The agrarian landscape in the Mediterranean semi-arid mountain: The evolution of the historical irrigation systems in the Sierra de la Contraviesa

Historic irrigation systems have been an invariant in the landscapes of an arid Mediterranean mountain such as the Sierra de la Contraviesa (southeast Spain). These irrigated spaces have contributed, despite their meager size, to diversify the mountain agrarian mosaic and the local economy, presenting constant relatively stable landscapes for centuries. Despite everything, since 1950, the socioeconomic marginality of this area within the current territorial dynamics of the region has triggered profound changes. The purpose of this work is to interpret in a landscape key the historical evolution and multiplicity of functions of these systems and their current role in the mosaic of agrosystems present in the massif. In order to do this, it is delved, first of all, into the physical bases that sustain irrigation and the process of historical-geographical conformation (IV-XX Centuries) of these inherited structures. Second, and starting from the cadastral historical cartography, a diachronic analysis of its extension and configuration is carried out in the main irrigated perimeters for the last 70 years. The results obtained reveal how the recent disarticulation of the traditional management model compromises the continuity of these systems and their various associated values, determining a progressive impoverishment and homogenization of the landscape.