La cuestión del agua en La Gomera: síntesis de un proceso de expropiación al campesinado (1900-1950)

Abstract

On the Canary Island of La Gomera the use and exploitation of water was historically managed via the dula system until, in the early twentieth century, it was undermined by the interests of large scale landowners in their attempt to control water so as to extend their new export crops: bananas and tomatoes. Documentation for this study stems from sources such as the Archivo Histórico del Consejo Insular de Aguas de La Gomera, the Registro de la Propiedad de San Sebastián de La Gomera, the Catastro de Rústica and the Archivo Histórico Provincial de Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The information examined suggests that this can be considered an expropriation process settled during the first half of the century, following two channels: by corporative means that led to irrigation associations in the valleys of the north and west, or by direct appropriation through administrative concessions in the south.