Latifundios; Propiedad de la tierra; Andalucía; España;

Simpson, James

English

Research Papers in Economics

REVIEWS  295 
M. ARToLA (Ed.). El latifundio. Propiedady explotación, ss xviii-xx. (Madrid: Ministerio 
de Agricultura. 1978. Pp. 197.3 maps. Paperback, n.p.) 
This book consists ofthree short contributions from a research team working under the 
direction ofMiguel Artola and attempts to show the changing nature ofthe latifundio in 
Andalusia from the ancien régime of  the eighteenth century to the capitalist society ofthe 
present day. Although the latifundio has been recognized as a major factor for the poor 
economic performance ofsouthern Spain for well over a century, there has been líttle 
research done into either its extent, or to assess its organization in a changing political 
and economic environment. 
Artola, using the Catastro de Ensenada of  C.  1752, shows the numerical importance 
of  the nobility in land ownership in the region compared to the crown and the church, 
and then attempts sorne estimation ofthe degree ofland concentration in their hands. 
Jaime Contreras, examining the esta  te papers ofthe Duke ofOsuna shows for a slightly 
earlier period that 90 per cent of  allland was leased, usual1y in substantial units, and 
only for a period of  four years. According to Bernal, the third contributor, a similar 
percentage today work their own estates, and this is the result of the slow change in 
the structure ofthe latifundio with the growth ofspecialized crops, such as the olive, and 
the decline ofthe fallow. Interestingly, the size ofthe latifundio seems to have remained 
remarkably stable during the nineteenth-century liberal reforms, but  increased slightly 
during the first quarter of the present century, coinciding with the rise of poli  tic  al 
agitation in the region. 
Although we must wait until a great de  al more research is done on the Andalusian 
latifundio before we can be sure that the sample of  esta  tes  examined in this book is 
representative, it is a stimulating work and a useful addition to the growing body of 
literature on Spanish economic history. 
London School rif Economics  JAMES  SIMPSON 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

El latifundio : propiedad y explotación, ss xviii-xx [book review].

http://e-archivo.uc3m.es/bitstream/10016/11275/1/latifundio_simpson_EHR_1979.pdf

El latifundio : propiedad y explotación, ss xviii-xx [book review].

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Research Papers in Economics