + + O + +

O • — —

+

_ • + + —

O © —

—

—

—

—

—

—

«

•

—

+ • •

+ + •

© »

• +

• —

+ O

© O +

—

—

+ O

—

0

+

•

+ • +

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

+ + O

—

—

—

—

—

—

+ • O

—

—

o •

O « »

—

ce

+ +

—

+ +

—

—

—

—

• —

O •

1,173 1,545 1,065 1,554 896 2,265 3,905 725 1,813 1,692 538 1,163 1,513 4,406

+ : increase in population by net immigration O: increase in population practically equal to natural increase ©: increase in population smaller than natural increase, or number of inhabitants remained stationary — : decrease in population by net emigration

Those who em igrate are in the first place p o o rer people, such as agri­ cultural labourers, share tenants and small farm ers 2, although some-

1 Data taken from the “Padrones Municipales” of the municipalities concemed.

The population figures for 1950 correspond to those of the Census o f 1950, the figures for 1959 represent differences calculated at the end of the year. As in many cases no notice is given when people leave, whereas births, deaths and new arrivals are recorded, these figures are on the high side.

2 Cf. the remark o f G. A. de Reparaz: “Le dénominateur commun (of migrations in Spain) est en réalité surtout la pauvreté des campagnes et celle d’un paysannat espagnol sous-développé”. G. A. de Reparaz, “Notes sur les migrations de la population espagnole durant les vingt demiéres années” ; Méditerranée, Revue Géographique des Pays Méditerranéens, no. 4, Octobre-Décembre 1962. p. 89.

204

times also econom ically independent people leave together w ith their families.

Especially after the second W orld W ar it has becom e m ore and m ore custom ary in the Sierra de G a ta for m en to go to the industrial tow ns in N o rth ern Spain, such as G ijón, Avilés, M ieres, Bilbao and San Sebastian, in order to earn and save up from their wages as industrial labourer or m iner so m uch that, w hen they return for good to the Sierra, where they have left their wives and children, they can afford to buy some olivetrees, a sm all huerta o r a house. In some cases, however, the m en settle dow n perm anently in N o rthern Spain and grow aw ay from their family and their form er surroundings; the regular rem ittances becom e less frequent and som etim es ties w ith wife and children are com pletely broken.

A nother exam ple o f “ tem porary em igration” often leading to perm anent settlem ent is th a t o f young girls who take up em ploym ent in the to w n s: M adrid, Salam anca, Cáceres etc. However, people from the Sierra are n o t only attracted by the tow ns, b u t also by the new rural developm ent areas in Badajoz and by the districts w hich are ab o u t to be developed o r have already been developed by the Plan Cáceres, areas w hich prom ise to becom e flourishing agricultural districts due to irrigation and G overnm ent-controlled colonization.

The decrease in the num ber o f inhabitants in the n o rthern Sierra m uni­ cipalities — an average o f 14 % during the period 1950— 1959 — is larger th an th a t in the Southern m unicipalities, w here in the same period the population dropped by 3 % K The m ap on page 206, which represents the decrease in population per m unicipality, shows, however, th a t there are great differences in this respect between the various m unicipalities. This is due to the fact th at in some m unicipalities a num ber o f typically local factors have contributed to m igration, a p a rt from such general factors as a grow ing awareness o f better conditions o f living in other places and a better understanding o f an

1 It appears from the analysis of the 1960 Census, made by A. Melón y Ruiz de Gordejuela, that during the inter-censal period 1951— 1960 the decrease in population in the provinces of Salamanca and Cáceres was considerably less: respectively 1.51 % and 0.85 %. Apart from local differences in the decrease of population in these pro­ vinces, this better provincial average is also due to the fact that — unlike many purely agrarian municipalities — the provincial capitals (as well as other large population centres which have a more varied economic structure) experienced an increase in popu­ lation. Cf. the remark of Melón y Ruiz de Gordejuela: “La disminución . . . carga sobre municipios y núcleos de tipo rural y explotación agrícola extensiva;pero no al­ canza a ninguna de sus capitales respectivas, ya que todas, sin excepción, experimen­ tan aumento de habitantes”. A. Melón y Ruiz de Gordejuela, “Censo de población de España del año 1960” ; Estudios Geográficos XXIII, 88; 1962. p. 341.

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econom ic concept such as labour-productivity, as a result o f which peasants and agricultural labourers are no longer satisfied with the traditional p o o r yields an d low incom es l .

The decrease in population is greatest in the R ebollar municipalities o f El Payo and P eñaparda — w ith respectively 25.9 % and 45.5 %! — municipalities where, in contrast to the eastern ones, the dem ographic developm ent had been so rapid in the preceding decades. U nlike the eastern m unicipalities, the re-afforestation o f p o o r pasture-land in El Payo and especially in P eñaparda was n o t done on a large scale until ab o u t 1950. W hereas in M artiago, R obleda and El Saúgo the villagers had a large area o f stubble-fields as well as natu ral pasture-land for their sheep and goats, in El Payo and P eñaparda this area was m uch smaller, as can be seen from the following statistics 1:

Municipalities

Martiago Robleda El Saúgo El Payo Peñaparda

Decrease in population in the Sierra de Gata during the period 1950— 1959 in % of the total number of inhabitants on 31 December 1950.

(D ata taken from the “ Nomenclátor” of the provinces o f Salamanca and Cáceres concerning the year 1950 and from the Padrón Municipal).

1

In his “Estructura Económica de España” (p. 15) R. Tamames points out that migration is particularly great from regions with a low income per head and a great excess of births over deaths (such as Extremadura and León, between which regions the Sierra de Gata forms the boundary) to more industrialized areas with a smaller natural increase, such as Northern Spain and Catalonia.

Cf. also the following remark made by Melón y Ruiz de Gordejuela in the publication referred to above (p. 345): “La merma de los municipios no guarda relación con su extensión, sino con las condiciones de vida de los mismos”.

206

estimated area of stubble-fields 2 890 hectares 1,108 949 „ 351 433

„ „

number of sheep and goats in 1956 sheep | goats 1,381 2,710 1,380 2,949 1,725

380

220 300

1,200 1,800

area of stubblefields available per animal 0.51 ha.

0.41 „ 0.56 „ 0.08 „ 0.12 „

As the large num ber o f sheep and goats in the last two m unicipalities was m ainly due to the larger area o f natural pasture-land, the reduction o f the area o f pastos has had an unfavourable influence on the num ber o f livestock. A p a rt from re-afforestation, which also deprived the po o rer villagers o f the m eans o f earning extra m oney from m aking charcoal during the w inter m onths, an even m ore im p o rtan t reason for the enorm ous decline in the num ber o f inhabitants in El Payo and P eñaparda since 1950 is the fatal podredumbre seca, caused by the too intensive growing o f potatoes. This resulted in a considerable dro p in income in these vil­ lages.

In reality the decrease in population is even greater th an appears from the percentages given above, because it was partly com pensated for by the

1 Data taken from the Servicio de Catastro de la Riqueza Rústica and the Encuesta Agropecuaria in 1956 of the Delegación Nacional de Sindicatos.

2 As the greater part of the unirrigated arable land is cropped only once every three years, while one third of the land is usually given the annual “barbecho-workings”, the area of stubble-fields is calculated as being one third of the total acreage of unirri­ gated arable land. It should be noted that in Peñaparda the available area of stubblefield per sheep or goat is on the high side, as most of the “secano land” here is cropped every other year, which in the other Rebollar municipalities is restricted to the best fields, although these are only a small part of the total arable land.

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n atu ral increase. T he table below shows even m ore clearly th an the m ap o n page 206 the decrease in pop u latio n in El Payo and P eñaparda since 1950. The first colum n gives the actual num ber o f inhabitants in the years 1950 up to and including 1959, the second colum n the num ber o f inhabit­ ants th a t m ight be expected for the following year on the basis o f the Census o f 1950 or o f the P ad ró n an d o n the basis o f the natu ral increase.

El Payo year

Peñaparda year

in- or actual num­ expected ber of in­ number of decrease habitants inhabitants

in- or actual num­ expected ber of in­ number of decrease habitants inhabitants

| 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

2,082 2,117 2,136 2,163

2,101 1,842 1,669 1,585 1,553 1,545

2,062 2,160 2,178 2,182 2,140 1,870 1,706 1,613 1,574

+ — — — — — — — —

55 24 15 81 298

201 121 60 29

1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

1,953

2,001

1,988

+

1,973 1,933 1,944 1,834 1,350 1,029 1,046 1,065

2,011

— 38 — 53 — 14 — 133 — 507 — 320

1,986 1,958 1,967 1,857 1,349 1,028 1,049

+ +

13

18 16

podredumbre seca, even m ore th an re-afforestation o f m unicipal pasturegrounds, m eant econom ic disaster.

Particularly since 1955, when the potato-crop had failed several times, em igration from these villages has assumed great proportions. The fact, however, th at the overwhelming m ajority o f the em igrants did n o t give notice o f their leaving to the m unicipal authorities, together w ith the lack o f any kind o f d ata on farm s or recent statistics concerning the social structure o f the population, m akes it im possible to trace exactly the effect o f em igration on the agrarian structure o f the villages. It can be said in general, however, th a t — as has been noted before — only those people have m anaged to rem ain in these u n fortunate villages w ho pos­ sessed some cattle, and who by changing over to growing fodder-crops have concentrated alm ost com pletely on stock-keeping. A nother group w ho m anaged to find a living in these m unicipalities are those who, as well as obtaining an incom e from cattle-farm ing, get extra earnings by helping in re-afforestation, harvesting olives in the Southern Sierra and picking cotton on the plain o f M oraleja.

A lthough the rate o f decrease in the p o pulation has slowed down, while in P eñaparda even a slight increase can be noticed (m ainly the result of n atu ral increase), the above statistics show th at during the period 1950— 1959 n et em igration in El Payo cam e to 774 persons, in P eñaparda to 1,018 persons. This is respectively alm ost 37.2 % and over 52% o f the to tal num ber o f inhabitants living in these m unicipalities a t the tim e o f the Census o f 1950 !.

W hereas in the oth er R ebollar villages m ost o f the em igrants were those w ho had no prospects o f getting a farm o f their own and poorer people, especially day-labourers who had difficulty in finding em ploym ent o u t­ side the harvest season 2, in El Payo and P eñaparda other people to o had to leave their village in order to find a living in N o rth ern Spain as u n ­ skilled labourers. These em igrants were small farm ers for whom potatogrowing was by far the m ost im p o rtan t source o f incom e and for whom

In com parison w ith the R ebollar, the Southern Sierra is m ore varied in a dem ographical respect. As against a great drop in the num ber o f inhabi­ tants in A cebo and Eljas, an increase in population o f m ore th an eleven per cent can be noted in G a ta and Torrecilla de los Angeles. The increase in population in G ata, however, was influenced by the developm ent o f the village o f La M oheda, founded by the “ C olonización In terio r” as p a rt o f the Plan Cáceres, a village situated in the dehesa Fresno, which belongs to the m unicipality o f G ata.

As La M oheda is really p art o f the plain o f M oraleja, as far as its situation and agrarian structure is concerned, so that, strictly speaking, it cannot be regarded as p art o f the Sierra de G ata (probably La M oheda will be­ fore long be separated from G a ta and become an independent m unici­ pality), the increase o f 11 % in population given on the m ap on page 206 is n o t representative for G ata. W hen the recently settled colonists 1 in La M oheda are not taken into account, it appears th a t the m unicipality o f G ata differs very little dem ographically from the other Sierra villages, all o f which have a net em igration.

1 According to this calculation it appears that also Villasrubias, the only munici­ pality in the Rebollar where the number of inhabitants increased by more than one per cent between 1950 and 1959, had a net emigration of 47 persons, that is to say more than 5.5 % of the population in 1950.

2 Thus all the ninety agricultural labourers who lived in Martiago in 1945, have in course of time left the village with their families.

1 In 1960, out of a total of 120 houses built here since 1958 only fifteen were occupied by families from Gata and twenty-five by families from other Sierra munici­ palities, such as Hoyos, Perales del Puerto, Torre de Don Miguel and Villasbuenas de Gata. This shows that the majority of the 850 colonists are natives from municipalities which are not part of the Sierra de Gata.

208

14

209

The relatively large increase in population in Torrecilla de los Angeles was due to an increase in the num ber o f inhabitants greater th an the natu ral increase after 1950. The net im m igration in this m unicipality until 1955 was largely due to em ploym ent provided by the exploitation o f some small w olfram mines during this period. Since this mining has becom e less profitable, Torrecilla de los Angeles displays the same dem o­ graphical characteristics as some o f the other Sierra municipalities, such as R obleda, R obledillo de G ata an d Santibáñez el A lto: in spite o f an annual excess o f births over deaths, the population has n o t been on the increase since 1955, from which it is clear th a t o f late people have also left this m unicipality.

U nlike El Payo an d P eñaparda, the dem ographical developm ent of A cebo and Eljas which, because o f their great decrease in population, are different from th e rest o f the Southern Sierra m unicipalities, where since 1950 the decrease has been less than ten per cent o f the num ber o f inhabitants in this year, has to a large extent been determ ined by factors which have very little to do w ith farming.

As has been said in passing, the m aking o f “ encaje de bolillo” , lace, has becom e a real “ village industry” in the m ountain m unicipality o f A cebo, for here agrarian m eans o f subsistence are very lim ited indeed, because o f the accidented natu re o f the m unicipal territory *. Sometimes whole families w ork at the m aking o f lace, which is sold in the big Spanish tow ns by some o f the m enfolk. Because these lace sellers are absent for m any m onths o f the year an d generally only stay in Acebo during the w inter m onths o f D ecem ber, Jan u ary and February, the agricultural w ork is left to m em bers o f the family w ho rem ain behind, or is done by those m en w ho rem ain, for a certain consideration. Sometimes, however, olivegroves are simply leased out.

It is difficult to determ ine the exact num ber o f these travelling lace sellers, b u t as there are m ore th an 300 families where one or m ore m em bers are absent for m onths on end, the total num ber o f “ tem porary em igrants” can safely be estim ated at some 400. This form o f tem porary em igration is chiefly limited to A cebo, for although lace is also m ade in the neigh­ bouring village o f H oyos, the m enfolk here are m ore employed in agriculture, especially in olive-growing, leaving the sale o f the lace made by their wives to sellers from Acebo.

i Cf. the statistics on page 105, from which it appears that although the population increased by 67 % (up to 1955), the cultivated area has hardly been enlarged since the eighteenth century.

210

Several factors have contributed to the fact th a t m ore and m ore lace sellers have tried to find other em ploym ent in order to settle dow n perm anently in the tow n with their families. One factor is th at the earnings from selling lace are very variable. Besides, their long stay in Barcelona, M adrid or in the smaller provincial tow ns frequented by tourists, m akes the men grow m ore accustom ed to life in the tow n so th a t they get m ore “ m undo” th an those w ho stay behind in the village.

The following statistics 1 show th at, especially in A cebo, the years 1955 and 1956 were characterized by a great net em igration: year

actual number of in­ habitants according to Padrón and Census

1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

2,855 2,898 2,869 2,903 2,913 2,488 2,404 2,355 2,320 2,265

expected number of inhabitants on the basis of Padrón and natural increase

in- or decrease of the number of inhabitants

2,869 2,919 2,887 2,919 2,934 2,506 2,416 2,357 2,304

+ 29 — 50 + 16 — 6 — 446 — 102 — 61 — 37 — 39

The to tal net em igration after 1950 am ounted to 696 people — i.e. ab o u t 24 % o f the num ber o f inhabitants in 1950 — but the tw o years 1955 and 1956 account fo r 548 o u t o f this num ber. This em igration peak, however, was n o t so m uch the result o f lace sellers and their families settling elsewhere, b u t was especially due to the fact th a t the exploitation o f the w olfram - and tin-ore pits in the surroundings (which provided em ­ ploym ent for m any during the lucrative years after the Second W orld W ar), were no longer profitable. T he Jálam a-pits have now been abandoned. Only in the pastures south o f Acebo are there still some pits, which are exploited by the “ M inas M etalúrgicas de N oroeste de E spaña” , but in 1958 only about ten m en were w orking here. As m ethods o f exploi­ tation are primitive, so th a t these pits are not a profitable proposition, it is to be expected th at before long they, too, will cease to be exploited.

In Eljas em igration was som ething which had taken place over a long period. Because a great p a rt o f the m unicipal territory th at was left after

1 Data taken from the Census of 1950 and the population figures of the Padrón Municipal from later years.

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the abolition o f th e Encom ienda o f Eljas w ent to people from San M artín de Trevejo, M oraleja an d V alverde del Fresno, even a t the beginning o f this century the m unicipal area could no longer provide a living for all o f the inhabitants. A no th er im p o rtan t factor was the decline o f flaxgrowing, which in the eighteenth century was m ore im p o rtan t here th a n anyw here else in the Southern Sierra. O ther unfavourable circum stances were the alm ost to tal destruction o f viticulture by the phylloxera and the decrease in the num ber o f livestock. This was caused by worse conditions fo r grazing, due to deforestation, overgrazing and erosion. Yet, in spite o f this, the econom ic situation in Eljas could n o t be called unfavourable, since people did n o t depend on farm ing alone. The im portance o f the carrying-trade as a m eans o f livelihood has been pointed out before, especially the tran sp o rt o f grain an d olive-oil by mules (the so-called arriería). The carrying-trade, which had for the m ost p a rt developed in the nineteenth century — a fact w hich was perhaps largely due to the reduction o f the cultivated area th a t to o k place at the beginning o f th at century 1 — was, in 1940, still a source o f incom e for m ore th an 250 men in Eljas, despite the fact th a t tran sp o rt in general h ad im proved throughout Spain.

In the preceding chapter it was already m entioned th a t the setting up o f the C om isaría G eneral de A bastecim ientos y T ransportes m eant the end o f the prívate tran sp o rtatio n o f oil and grain in Spain. Nevertheless up till the fifties o f this century prívate tra n sp o rt o f these goods did take place, although in a clandestine way. However, when the carriers involved were caught, they ran the risk o f being m ade to pay high fines by the Fiscalía Provincial de Tasas o f the province where they were found out. This has greatly contributed to the decline o f the prívate carrying-trade. N o wonder th a t the disappearance o f the traditional arriería m eant economic disaster for m any inhabitants o f Eljas.

N ow th at this im p o rtan t source o f incom e has gone and people, m ore th a n before, have to fall back on w hat their own soil provides and on their earnings as agricultural labourers em ployed by, or share tenants with farm ers in San M artín de Trevejo, em igration has once again become a necessity.

M ore so th an the d ro p in the num ber o f inhabitants between 1950 and 1959 from 2,234 to 1,813, the net em igration o f 673 people (i.e. m ore th an 30 % o f the población de hecho in 1950!) shows the extent to which the population in Eljas decreased in this period. Ju st as in the other Sierra

1 Cf. pp. 103 and 106.

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m unicipalities, m ost o f the m igrants w ent to the n o rthern industrial tow ns: at present 150 m en from Eljas, with or w ithout their families, live in Bilbao, 60 in San Sebastian and 30 in Barcelona. M oreover ten villagers have found a new m eans o f livelihood in France, and after 1958 fourteen m en found em ploym ent in Switzerland, and tw enty in G erm any.

However, as in A cebo, the dro p in the num ber o f inhabitants in Eljas differs from the decrease in population in the rest o f the Southern Sierra villages in so far th a t the large dro p in this m unicipality is caused above all by the disappearance o f a non-agrarian m eans o f subsistence, m ore so th an by any “ n orm al” m igration o f agricultural labourers and p o o r farm ers to tow ns and industrial districts.

VI C O N C L U S IO N .

T H E S IE R R A D E G A T A AS A PR O B LEM A R E A The vital problem today, existing b o th in the Rebollar and in the Southern Sierra, is “ overpopulation” according to present-day technical standards, a fact o f which the inhabitants have become aware. This is a problem which this area has in com m on with m any other m ountain regions w ithin an d outside the Iberian Península. The physical m ake up 1 and the com pletely agrarian character o f the Sierra de G ata are in them ­ selves factors which m ake any great pop u latio n density impossible. O ther factors which contribute to the present “ overpopulation” are the low profits from cereal-culture an d the gradual decline in potato-grow ing in th e north, th e recent diíficulties arising from the re-afforestation o f the pastos, w hich— ju st as in the H urdes — led to a reduction o f the num ber o f livestock, and the generally rath er prim itive m ethod o f olive-culti­ vation.

It is true th a t as well as there having been an increase in the num ber o f small holdings since the eighteenth century, some im p o rtan t changes have taken place in farm ing in the Sierra. A m ong these we m ention — especially on better soils — the grow ing o f potatoes and vetches in cropro tatio n with w heat, the extensión o f the area planted with olive-trees, better m anuring due to the use o f artificial fertilizer (still, alas, on a small scale) and the in troduction o f new techniques, especially with respect to the preparation o f oil. Y et it can n o t be said th a t in the last tw o decades there has been any intensification in farm ing w orth m entioning.

T he little am ount o f saving done and lack o f capital — chiefly due to the generally small size o f the farm s and low labour productivity — restrict agricultural developm ent. R e-parcelling, which is so very urgent, has n o t yet been carried o u t and will m oreover com e up against great diíficulties, especially in íhe souíhern Sierra, because o f íhe peculiar nalure o f íhe olive-groves íhere. Co-operaíive socielies, whelher G overnm enl-conírolled o r nol, do n o í exisí. These bodies could no d o u bí be very useful here and have a síim ulaíing effecl on farm ing, especially by giving credií for new invesím enís, by com m unal purchase o f agriculíural requirem enís and

i The remark made in the publication “Proyecto de Desarrollo de la región medi­ terránea”, that the most characteristic feature o f Spanish farming — in contrast to farming in Western Europe — lies in the fact that on more than two-thirds of the national territory the physical environment still has a dominating influence on economic life (op. cit. p. 113), is especially true of the Sierra de Gata.

TI/I

by seííing up a ceníral dairy-faclory for íhe “ p o leníial” milk supply l.

Ií is írue íh a í íhere are plans ío form a co-operaíive socieíy o f olive-oil producers so íh a í íhey can be in a slronger posiíion w iíh regard ío buyers, w ho ofíen íogeíher fix íhe price lo avoid com pelilion am ongsí íhemselves, b u í up ío now 2 íhere has been no aííem pí ío realize íhese plans.

In every viB^ge íhere is w haí is know n as a “ H erm andad de L abradores y G anaderos” . This is an auíonom ous organizalion íhe mem bers o f which, íhe “ C abildo” , are chosen by íhe heads o f íhe families in íhe village. These “ C abildos” vary in size according ío íhe num ber o f inhabiíanís in íhe village in quesíion, b u l generally íhey consist o f ab o u t ten m en, a third o f w hom are relieved o f office every Three years. These “ H erm andades” are entrusíed wiíh íhe íask o f defending íhe IStesgsts oCiariners and síockkeepers: íhey see ío íhe adm inisíraíion o f co m m tm afl^usedipaiíoj, íhey organize Ferias and m arkels, ap p o in í “ G uardas de cam po” v and are responsible fo r íhe healíh o f íhe anim als w iíhin íhe m unicipaliíy. All íhegg íasks were done by íhe m unicipal auíhoriíies before íhe H erm andades were seí up. M oreover, wiíh íhe auíhoriíy o f íhe Servicio N acional de C rédito A grícola — which was sel up by a decree o f 16lh June 1954 — these bodies have the power to g rant agricultural credits a l an inlerest o f 2.75 % per annum , although only on security. A llhough íhe H erm an­ dades are in íheory well suiled lo íhe needs o f Spanish rural life, in gene­ ral they leave m uch to be desired in the Sierra m unicipalities, because the “ C abildos” are extrem ely individualislic and are ofíen m ore concerned ab o u l íheir own inleresls íh an íhose o f íhe village as a whole.

U p 1o now foreslry has been “ lo-m orrow ’s w ealíh” (íh aí is for íhe m unicipal auíhoriíies), b u l il is n o t a solution lo presenl-day problem s.

M oreover, because o f its non-intensive use o f lab o u r il will n o l be able to help sufficiently to keep dow n underem ploym ent and tem porary unem ploym ent, íh a í is as long as íhe num ber o f people w orking in agriculture rem ains as large as it is.

Even on a small scale, íhe indusírializaíion o f íhe Sierra as a m eans o f widening íhe econom ic basis has few prospecls. Because o f its situalion 1 That is the quantity of milk which will be available if, other than is the case at present, practically all of it is not given to young stock, but when the milk used for food is partly replaced by fodder-crops bought or grown on the farm. The fixed prices for animal products, especially dairy products, for the consumers, however, make the setting up of dairy-factories which require much capital rather unattractive. According to the “Proyecto de Desarrollo de la región mediterránea” (p. 49), the effect o f these fixed prices is not only to lessen the stimulus to increase milk production, but also to reduce the number of livestock in Spain, pigs and horses excluded.

2 1960.

215

in poorly developed W estern Spain, its rem oteness from , and unfavour­ able position w ith regard to the large pop u lation centres o f Spain, the Sierra de G ata is still a far-off an d alm ost forgotten córner o f the lberian Peninsula. All this restricts any m odernization and econom ic develop­ m ent o f th e in m any respects still closed com m unities.

In addition, in Salam anca as well as in Cáceres m ost attention is devoted to the m ore prom isingly profitable irrigation districts, projected in the developm ent plans o f the various provinces. It m ight perhaps be possible, on the basis o f the future incomes to be obtained from the recently planted forests, in some m unicipalities to develop industries for processing crude resin an d w ood. T hrough this m ore use could be m ade o f some o f the m any jornaleros an d p o o r farm ers, w ho at present do n o t get a sufficient incom e and enough w ork in agriculture. W hether these dream s o f the future which are cherished by so m any will ever come true, rem ains to be seen when the young plantations are fully grown, but this will take m any decades.

This interesting m ountain area, w ith its beautiful scenery, has m uch to offer to tourists. Y et its rem oteness an d the lack o f the necessary capital for investm ents m ake any speedy opening u p o f the Sierra for tourism ju s t a dream .

Only if its in h abitants are satisfied w ith a low standard o f living — although this is considerably higher th a n in the neighbouring H urdes — can the present density o f population be m aintained in the Sierra de G ata.

M igration, th a t is th e leaving o f those who are no longer satisfied w ith the present standard o f living, is creating m any new problem s. N o t only does it m ean the inevitable disintegration o f village life and the breaking up o f oíd established social relations, especially in those villages where in recent times m igration has reached high p roportions, b u t the effects o f m igration are also felt in the econom ic field. T he shortage o f labour during the harvest-tim e — especially in olive-cultivation — has already com pelled people in some m unicipalities to apply non-intensive m ethods, as a result o f which the profits from this culture have dropped.

D espite all these diíficulties, the m igration o f a p a rt o f the population m ust be considered necessary. U p to now people from the Sierra have chiefly m igrated to the tow ns, especially those o f N o rthern Spain. The irrigation o f extensive areas, such as those in the Plan Cáceres, m ay lead to increasing m igration to these new and less rem óte agricultural districts. ** * A n im p o rtan t project, now nearing com pletion, is the irrigation o f the plain o f M oraleja, to the south o f the Sierra de G ata.

216

Behind the 24 m etre high dam in the R ío A rrago, the building o f which was begun in 1944, there is now a reservoir with a capacity o f 86 million cubic metres, the so-called “ P antano de B orbollón” . This reservoir irrigates nearly 9,000 hectares o f land, the lowest and greater p a rt o f the plain o f M oraleja *.

Besides M oraleja, the district centre o f this area, and the smaller village o f H uélaga, b o th o f which will be greatly enlarged, two new settlem ents have been planned, La M oheda and V egaviana; besides public buildings and houses for advisory agricultural experts, each will contain 520 houses for colonists and 50 for agricultural labourers. M oreover, some thought has also been given to dispersed settlem ent in order to avoid the disadvantages o f an agrarian population living to o concentrated in vil­ lages. Henee som e kilom etres away from the settlem ents, spaced a t regular intervals, there are simple whitewashed farm houses with stable(s), barn and corral attached, farm s which have been planned rationally in the open countryside. The usual colonist farm com prises four hectares o f irrigated land, a size which m akes for econom ic independence and satisfactory farm m an a g em e n t2. Every colonist also gets a team o f draughtanim als, a milking-cow, fifty chickens and tw o pigs. The idea is th a t in about ten years’ time, after debts and loans have been paid off, the colo­ nists will entirely own their farm s. In the first few years, however, the colonist is n o t com pletely independent, but has to follow the advice given to him by the organization entrusted with the task o f colonization, and to plant a p a rt o f the land with the crops the G overnm ent instruets him to plant — cotton, and some tobáceo and pim iento. A nother p a rt — usually a th ird — has to be kept for maize and fodder-crops, such as clover and m angolds, chiefly m eant fo r the draught-anim als and the milking-cow, the m ilk from which will be sold in the future to a dairyfactory — yet to be built. A bout five per cent o f the land is tak en up with huerta-crops (chiefly m eant fo r dom estic consum ption) or is used for laying o u t the necessary seed-beds. O n w hat is left grain is to be grow n — barley for the livestock, w heat for sale to the Servicio N acional del Trigo — , and possibly legum inous crops.

Due to intensive m anuring (600 kilogram m es o f superphosphate, 300 to 400 kilogram m es o f nitrates per year and an additional quantity o f

1 On the left bank of the river Arrago in all 1,354 hectares will be irrigated, on the right bank 7,364 hectares.

2 The size of farm is generally well adapted to the working-power of the colonist family. Only in autumn, during the harvesting of cotton and maize, are some extra hands needed; during the other months of the year the colonist can do his own work, if necessary with the help of the members of his family or a casual worker.

217

organic m an u re every three years), well-regulated irrigation and wellbalanced cro p -ro tatio n ', yields o f 2 , 0 0 0 kilogram m es o f cotton, 5 , 0 0 0 to 6 , 0 0 0 kilogram m es o f m aize an d a b o u t 1 , 2 0 0 kilogram m es o f w heat per hectare are possible. The incom e from a farm with four hectares o f irri­ gated land is therefore far in excess o f the income from a farm o f the sam e size in the Sierra de G ata, even if this chiefly concentrates on olivegrowing. A t 1960 prices the gross returns o f the farm -area cropped with cash crops (cotton IV 3 ha., m aize 1 ' / 6 ha., w heat 1 ha. an d beans Vó ha.) alone com e to 72,000 pesetas, while on to p o f this the sale o f milk, eggs an d young stock b rought in a considerable am ount.

T he newly planned villages can together take a b o u t 1,200 fam ilies; m oreover M oraleja and H uélaga still have plenty o f room for m any colonists and their families. This grand, alm ost com pleted project, how ­ ever, ■— ap art from the w ork it provides during the cotton picking — is o f generally little direct interest to the inhabitants o f the Southern Sierra m unicipalities. A lthough Cilleros, G a ta and Santibáñez el A lto have had to give up lands to the irrigation project o f the plain, relatively few people from the Southern Sierra have been adm itted as colonists. O ther th an the forty families from the Sierra who are living in the com pleted village o f L a M oheda, in 1960 no m ore than 54 families from the Sierra (chiefly from G ata, H oyos and Santibáñez el A lto) had settled outside this village.

H enee the irrigation and developm ent o f the plain chiefly benefits those colonists w ho com e from other p arts o f the province o f Cáceres and the inh ab itan ts o f those villages situated o n the plain itself.

Perhaps the irrigation projeets o f th e A lagón- an d Tiétar-valleys, situ­ ated further from the Sierra de G ata, will provide m ore opportunities for p o o r Sierra people. In this way it m ight still be possible for these people to find a reasonable livelihood within their own región, a fact w hich, because o f the generally strong regionalism o f the Spaniards, is o f th e greatest im portance.

By m eans o f th e large reservoir “ G abriel y G alán ” , w hich has been com ­ pleted an d has m ore th a n ten tim es th e capacity o f th e reservoir o f B or­ bollón, m ore th an 41,000 hectares o f land can be irrigated in the A lagónvalley 2, while 90,000 hectares between the rivers T iétar and Tagus will considerably increase in valué, due to irrigation.

1 That is cotton first, in the second year followed by a short fallow period (from January till May), then maize and fodder-crops (May-October); when the maize has been harvested, wheat and barley are sown, both of which are harvested in the third year about June. A second growing of maize and a fallow period cióse the eyele.

2 So that, as well as the present population, about 4,900 colonists and agricultural labourers will be able to find employment here.

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As long as there is no well carried-through rationalization in the agra­ rian Sierra municipalities, the productivity o f farm ing and especially productivity o f lab o u r in the Sierra de G ata will rem ain low, as a result o f which the difference in the standard o f living, as com pared with m ore developed agricultural districts, will becom e increasingly larger.

R ationalization, however, does n o t m ean here the developing o f intensive cultures o f valuable crops, as in the new irrigation-distriets, for this w ould com e up against great diíficulties — physical as well as econom ic. F o r the Sierra de G a ta — an d fo r m any o th er m ountain areas — rationalization is n o t only a question o f im proving the existing m ethods o f production, b u t in the first place it m eans a partial depopulation, an econom ic and social necessity, despite its obvious draw backs.

But even if a t some tim e in the future m igration should bring a b o u t a so urgently needed lessening o f the population pressure, great differences betw een th e no rth ern and Southern Sierra are bound to rem ain, so th a t this m ountain area, which is “ Sierra ” and plateau a t the same tim e, will retain its dualistic character.

G L O SSA R Y O F SPA N ISH TE R M S W here the m eaning o f the term s below differs from w hat is generally understood by them , this appertains only to the Sierra de G ata.

A destajo Agricultor autónomo Alcoba A l goteo Almazara A l tercio Alzar Antecocina A ño y vez Arriería Arriero Autónomo Barbecho Bienes comunales, bienes de propio Binar Bodegón Brezos Cabeza Calzar de pies Campo abierto Campo cerrado Cántara, cántaro Capacho Castañar 220

-

paym ent per task independent farm -operator bedroom m anuring the land only around the olivetrees - oil-mill - form o f share tenancy in which the share ten an t is entitled to one third o f the yield - first working-over o f the land by the plough - kind o f scullery used as kitchen in sum m er - system o f cropping the land every other year ■ m uleteering; tran sp o rt by mules • carrier, i.e. m uleteer • see agricultor autónomo fallow land to be prepared for cultivation in the following year

Cava de pies, cavar de piesCercado Compuesto

Comunidad de pastos Corral Corraliza Cortina Cuadra Cultivo asociado Cupo

Chozo Dehesa

Dehesa boyal publicly owned lands, used com m unally by o r leased out to the villagers second w orking-over o f the land by the plough store-room a t the back o f the stable, ori­ ginally intended for storing wine h eather; heather-stubs capital o f an Encomienda piling u p the soil aro u n d olive-trees to protect them from drought open field zone o f small enclosed fields around the village » liquid m easure (about 15 kgs. o f olive-oil; 16 litres o f wine) thick ro u n d hem pen pressing-bag grove o f chestnut-trees

Despacho Despoblado Dueño Encomienda Enjambre Familia campesina Fanega

Feria Fuero Garbanzo H oja

digging the soil around olive-trees sm all enclosed garden or field near the village artificial fertilizer m ade up o f a m ixture o f calcareous superphosphate, potassium -sulphate and nitrates com m unity o f stock-holders w ith regard to pastures y a rd ; place fenced in and partly roofed over where sheep and goats are kept a t night m ovable w ooden fence for sheep and goats see cercado stable mixed culture th a t p a rt o f the olive-oil which, before 1960, had to be sold at fixed prices to the C om isaría G eneral de A bastecim ientos y T ransportes hut pasture, grazing-land, either privately own­ ed or n o t and often enclosed; estáte used only for forestry and stock-keeping (m unicipal) pasture-land for breedingcattle and draught-anim als store depopulated place landlord C om m andership o f a M ilitary O rder; land o r rents belonging to a C om m andership sw arm o f bees peasant family a grain m easure (about 55V2 litres); (— de sembradura) ground necessary for sowing a fanega o f seed; (— de tierra) land m easure (about 0.64 ha,) fair privilege yellow pea block or group o f fields cultivated in the same year 221

Huebra Huerta Huerto Jornalero M ajada M atorral Mediano M onte — alto — bajo Municipio Novillo Obrero eventual Ordeño Orujo Partido Judicial Pastizal, pastos Pinar Población de derecho Población de hecho Podredumbre seca Pradera Puerto real Rastrojera Rulos Secano Servicio y M ontazgo Suelo y vuelo

Terciar Tronco Varear, vareo Vecería Vecino

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forty to fifty olive- o r fruit-trees irrigated lan d ; vegetable garden see cercado day labourer sheep-pen thicket, copse farm er w ith a m edium-sized farm w ood, w oodland grove or w ood o f high trees; high trees (oaks, pines etc.) low brushw ood, copse, coppice m unicipality young fighting- bull casual labourer picking olives by hand press-cake o f olives Legal D istrict pasture-land, natural pastures pine-forest de ju re population, resident population actual population potato-disease (probably Fusarium solani or Fusarium oxyosporum Schl.) m eadow place w here taxes used to be levied on m igrating flocks stubble-field conical stones for crushing olives unirrigated land taxes on m igrating flocks in form er times split-up landed p roperty on which the soil (suelo) and the trees (vuelo) belong to dif­ ferent owners third w orking-over o f the land by the plough open storage for olives beating olives from the trees w ith sticks . annual variability o f olive-yields a person who has a hearth in the village and pays tax

B IB L IO G R A P H Y : The task o f com piling a list o f the geographical literature on the Sierra de G ata is a difficult one, as up to now no geographical study o f this m ountain area has been published. The list given below is chiefly o f w orks o f a general character; the num ber o f studies actually dealing with the Sierra is for the m ost p a rt restricted to a few unpretentious articles in periodicals. However, despite the lack o f geographical literature, especially o f any valuable study on the Sierra de G ata, some o f the w orks cited here deserve special m ention. In the first place the “ Bibliografía G eográfica Extrem eña” by J. C orchón G arcía which, it is true, is n o t a geographical handbook, b u t nevertheless indispensable for anyone wishing to m ake a study o f a district or región o f E xtrem adura. M ention should also be m ade o f the thorough and brilliant thesis by M aurice Legendre on the H urdes, the adjacent m ountain area to the east o f the Sierra de G ata, once “ tierra olvidada” , b u t around which m uch interest is now centred.

A n im portant book on the historical aspect is “ C oria, R econquista de la A lta E xtrem adura ” by Gervasio Velo y N ieto, a b o o k which is n o t only concerned with the Sierra de G ata b u t w ith the whole “ T ranssierra” , th a t p a rt o f Extrem adura which lies between the m ountains and the Tagus.

In m aking this study o f the Sierra de G ata, the d ata obtained from the statistics o f the Servicio de C atastro de la R iqueza R ústica, from the “ Respuestas G enerales” o f the C atastro del M arqués de la Ensenada, and from the statistics o f the Delegación N acional de Sindicatos-Junta N acional de H erm andades were m ore im portant th an those from books and articles.

Yet, in any study o f a Spanish región or district the m ost profitable approach is investigation on the spot, personal contact with the people and one’s own observation.

G eneral works Aguirre Prado, L .: “Plan Cáceres” ; Publicaciones Españolas, Temas Españoles núm.

244; Madrid, 1956.

Aitken, R .: “Routes of Transhumance on the Spanish Meseta” ; The Geographical Journal, Vol. CVI; London, 1945.

Blache, J.: “L’Homme et la montagne” ; París, 1933.

Bosch Gimpera, P .: “Etnología de la Península Ibérica” ; Barcelona, 1932.

Bosch Gimpera, P .; “La formación de los pueblos de España” ; Méjico, 1945.

Bull, W. E .: “The olive industry of Spain” ; Economic Geography, Vol. X II; Worcester, Mass., 1936.

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Cabo Alonso, A.: “La Armuña y su evolución económica” ; Estudios Geográficos nrs. 58 and 59; Madrid, 1955.

Cabo Alonso, A .: “El colectivismo agrario en Tierra de Sayago” ; Estudios Geográficos nr. 65; Madrid, 1956.

Calles Mariscal, J. S .: “Las montaneras extremeñas” ; Ganadería nr. 49, nr. 51 and nr. 55; Madrid, 1947.

Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas: “La Reconquista Española y la Re­ población del País” ; Conferencias del Curso celebrado en Jaca en Agosto de 1947; Escuela de Estudios Medievales, Estudios XV; Zaragoza, 1951. y — Corchón García, J .: “Bibliografía Geográfica Extremeña” ; Enciclopedia Extremeña I; Badajoz, 1955. ^ ~ j- Corchón García, J .: “Relaciones topográficas referentes a Extremadura” ; Estudios Geográficos nr. 35; Madrid, 1949.

Costa, J., and others: “Derecho consuetudinario y economía popular de España” ; Tomo II; Barcelona, 1902.

Dantín Cereceda, J .: “Ensayo acerca de las regiones naturales de España” ; Tomo I; Madrid, 1922.

Dantín Cereceda, J .: “Resumen Fisiográfico de la Península Ibérica” ; Consejo Superi­ or de Investigaciones Científicas; Madrid, 1948.

Demangeon, A .: “L’Habitation rurale en France. Essai de classification des principaux types” ; Annales de Géographie, Tome XXIX; Paris, 1920.

Dubler, C. E .: “Ueber Berbersiedlungen auf der iberischen Halbinsel. Untersuchung auf Grund der Ortsnamen” ; Romanica Helvetica vol. 20; Genéve — Zürich/ Erlenbach, 1943.

Dumont, R .: “Les excédents démographiques de l’agriculture méditerranéenne. Italie et Espagne” ; Population num. 4; Paris, 1951.

Egozcue, J., and Mallada, L .: “Memoria geológico-mínera de la provincia de Cáceres, por los ingenieros de minas . . .” ; Memorias de la Comisión del Mapa Geoló­ gico de España” ; Madrid, 1876.

Elorrieta y Artaza, J .: “El Castaño en España” ; Instituto Forestal de Inves­ tigaciones y Experiencias, Año XX, nr. 48; Ministerio de Agricultura; Madrid, 1949.

FAO: “Improvement in olive cultivation” ; FAO Agricultural Studies nr. 50; Rome, 1961.

Faucher, D .: “Evolution des types de maisons rurales” ; Annales de Géographie, no.

296; Paris, 1945.

Foreign Agricultural Service: “Recent Developments in Agricultural Production and Food Consumption in Western Europe” ; U.S. Department of Agriculture, F.A.S. March 1959; Washington, 1959.

Fribourg, A.: “La Transhumance en Espagne” ; Annales de Géographie, Tome XIX; Paris, 1910.

García Badell, G .: “Estudio sobre la distribución de la extensión superficial y de la riqueza de la propiedad agrícola en España entre las diferentes categorías de fincas” ; Estudios Geográficos nr. 23; Madrid, 1946.

García Fernández, J .: “La vecería del olivo y su corrección” ; “Campo”, Revista Agro­ pecuaria; Sevilla, 1956.

García Manrique, E .: “ Utilización del Catastro para un conocimiento mayor de la situación social de nuestros municipios rurales” ; Geographica, Revista de In­ formación y Enseñanza, IV-V; Zaragoza, 1957— 1958.

Gil Crespo, A .: “La Mesta de Carreteros del Reino” ; Anales de la Asociación española para el progreso de las Ciencias, año XXII, núm. I; Madrid, 1957.

Guillem, A.: "Prontuario Alfabético-Geográfico-Estadístico y Administrativo de los Ayuntamientos de España” ; Madrid, 1877.

224

Hoyos Sainz, L. de: “La densidad de población y el acrecentamiento en España” ; Madrid, 1952.

Instituto de Estudios Agro-Sociales: “Proyecto de Desarrollo de la región mediter­ ránea, España” ; Ministerio de Agricultura; Madrid, 1959.

Klein, J.: “The Mesta, a study in spanish economic history, 1273— 1836” ; Harvard Economic Studies, XXI; Cambridge, 1920.

Kleinpenning, J. M. G .: “La Región Pinariega, estudio geográfico del noroeste de Soria y sudeste de Burgos (España)” ; Groningen, 1962.

Lapeyre, H.: “Géographie de l’Espagne morisque” ; Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes — VIe Section, Centre de Recherches Historiques; Paris, 1959.

Lautensach, H .: “Eiszeitstudien in der Serra da Estrela” ; Zeitschrift für Gletscherkunde, Band XVII, Heft 4— 5; Berlin, 1929.

Lautensach, H.: “Spanien und Portugal” ; Handbuch der Geographischen Wissenschaft, Band Südost- und SUdeuropa; Wildpark-Potsdamm, 1931.

Legendre, M.: “Les Jurdes, étude de géographie humaine” ; Bordeaux, 1927.

Madoz, P .: “Diccionario geográfico, estadístico, histórico de España y sus posesiones de ultramar” ; Tomos VII, VIII, IX, XIII, XVI; Madrid, 1845—1850.

Mannert, M. K .: “Geographie der Griechen und Romer, aus ihren Schriften dargestellt von . . Niimberg, Landshut und Leipzig, 1788.

Martínez, M. R.: “Historia del Reino de Badajoz” ; Badajoz, 1904.

Melón y Ruiz de Gordejuela, A. G .: “Censo de población de España del año 1960” ; Estudios Geográficos nr. 88; Madrid, 1962.

Melón y Ruiz de Gordejuela, A. G .: “La población de España en 1950, datos y comen­ tarios” ; Estudios Geográficos nr. 48; Madrid, 1952.

Ortega Nieto, J. M.: “Cartilla de la Almazara” ; Ministerio de Agricultura; Madrid, 1943.

Paulys Real-Encyclopádie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft; Band III, Band V illa; Stuttgart, 1899, Stuttgart, 1958.

Ponz, A.: “Viage de España, en que se da noticia De las cosas mas apreciables, y dignas de saberse que hay en ella” ; Tomo VII; Madrid, 1784.

Reclus, E.: “Nouvelle Géographie Universelle” ; T. I-XIX; Paris, 1876—1891.

Reparaz, G. A. de: “Notes sur les migrations de la population espagnole durant les vingt demiéres années” ; Méditerranée, Revue Géographique des Pays Méditerranéens nr. 4, Octobre-Décembre; Gap (Hautes-Alpes), 1962.

Schmidt Thomé, P .: “Paláozoisches Grundgebirge und junges Deckgebirge im westlichen Zentralspanien” ; Geotektonische Forschungen, Heft 6; Stuttgart, 1945.

Slicher van Bath, B. H .: “D e agrarische geschiedenis van West Europa” ; Utrecht/ Antwerpen, 1960.

Solé Sabarís, L .: “Geografía de España” ; Tomo I; Barcelona, 1952.

Tamames, R .: “Estructura Económica de España” ; Madrid, 1961.

Tamés, C.: “Los grupos principales de suelos de la España peninsular” ; Ministerio de Agricultura, Dirección General de Agricultura, Mapa Agronómico Nacional; Madrid, 1957.

Velarde Fuertes, J.: “Algunos problemas en torno a la localización de las zonas oli­ vareras españolas” ; Boletín de Oleicultura Internacional nr. 4; Madrid, 1951.

Velo y Nieto, G.: “Coria, Reconquista de la Alta Extremadura” ; Publicaciones del Departamento de Seminarios de la Jefatura Provincial del Movimiento; Cáceres, 1956.

Zoilo Espejo: “Materiales para el estudio del Derecho Municipal consuetudinario de España” ; Costumbres de Derecho y Economía rural; Madrid, 1900.

15

225

W orks w ith special reference to the Sierra de G ata Aguilar, J.: “Hoyos y su Campiña” ; Extremadura, Septiembre 1950.

Bierhenke, W.: “Das Dreschen in der Sierra de Gata” ; Volkstum und Kultur der Romanen, II. Jahrgang I. Heft; Hamburg, 1929— 1930.

Bierhenke, W .: “Lándliche Gewerbe der Sierra de Gata” ; Sach- und Wortkundliche Untersuchungen; 1931.

Bustamente, P. S .: “Resurgir de una artesanía olvidada” ; Cáceres, nr. 15, 1953.

Escobar, B .: “Costumbres jurídicas de la Sierra de Gata” ; Cáceres, 1901.

Guerra Hontiveros, M .: “Apuntes históricos acerca de la Villa de Gata” ; Cáceres, 1897.

Jiménez Fuertes, V. M.: “El olivo de la Sierra de Gata” ; Extremadura, Septiembre 1950.

Marcos Montero, A.; “Acebo” ; Alcántara, nrs. 47 and 48, 1951.

Nieto, A., and Rivera, C .: “Historia de Eljas, recopilación histórica” ; not edited, municipal archives of Eljas.

Sánchez Vacas, A .; “El encaje de bolillos, típica obra de artesanía local” ; Extremadura, Septiembre 1950.

Tome Paule, J .: “Bosquejo geográfico de la Sierra de Gata” ; Extremadura, Mayo 1951.

Velo y Nieto, G .: “El Castillo de Santibáñez el Alto” ; Madrid, 1956.

LIST OF DOCUMENTS CONSULTED; STATISTICS A N D MAPS Documents consulted: Catastro del Marqués de la Ensenada, 1752— 1753 (Archivo General de Simancas): Respuestas Generales del Lugar de Azevo, Libro 135 — folio 190. de la Villa de Descarga María, Libro 515 — folio 59. de la Villa de las Heljas, Libro 140 — folio 135. del Lugar de Hoyos, Libro 142 — folio 424. del Lugar de Martiago, Libro 511 — folio 447. de la Villa de Navasfrías, Libro 146 — folio 87. de la Villa de Payo, Libro 512 — folio 172. de la Villa de Peñaparda, Libro 512 — folio 158. del Lugar de Perales del Puerto, Libro 147 — folio 572. de la Villa de Santibáñez, Libro 149 — folio 99. de la Villa de Torre de Don Miguel, Libro 151 — folio 62. de la Villa de Valverde del Fresno, Libro 152 — folio 181. de la Villa de Villarrubias, Libro 513 — folio 112.

Encuesta Agropecuaria (Censo de ganado, Grado de parcelación, Población agrícola); Delegación Nacional de Sindicatos-Junta Nacional de Hermandades; Madrid, 1956.

Lautensach, H.: “Niederschlagskarte der Iberischen Halbinsel” 1 :1.500.000; Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen, 95. Jahrgang; Heft 3, Tafel II; Gotha, 1951.

Mapa Geológico de España, escala I: 400.000, hojas 26,27; Instituto Geológico y Minero de España; Madrid, 1923.

Mapa Nacional de Abastecimientos. Hoyos; Instituto Nacional de Estadística; Madrid, 1952.

Mapa Topográfico Nacional, escala I: 50.000, núms. 550, 551, 572, 573, 574, 595, 596, 597; Instituto Geográfico y Catastral; Madrid.

Nomenclátor de las Ciudades, Villas, Lugares, Aldeas y demás entidades de población de España; Provincia de Cáceres, Provincia de Salamanca; Instituto Nacional de Estadística; Madrid, 1950.

Padrón, concerning the twenty-five municipalities of the Sierra de Gata.

Reseña Estadística de la Provincia de Cáceres; Institituto Nacional de Estadística; Madrid, 1957.

Reseña Estadística de la Provincia de Salamanca; Instituto Nacional de Estadística; Madrid, 1950.

Resumen de las observaciones meteorológicas de 1935— 1949 efectuadas en las esta­ ciones de I, II y III orden; Servicio Meteorológico Nacional, Ministerio del Aire; Madrid, 1935— 1954.

Servicio de Catastro de la Riqueza Rústica, concerning the twenty-five municipalities o f the Sierra de Gata.

Tamés, C .: “Mapa de los Grandes Grupos de Suelos, escala 1 :1.000.000” ; Ministerio de Agricultura, Dirección General de Agricultura, Mapa Agronómico Nacional; Madrid, 1957.

Statistics and maps: Anuario Estadístico de la producción agrícola. Campaña 1956— 1957; Ministerio de Agricultura; Madrid, 1958.

Boletín Mensual Climatológico del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional; Ministerio del Aire; Madrid, 1949— 1959. » Censo Electoral de 1955 de Residentes mayores de edad y de vecinos Cabezas de fa­ milia. Inscripción de 31 de diciembre; Provincia de Cáceres, Provincia de Sala­ manca; Instituto Nacional de Estadística; Madrid, 1956.

Censo de la Población de España, años 1887, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950; Instituto Nacional de Estadística; Madrid.

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ST E L L IN G E N I. E. G a rd a M anrique’s m ethode ter verkrijging van een duidelijk inzicht in de sociaal-econom ische structuur van spaanse agrarische gemeenten do o r m iddel van de gegevens welke het kadaster verstrekt over de “ R iqueza im ponible” is niet betrouw baar.

E. García Manrique, “Utilización del Catastro para un conocimiento mayor de la situación social de nuestros municipios rurales” ; Revista Geographica, años IV y V ; Zaragoza, 1957— 1958 (blz. 80—86).

II. D e aanduiding Sierra de G ata voor de gehele bergketen tussen portugese grens en Puerto de Béjar is foutief.

“Diercke Weltatlas” ; Georg Westermann Verlag, 104. Auflage; Braunschweig, 1957 (Seite 68).

P. R. Bos — J. F. Niermeyer, “Atlas der Gehele Aarde” ; J. B. Wolters, 41ste druk; Groningen, 1961 (blz. 108).

III. D e titel “ G éographie de l’Espagne M orisque” van de studie van Henri Lapeyre is, gezien de inhoud van dit werk, misleidend.

Henri Lapeyre, “Géographie de l’Espagne Morisque” ; Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, VIe Section, S.E.V. P.E .N .; Paris, 1959.

IV. D e verklaring van K . M . B arbour voor het extensieve rotatiesysteem zoals dit in het G eziraproject w ordt toegepast kan niet ais ju ist w orden beschouwd.

K. M. Barbour, “The Republic of the Sudan” ; London, 1961 (blz. 204).

V. Een snelle bevordering van individueel grondbezit in Tropisch A frika is ongewenst.

VI.

XI.

H et m oet w orden betwijfeld o f de dem ografische kenm erken der stedelijke bevolking in A frika, zoals deze in een publicatie van het Internaiton al A frican Institute zijn uiteengezet, inderdaad voor A frika algemene geldigheid bezitten.

A lbert Ayache onderschat in zijn boek het aandeel d at de bedoe'inen hebben gehad in het verval van M arokko tijdens de M eriniden.

Albert Ayache, “ Maroc, bilan d’une colonisation” ; Paris, 1956.

“Social Implications o f Industrialization and Urbanization in Africa south o f the Sahara”. Prepared under the auspices o f Unesco by the International African Institute, London; Lausanne, 1956 (blz. 211).

VII. In zijn verhandeling “ O vercom ing the obstacles to farm economic developm ent in the less-developed countries” legt D ouglas Ensminger de n ad ru k te eenzijdig op productieverhoging d o o r middel van technische innovaties en wijzigingen in attitudes, doch verw aarloost hierbij de n oodzaak veranderingen d oor te voeren in de regionale agrarische structuur. “ Obstacles to farm economic development in the less. developed countries” ; Journal of Farm Economics, Vol XLIV, number 5, December 1962 (blz. 1367— 1387).

VIII. Een internationale regeling op korte term ijn om grote fluctuaties in grondstoffenprijzen tegen te gaan is noodzakelijk, teneinde de hulpverlening aan onderontw ikkelde landen het gewenste effect te doen hebben.

IX. In de discussie over de vorm van hulpverlening aan onderontw ikkelde landen w orden tegen bilaterale hulp vaak te zeer em otionele en eenzijdige bezw aren ingebracht.

X. H et onderscheid tussen “ araire” en “ charrue” stem t niet geheel over­ een m et d at tussen schuifploeg en karploeg, zoals B. H. Slicher van Bath suggereert.

B. H. Slicher van Bath, “De agrarische geschiedenis van West Europa” ; Utrecht/Antwerpen, 1960 (blz. 71).

André G. Haudricourt et Mariel Jean-Brunhes Delamarre, “L’Homme et la charrue á travers le monde” ; Paris, 1955 (blz. 15— 19).

J. Hinderink, 25 october 1963.