The Huerta de Murcia is a comarca of the Region of Murcia (Spain). As a natural area, it includes the lands that are irrigated with water of the Segura River and its channelling from the dam called Contraparada to the boundary of the Region of Murcia with the Valencian Community. Its capital city is Murcia.
Townships edit
Updated facts [Léxico] until 2010
| Township | Population | Area | Density |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murcia | 441.345 | 881,86 | 500,47 |
| Alcantarilla | 41.326 | 16,24 | 2.544,70 |
| Santomera | 15.481 | 44,2 | 350,25 |
| Beniel | 11.027 | 10 | 1.102,70 |
Delimitation edit
The natural comarca edit
The orchard of Murcia is bounded to the north and south by two mountain ridges that border the Segura flood plain in parallel and its tributary the Guadalentín, commonly known in the area as El Reguerón. The nearest to the sea is the precoastal mountain range which detaches the Huerta de Murcia from the [Campo de Cartagena]] and it includes the [Carrascoy Mountain]] and its extension through the mountains of Puerto de la Cadena, Cresta del Gallo, Miravete, Columbaresand Altaona. The north mountain ridge belongs to the so-called interior ridge of the pre-coastal hollow and it is composed by much more humble and isolated heights, without exceeding 200 masl; they are the high hills of Guadalupe (Murcia)|Guadalupe, Espinardo, El Puntal, Cabezo de Torres, Monteagudo y Esparragal, extending in the province of Alicante through the highlands of Orihuela and Callosa of Segura.
Thus, the natural region includes the totality of the municipalities of Alcantarilla, Santomera and Beniel and the largest area of the municipality of Murcia. Some districts of Murcia are located in the south slope of the pre-coastal range. This area includes the districts of Baños and Mendigo, Carrascoy-La Murta, Corvera (Murcia), Gea and Truyols, Jerónimo and Avileses, Lobosillo, Los Martínez del Puerto, Sucina and Valladolises y Lo Jurado and they represent what in Murcia is usually called Campo de Murcia. Geographically, the Campo de Murcia does not belong to the natural region of the Huerta de Murcia, but to the region of the Campo de Cartagena, pouring their rainfall water, not in the Segura River, but in the Mar Menor through the multiplicity of ravines. Moreover, unlike the territory that belongs to the Huerta de Murcia, its terrains were mostly dry land and not irrigated land, although after the arrival of the Transfer Tajo-Segura, the intensive agricultural activity of irrigation has been gradually relocated to this region because of its property structure larger than the smallholding of the traditional Huerta de Murcia.
Administrative comarca edit
The division of the Región of Murcia into regions was planned in the Statute of Autonomy of the Región of Murcia in 1982. However, up to now , the planned regional division and its legal development have not been approved yet by the Regional Assembly of Murcia. In the proposed division into regions it is common that a region called Huerta de Murcia exists, although some propositions include the territory of the natural region in a metropolitan region called metropolitan area of Murcia or 'similar designations'. The most used proposition of division into regions by the regional government and other authorities plan a region called Huerta de Murcia, which includes all these following townships: [lo he cambiado por dos puntos en vez de preposición] Alcantarilla, Murcia, Santomera and Beniel.
Subcomarcas edit
The territory of Huerta de Murcia is subdivided into seven subcomarcas:
- La Huerta-Margen izquierda
- La Huerta-Margen derecha
- Costera Norte
- Cordillera Sur
- Campo de Sangonera
- Campo de carrascoy
- The city of Murcia
[no acepto su corrección porque creo que poner la traducción no es relevante]
Demographic evolution edit
| Township | Population | Extension | Density |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcantarilla | 41.084 | 16,24 | 2.529,8 |
| Beniel | 10.933 | 10,06 | 1.093,3 |
| Murcia | 436.870 | 881,86 | 495,4 |
| Santomera | 15.319 | 44,2 | 346,58 |
| Total | 504.206 | 952,36 | 529,42 |
-
Demographic evolution of the Huerta de Murcia (grey line) in comparison with the other regions of the area. -
Evolution of the importance of theHuerta de Murcia in the area. -
Demographic evolution of the region (black) and Murcia (blue). -
Demographic evolution of Alcantarilla, Beniel and Santomera.
Huerta de Murcia's history edit
The Huerta de Murcia is a valley where the River Segura flows and whose flood during Quaternary has settled a fertile riverbed for crops. The deposition of the River Guadalentín, which flows into the Segura downstream from the city of Murcia, has contributed to the creation of the Huerta. The first prehistoric settlers did not live in the valley because of the wetlands and the high risk of floods, so we can find argaric remains in the mountain slopes surrounding the Segura valley. [no entiendo la corrección]
Although the Romans already cultivated in the Huerta de Murcia, the muslims were the ones who drained the wetlands and created an effective irrigation and a drainage system based on the dam know as the Contraparada. [no acepto el cambio porque hemos decidido utilizar el artículo “the” en todo el texto]
After the Reconquest of Murcia by Alfonso X, called the Wise, many muslims moved to Granada and many lands of the Huerta were abandoned. The king Alfonso divided the beds into small areas, giving rise to the smallholding.
At the end of the Reconquest, in the 16th century, an important agricultural development took place after the introduction of the orange tree, the mulberry tree and the silk industry. During that century many important hydraulic constructions as the jetty, the suppression of the meanders of the river, the channeling of some stretches and irrigation canals and finally the building of the waterwheels that carried water to elevated beds for its irrigation.
From the end of the 20th century the agricultural potential o the Huerta de Murcia has suffered a decline. There are many causes, but among them the following could stand out:
- The constant subdivision of the beds makes them so small that they are not profitable especially due to the problems with commercialization. Moreover, it increases the lack of profitability, as the beds are so small that they are not enough to the professional agricultural activity.
- Urban development pressure. The use of the beds for the building of new infrastructures (trunk roads, industrial estates, railway, etc) and flats is increasing.
- Ageing of the small amount of farmers left. The vast majority of the residents of the Huerta do not work in it, they work basically in the service sector in the city or its districts.
- Low price of the citrus fruits for years. In the Huerta this is the main type of farming together with vegetables.
Another areas of the Region of Murcia, such as the Campo de Cartagena, Valley of Guadalentín, Mazarrón, Águilas, etc. have overcome to the traditional Huerta de Murcia as the most important agricultural area with the water of the Tagus-Segura Water Transfer by the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s. These areas –except the Guadalentín– were non-irrigated lands traditionally [no acepto el cambio, porque el adverbio también puede ir detrás] (less productive than the irrigated ones) and they have a more appropriate ownership structure (medium and large ownership), very different from the smallholding of the Huerta de Murcia.
Irrigation network edit
The Huerta de Murcia's irrigation network is one of the oldest of Spain and comes from the Muslim era, in which dams and waterwheels were made on the river course. Currently, one of the most important existing dams is the Contraparada, approximately 4 miles upstream of [no lo acepto porque he comprobado el uso de of en textos paralelos] the city of Murcia.
Water diverted from the river is carried by two main ditches that flow bordering the right bank of the Segura, the right or Acequia Mayor Alquibla (which etymology in Arabic language means "the south"), and left or Acequia Mayor Aljufía (which comes from an Arabic term that means "the north").
In lands above the ditches, the water is raised through waterwheels, an hydraulic device moved by impulse of the water flow that elevates it in its buckets to higher lands.
Along the Huerta de Murcia there are lots of water canals that have different names depending on the flow of living waters coming from the major irrigation ditches or dead waters, drainage or runoff waters. So, there are:
Regulations edit
The Huerta de Murcia's regulations have a long of history. They are probably based on the traditions initiated and followed by the Muslim population that created the irrigation system. Hence, there are a number of documents that collect the current regulations along different eras. The first Regulations written are dated on the 14th century. Subsequently, the ones of 1594, 1695 and 1702 were compiled; these were the ones that were applied during an extended period of time. All the regulations until the 18th century are not ordinated in every Compilation, but they only collect the regulations that emerged until the moment of being compiled.
After the collapse of the old regime, the form of the Regulations changed, being established an order for materials and a division in chapters composed by a set of articles. The current Regulations are dated in 1849, and they are based on a previous attempt, the Project of 1821, that apparently did not come into effect due to the political problems of the moment. However, the current version of the Regulations corresponds to the modifications of 1991-1992, to adapt it to the Water Law.
Inside the content of the current Regulations we can highlight the norms [no lo acepto porque es equivalente a normas] regarding to the description of the Huerta (Ch. I) and its channels (Ch. II), [no acepto el cambio porque la traducción de mondar sería repetitiva, pues se refiere a lo mismo que regular cleaning operations] to the regular cleaning operations (Ch. III), the distributions or collections to the achievement of certain objectives of general interest (Ch. VI), the distribution and use of the waters (Ch. VIII), and the institutional part. This one describes what are the solicitors or representatives of the inheritance (Ch. V), the juntments or assemblies (Ch. VII), the Comisión Representativa de Hacendados (Representative Commission of Landowners) as an executive body (Ch. X), and the Consejo de Hombres Buenos(Good Men's Council), which is the body that resolves the differences relating to the Regulations (Ch. XI).
Inheritance and irrigation ditches edit
There are two general inheritances, one on each side of the river to the North and to the noon [creo que este es el término correcto y que las personas que lo señalaron como error creían que se refería al sur y no al mediodía] . These two general inheritances are subdivided into particular inheritances that take the name of the irrigation ditches with which they irrigate. Therefore, each particular inheritance is based on the lands that receive irrigation from the same ditch and [yo creo que es correcto] is formed by the owners of these, who also have the right to irrigation because it is associated with the land.
There are two types of water:
- Living waters (acequias) [yo lo dejaría así]. The waters taken directly from the river from the Contraparada, and
- Dead waters (azarbes) [yo lo dejaría así]. Drainage or runoff waters. It should be noted that, although these waters are the product of the drainage of the land and because they are at a lower level they cannot be used for irrigation, in the eastern area of the [he cambiado el artículo para que haya coherencia con todo el texto] Huerta they can.
Heritage edit
In la Huerta de Murcia there is an important arboreal heritage, made up of both citrus and historical trees, including Los Pinos de Churra in Torre Arcayna, the place where the Catholic Monarchs arrived in Murcia in 1488. [1]
See also edit
Notes edit
Bibliography edit
- Romero Díaz, Asunción. "El relieve". La Verdad Digital. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
- Rodríguez Gonzálvez, Francisco: Las reglas del agua. Fundamentos de la evolución del derecho de riegos en Murcia. Murcia, 2007.
External links edit
- El Consejo de Hombres Buenos como tribunal consuetudinario, en la jurisprudencia del Tribunal Constitucional (STC 113/2004).
- El Consejo de Hombres Buenos y la Ley orgánica del TC.
- Pedanías del municipio de Murcia
Category:Huerta de Murcia Category:Comarcas de la Región de Murcia Category:Murcia
.............................................................................. ..............................................................................
The [Revisar artículo] Huerta de Murcia is a comarca of the [mayúscula o minúscula]Region of Murcia (Spain). As a natural area [puntuación y sujeto] includes the lands that are irrigated with water of the Segura river [Revisar nombre y enlace] and its channelling from the dam called Contraparada to the boundary of The [mayúscula o minúscula]Region of Murcia with the Comunity of Valencia. Its capital city is Murcia.
Townships edit
Updated facts [Léxico] until 2010
| Township | Population | Area | Density |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murcia | 441.345 | 881,86 | 500,47 |
| Alcantarilla | 41.326 | 16,24 | 2.544,70 |
| Santomera | 15.481 | 44,2 | 350,25 |
| Beniel | 11.027 | 10 | 1.102,70 |
Delimitation edit
The natural region [Léxico, ver COMARCA] edit
The orchard of Murcia is delimited [Léxico: verbo + prep.] to the north and south by two mountain ridges that border the Segura flood plain in parallel and its tributary the Guadalentín, commonly known in the area as El Reguerón. [mismo párrafo]
The nearest to the sea is the precoastal mountain range which divides the Huerta de Murcia from [preposición] the [Campo de Cartagena]] and it includes the [Carrascoy Mountain]] and its extension through the mountains of Puerto de la Cadena, Cresta del Gallo, Miravete, Columbaresand Altaona. The north mountain ridge belongs to the so-called interior ridge of the pre-coastal hollow and it is composed by heights much more[expresión] humble and isolated, without arriving [falta un verbo o un adverbio: mirar el original] to 200 masl; they are the high hills of Guadalupe (Murcia)|Guadalupe, Espinardo, El Puntal, Cabezo de Torres, Monteagudo y Esparragal, extending in the province of Alicante through [preposición] the highlands of Orihuela and Callosa of Segura.
Thus, the natural region includes the totality of the municipalities of Alcantarilla, Santomera and Beniel and the largest area of the municipality of Murcia. Some districts of Murcia are located in the south slope of the pre-coastal range. This area includes the districts of Baños and Mendigo, Carrascoy-La Murta, Corvera (Murcia), Gea and Truyols, Jerónimo and Avileses, Lobosillo, Los Martínez del Puerto, Sucina and Valladolises and [nombre propio, revisar la traducción de la conjunción] Lo Jurado and they represent what in Murcia we use to call [gramática: impersonal]Campo de Murcia. Geographically, the Campo de Murcia doesn't belong [estilo: contracción] to the natural region of the Huerta de Murcia, but to the region of the Campo de Cartagena, pouring their rainfall water, not in the Segura river, but in the Mar Menor due to the multiplicity of ravines [conjunción: significado no causal]. Moreover, unlike the territory that belongs to the Huerta de Murcia, its terrains were mostly dry land and not irrigated land, although after the arrival of the Transfer Tajo-Segura, the intensive agricultural activity of irrigation has been gradually relocated to this region because of its property structure larger than the smallholding of the traditional Huerta de Murcia.
Administrative region [elección léxica] edit
The division of the Región of Murcia into regions was planned in the Statute of Autonomy of the Región of Murcia in 1982. However, up to now , the planned regional division and its legal development have not been passed [revisar elección léxica] yet by the Regional Assembly of Murcia. In the proposed division into regions it is common that a region called Huerta de Murcia exists, although some propositions include the territory of the natural region in a metropolitan region called metropolitan area of Murcia or similar designations [among others?]. The most used proposition of division into regions by the regional government and other authorities foresee [error gramatical] a region called Huerta de Murcia, which includes all these following townships [falta preposición] Alcantarilla, Murcia, Santomera and Beniel.
Subregions [elección léxica] edit
The territory of Huerta de Murcia is subdivided into seven subregions:
- Left Huerta-Margen
- Right Huerta-Margen
- North Coastal
- South Mountain Chain
- Sangonera Field
- Carrascoy Field
- The city of Murcia
[Proponemos poner los nombres originales en castellano y al lado entre paréntesis el nombre el inglés]
Demographic evolution edit
| Township | Population | Extension | Density |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcantarilla | 41.084 | 16,24 | 2.529,8 |
| Beniel | 10.933 | 10,06 | 1.093,3 |
| Murcia | 436.870 | 881,86 | 495,4 |
| Santomera | 15.319 | 44,2 | 346,58 |
| Total | 504.206 | 952,36 | 529,42 |
-
Demographic [formación léxica] evolution of the Huerta de Murcia (grey line) in comparison with the other regions of the area.
-
Evolution of the importance of theHuerta de Murcia in the area.
-
Demographic evolution [formación léxica] of the region (black) and Murcia (blue).
-
Demographic evolution [formación léxica] of Alcantarilla, Beniel and Santomera.
Huerta de Murcia's history edit
The Huerta de Murcia is a valley where the River Segura flows and whose flood during Quaternary has settled a fertile riverbed for crops. The deposition of the River Guadalentín which [punctuación] flows into the Segura downstream from the city of Murcia [punctuación] has contributed to the creation of the Huerta. The first prehistoric settlers didn't live [contracción] in the valley because of the wetlands and the high risk of floods, so we can find argaric remains in the mountain slopes surrounding the Segura valley. [proponemos otro tipo de impersonal]
Although the Romans already cultivated in the Huerta de Murcia, the muslims were the ones who drained the wetlands and created an effective irrigation and a drainage system based on the dam know as the Contraparada [revisar artículo]
After the Reconquest of Murcia by Alfonso X, called the Wise, many muslims moved to Granada and many lands of the Huerta were abandoned. The king Alfonso divided the beds into small areas, giving rise to the smallholding.
At the end of the Reconquest, in the 16th century, an important agricultural development took place after the introduction of the orange tree, the mulberry tree and the silk industry. During that century many important hydraulic construction [número] as the jetty, the suppression of the meanders of the river, the channeling of some stretches and irrigation canals and finally the building of the waterwheels that carried water to elevated beds for its irrigation.
From the end of the 20th century the agricultural potential o the Huerta de Murcia has suffered a decline. There are many causes, but among them the following could stand out:
- The constant subdivision of the beds makes them so small that they aren't profitable [contracción] especially due to the problems with commercialization. Moreover, it increases the lack of profitability, as the beds are so small that they aren't enough [contracción] to the professional agricultural activity.
- Urban development pressure. The use of the beds for the building of new infrastructures (trunk roads, industrial estates, railway, etc) and flats is increasing.
- Ageing of the small amount of farmers left. The vast majority of the residents of the Huerta don't work [contracción] in it, they work basically in the service sector in the city or its districts.
- Low price of the citrus fruits for years. In the Huerta this is the main type of farming together with vegetables.
Another areas of the Region of Murcia, such as the Campo de Cartagena, Valley of Guadalentín, Mazarrón, Águilas, etc. have overcome to the traditional Huerta de Murcia as the most important agricultural area with the water of the Tagus-Segura Water Transfer by the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s. These areas -except the Guadalentín- were non-irrigated lands traditionally [gramática: posición del adverbio] (less productive than the irrigated ones) and they have a more appropriate ownership structure (medium and large ownership) [puntuación] very different from the smallholding of the Huerta de Murcia.
Irrigation network edit
The Huerta de Murcia's irrigation network is one of the oldest of Spain and comes from the Muslim era, in which dams and waterwheels were made on the river course. Currently, one of the most important existing [añadir un sustantivo] is the Contraparada, approximately 4 miles upstream of [revisar preposición] the city of Murcia.
Water diverted from the river is carried by two main ditches that flow bordering the right bank of the Segura, the right or Acequia Mayor Alquibla (which etymology in Arabic language means "the south"), and left or Acequia Mayor Aljufía (which comes from the Arabic [proponemos "from a Arabic term that means"]"the north").
In lands above the ditches, the water is raised through wheels [Léxico], an hydraulic device moved by impulse of the water flow that elevate [ acorde gramatical] it in its buckets to higher lands.
Along the Huerta de Murcia there are lots of water canals that have different names depending on the flow of living waters coming from the major irrigation ditches or dead waters, drainage or runoff waters. So, there are:
Ordinances edit
The Huerta de Murcia's ordinances [gramática] have a long of history. They are, probably, [puntuación?] based on the traditions initiated and followed by the Muslim population that created the irrigation system. From this [??], there are a number of documents that collect the current regulations along eras [along different eras?]. The first Ordinances written are dated on the XIV century [ en inglés se usan números romanos?]. Subsequently, the ones of 1594, 1695 and 1702 were compiled; these were the ones that were applied during an extended time period [extended period of time]. All the ordenances until the XVIII century [ en inglés se usan números romanos?] are not ordinated in every Compilation, but they only collect the regulations that emerged until the moment of being compiled.
After the collapse of the old regime, the form of the Ordinances changed, being established an order for materials and a division in chapters composed by a set of articles. The current Ordinances are dated in 1849, and they are based on a previous attempt, the Project of 1821, that apparently did not come into effect due to the political problems of the moment. However, the current version of the Ordinances corresponds to the modifications of 1991-1992, for adapt [gramática] it to the Water Law.
Inside the content of the current Ordinances we can highlight the norms [léxico] regarding to the description of the Huerta (Ch. I) and its channels (Ch. II), [falta texto] to the regular cleaning operations (Ch. III), the distributions or collections to achievement [grammar] of certain objectives of general interest (Ch. VI), the distribution and use of the waters (Ch. VIII), and the institutional part. This one describes what are the solicitors or representatives of the inheritance (Ch. V), the juntments or assemblies (Ch. VII), the Hacendados Representative Commission [comprobar si se dice así] as an executive body (Ch. X), and the Good Men's Council, [¿traduzco o no?] which is the body that resolves [grammar] differences relating to the Ordinances (Ch. XI).
Inheritance and irrigation ditches edit
There are two general inheritances, one on each side of the river to the North and to the noon [léxico] . These two general inheritances are subdivided into particular inheritances that take the name of the irrigation ditches with which they irrigate. Therefore, each particular inheritance is based on the lands that receive irrigation from the same ditch and [gramática] is formed by the owners of these, who also have the right to irrigation because it is associated with the land.
There are two types of water:
- Living waters (acequias) [traduzco o no?]. The waters taken directly from the river from the Contraparada, and
- Dead waters (azarbes) [traduzco?]. Drainage or runoff waters. It should be noted that, although these waters are the product of the drainage of the land and because they are at a lower level they cannot be used for irrigation, in the eastern area of la [the, la o sin artículo (ser consecuente a lo largo del texto] Huerta they can.
Heritage edit
In la Huerta de Murcia there is an important arboreal heritage, made up of both citrus and historical trees, including Los Pinos de Churra in Torre Arcayna, the place where the Catholic Monarchs arrived in Murcia in 1488. [1]
See also edit
Notes edit
Bibliography edit
- Romero Díaz, Asunción. "El relieve". La Verdad Digital. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
- Rodríguez Gonzálvez, Francisco: Las reglas del agua. Fundamentos de la evolución del derecho de riegos en Murcia. Murcia, 2007.
External links edit
- El Consejo de Hombres Buenos como tribunal consuetudinario, en la jurisprudencia del Tribunal Constitucional (STC 113/2004).
- El Consejo de Hombres Buenos y la Ley orgánica del TC.
- Pedanías del municipio de Murcia
Category:Huerta de Murcia Category:Comarcas de la Región de Murcia Category:Murcia
The Huerta de Murcia is a comarca of the Region of Murcia (Spain). As a natural area includes the lands that are irrigated with water of the Segura river and its channelling from the dam called Contraparada to the boundary of The Region of Murcia with the Comunity of Valencia. Its capital city is Murcia.
Townships edit
Updated facts until 2010
| Township | Population | Area | Density |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murcia | 441.345 | 881,86 | 500,47 |
| Alcantarilla | 41.326 | 16,24 | 2.544,70 |
| Santomera | 15.481 | 44,2 | 350,25 |
| Beniel | 11.027 | 10 | 1.102,70 |
Delimitation edit
The natural region edit
The orchard of Murcia is delimited to the north and south by two mountain ridges that border the Segura flood plain in parallel and its tributary the Guadalentín, commonly known in the area as El Reguerón.
The nearest to the sea is the precoastal mountain range which divides the Huerta de Murcia from the [Campo de Cartagena]] and it includes the [Carrascoy Mountain]] and its extension through the mountains of Puerto de la Cadena, Cresta del Gallo, Miravete, Columbaresand Altaona. The north mountain ridge belongs to the so-called interior ridge of the pre-coastal hollow and it is composed by heights much more humble and isolated, without arriving to 200 masl; they are the high hills of Guadalupe (Murcia)|Guadalupe, Espinardo, El Puntal, Cabezo de Torres, Monteagudo y Esparragal, extending in the province of Alicante through the highlands of Orihuela and Callosa of Segura.
Thus, the natural region includes the totality of the municipalities of Alcantarilla, Santomera and Beniel and the largest area of the municipality of Murcia. Some districts of Murcia are located in the south slope of the pre-coastal range. This area includes the districts of Baños and Mendigo, Carrascoy-La Murta, Corvera (Murcia), Gea and Truyols, Jerónimo and Avileses, Lobosillo, Los Martínez del Puerto, Sucina and Valladolises and Lo Jurado and they represent what in Murcia we use to call Campo de Murcia. Geographically, the Campo de Murcia doesn't belong to the natural region of the Huerta de Murcia, but to the region of the Campo de Cartagena, pouring their rainfall water, not in the Segura river, but in the Mar Menor due to the multiplicity of ravines. Moreover, unlike the territory that belongs to the Huerta de Murcia, its terrains were mostly dry land and not irrigated land, although after the arrival of the Transfer Tajo-Segura, the intensive agricultural activity of irrigation has been gradually relocated to this region because of its property structure larger than the smallholding of the traditional Huerta de Murcia.
Administrative region edit
The division of the Región of Murcia into regions was planned in the Statute of Autonomy of the Región of Murcia in 1982. However, up to now , the planned regional division and its legal development have not been passed yet by the Regional Assembly of Murcia. In the proposed division into regions it is common that a region called Huerta de Murcia exists, although some propositions include the territory of the natural region in a metropolitan region called metropolitan area of Murcia or similar designations. The most used proposition of division into regions by the regional government and other authorities foresee a region called Huerta de Murcia which includes all these following townships Alcantarilla, Murcia, Santomera and Beniel.
Subregions edit
The territory of Huerta de Murcia is subdivided into seven subregions:
- Left Huerta-Margen
- Right Huerta-Margen
- North Coastal
- South Mountain Chain
- Sangonera Field
- Carrascoy Field
- The city of Murcia
Demographic evolution edit
| Township | Population | Extension | Density |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcantarilla | 41.084 | 16,24 | 2.529,8 |
| Beniel | 10.933 | 10,06 | 1.093,3 |
| Murcia | 436.870 | 881,86 | 495,4 |
| Santomera | 15.319 | 44,2 | 346,58 |
| Total | 504.206 | 952,36 | 529,42 |
-
Demographic evolution of the Huerta de Murcia (grey line) in comparison with the other regions of the area.
-
Evolution of the importance of theHuerta de Murcia in the area.
-
Demographic evolution of the region (black) and Murcia (blue).
-
Demographic evolution of Alcantarilla, Beniel and Santomera.
Huerta de Murcia's history edit
The Huerta de Murcia is a valley where the River Segura flows and whose flood during Quaternary has settled a fertile riverbed for crops. The deposition of the River Guadalentín which flows into the Segura downstream from the city of Murcia has contributed to the creation of the Huerta. The first prehistoric settlers didn't live in the valley because of the wetlands and the high risk of floods, so we can find argaric remains in the mountain slopes surrounding the Segura valley.
Although the Romans already cultivated in the Huerta de Murcia, the muslims were the ones who drained the wetlands and created an effective irrigation and a drainage system based on the dam know as the Contraparada.
After the Reconquest of Murcia by Alfonso X, called the Wise, many muslims moved to Granada and many lands of the Huerta were abandoned. The king Alfonso divided the beds into small areas, giving rise to the smallholding.
At the end of the Reconquest, in the 16th century, an important agricultural development took place after the introduction of the orange tree, the mulberry tree and the silk industry. During that century many important hydraulic construction as the jetty, the suppression of the meanders of the river, the channeling of some stretches and irrigation canals and finally the building of the waterwheels that carried water to elevated beds for its irrigation.
From the end of the 20th century the agricultural potential o the Huerta de Murcia has suffered a decline. There are many causes, but among them the following could stand out:
- The constant subdivision of the beds makes them so small that they aren't profitable especially due to the problems with commercialization. Moreover, it increases the lack of profitability, as the beds are so small that they aren't enough to the professional agricultural activity.
- Urban development pressure. The use of the beds for the building of new infrastructures (trunk roads, industrial estates, railway, etc) and flats is increasing.
- Ageing of the small amount of farmers left. The vast majority of the residents of the Huerta don't work in it, they work basically in the service sector in the city or its districts.
- Low price of the citrus fruits for years. In the Huerta this is the main type of farming together with vegetables.
Another areas of the Region of Murcia, such as the Campo de Cartagena, Valley of Guadalentín, Mazarrón, Águilas, etc. have overcome to the traditional Huerta de Murcia as the most important agricultural area with the water of the Tagus-Segura Water Transfer by the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s. These areas -except the Guadalentín- were non-irrigated lands traditionally (less productive than the irrigated ones) and they have a more appropriate ownership structure (medium and large ownership) very different from the smallholding of the Huerta de Murcia.
Irrigation network edit
The Huerta de Murcia's irrigation network is one of the oldest of Spain and comes from the Muslim era, in which dams and waterwheels were made on the river course. Currently, one of the most important existing is the Contraparada, approximately 4 miles upstream of the city of Murcia.
Water diverted from the river is carried by two main ditches that flow bordering the right bank of the Segura, the right or Acequia Mayor Alquibla (which etymology in Arabic language means "the south"), and left or Acequia Mayor Aljufía (which comes from the Arabic "the north").
In lands above the ditches, the water is raised through wheels, an hydraulic device moved by impulse of the water flow that elevate it in its buckets to higher lands.
Along the Huerta de Murcia there are lots of water canals that have different names depending on the flow of living waters coming from the major irrigation ditches or dead waters, drainage or runoff waters. So, there are:
Ordinances edit
The Huerta de Murcia's ordinances have a long of history. They are, probably, based on the traditions initiated and followed by the Muslim population that created the irrigation system. From this, there are a number of documents that collect the current regulations along eras. The first Ordinances written are dated on the XIV century. Subsequently, the ones of 1594, 1695 and 1702 were compiled; these were the ones that were applied during an extended time period. All the ordenances until the XVIII century are not ordinated in every Compilation, but they only collect the regulations that emerged until the moment of being compiled.
After the collapse of the old regime, the form of the Ordinances changed, being established an order for materials and a division in chapters composed by a set of articles. The current Ordinances are dated in 1849, and they are based on a previous attempt, the Project of 1821, that apparently did not come into effect due to the political problems of the moment. However, the current version of the Ordinances corresponds to the modifications of 1991-1992, for adapt it to the Water Law.
Inside the content of the current Ordinances we can highlight the norms regarding to the description of the Huerta (Ch. I) and its channels (Ch. II), to the regular cleaning operations (Ch. III), the distributions or collections to achievement of certain objectives of general interest (Ch. VI), the distribution and use of the waters (Ch. VIII), and the institutional part. This one describes what are the solicitors or representatives of the inheritance (Ch. V), the juntments or assemblies (Ch. VII), the Hacendados Representative Commission as an executive body (Ch. X), and the Good Men's Council, which is the body that resolves differences relating to the Ordinances (Ch. XI).
Inheritance and irrigation ditches edit
There are two general inheritances, one on each side of the river to the North and to the noon. These two general inheritances are subdivided into particular inheritances that take the name of the irrigation ditches with which they irrigate. Therefore, each particular inheritance is based on the lands that receive irrigation from the same ditch and is formed by the owners of these, who also have the right to irrigation because it is associated with the land.
There are two types of water:
- Living waters (acequias). The waters taken directly from the river from the Contraparada, and
- Dead waters (azarbes). Drainage or runoff waters. It should be noted that, although these waters are the product of the drainage of the land and because they are at a lower level they cannot be used for irrigation, in the eastern area of la Huerta they can.
Heritage edit
In la Huerta de Murcia there is an important arboreal heritage, made up of both citrus and historical trees, including Los Pinos de Churra in Torre Arcayna, the place where the Catholic Monarchs arrived in Murcia in 1488. [1]
See also edit
Notes edit
- ^ La Verdad: Los pinos de Churra.
Bibliography edit
- Romero Díaz, Asunción. "El relieve". La Verdad Digital. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
- Rodríguez Gonzálvez, Francisco: Las reglas del agua. Fundamentos de la evolución del derecho de riegos en Murcia. Murcia, 2007.
External links edit
- El Consejo de Hombres Buenos como tribunal consuetudinario, en la jurisprudencia del Tribunal Constitucional (STC 113/2004).
- El Consejo de Hombres Buenos y la Ley orgánica del TC.
- Pedanías del municipio de Murcia
Category:Huerta de Murcia Category:Comarcas de la Región de Murcia Category:Murcia