RURAL GROUP, FINAL REPORT

ERASMUS INTENSIVE PROGRAM

European Islands: Development perspectives

CANARY ISLANDS 2011

TOPIC 4: RURAL AREAS IN CANARY ISLANDS

Historic development, contemporary processes and future challenges

MENTORS:

Ana Firmino, PhD, University of Lisbon

Raul Rusu, PhD, University of Cluj-Napoca

PARTICIPANTS:

Betul Akman, University of Innsbruck

Adela Crisan, University of Cluj-Napoca

Urban Furlan, University of Ljubljana

José Luis Palacios Guerrero, University of Seville

Yeray Suárez Ramos, University of Las Palmas of Gran Canaria

Stefan Wieser, University of Innsbruck

1. INTRODUCTION

Rural areas are a very complex concept. First of all the determination of rural area is not well defined. In Spain, like in other countries, rural areas are considered those who have low population density. In the Canary Islands rural areas occupy the major part of the territory that is why it is very important to study them. We have here a good example of Gran Canaria Island where the rural space is concentrated in the center of the island and it occupies the major part of it.

Agriculture, and the primary sector is not the only component of rural economy but we can say that is the most important one if we take in consideration that it is the main water consumer on the islands.The Canary agriculture is being continuously in an unstable structural and commercial period. Considering the main agricultural products we can distinguish two types of agriculture:

1. Commercial agriculture

This type of agriculture is being defined by products for export which are cultivated mainly along the coastal areas. The price and trade of these products are subject to high variations due to the international market. This problem in Canary Islands is very serious because of the high production costs related to the import of fertilizers and seeds, lack of water, low trade markets and transport.

Because of the globalization of the economy and the positive perspectives of the European market, this type of agriculture is subject to high pressure from the so-called “dollar area” in the case of the banana and from the Mediterranean Basin in the case of tomato.

2. Subsistence agriculture

This type of agriculture has the following characteristics:

-it is traditional and familial. Land is cultivated with rudimentary techniques although

some machines and new types of more efficient work are gradually introduced.

-the land is labored by one family which is either the owner of that land or it rented it

- most of the times the crops are the following : cereals, potatoes, fruit trees and vegetables.

-it is located mainly in the mid-sector of the north sides of the higher altitude islands

-it has a low outcome due to high fragmentation of the plots, landforms, the low degree of technological input and difficult market conditions

- it is also affected by the import of similar products which are found on the market at lower prices.

We can identify 8 main stages during the development of the agriculture in the Canary Islands.

1.The pre-Hispanic period took place until the 15^th century . There were almost no relations with the outside world.

2.The sugar cane period started at the end of the 15^th century. The sugar cane was introduced by Pedro de Vera governor of Gran Canaria. The crops covered large coastal areas of gran canaria, Tenerife and La Palma. It was the first product exported from the Canary Islands . The lower price of the sugar coming from Morocco and central America led to the abandonment of this crop in the Canary Islands.

3. The vineyards period started after the ruin of the sugar cane period. The Canarian wines were well received by the American and English markets. The economy of the islands was based on the production of wine until the end of the 17^th century.

4.The depression period took place during the 18^th century . The economy went down because of the loss of the former markets . The economy did not recovered until the creation of the regulation for the trading liberalization in 1788.

5.The liberal period comprised the first half of the 19^th century. The free exchange with England and France was introduced in Spain and the Canary Islands. The cochineal production was the most important one during this period.

6.The free port period started in 1852 when the law of Bravo Murillo concerning free ports was enforced. The contemporary period for the Canary Islands also began then. During this period, there was a large demographic increase and an important trading activity. Later the banana plantations and tomato crops became significant for the export.

7.The tourism period started after the civil war and especially after the sixties. During this period most agricultural lands were abandoned and the economy focused on tourism development.

8 The period of European integration started in 1986. Because of the accession to the European Union the primary sector of the Canary Islands economy reached a critical stage, mainly regarding fishing, banana and tomato productions. However, a number of political and economic measures were implemented, including governmental subsidies.

2. THE COCHINEAL (“Cochinilla”) IN THE CANARY ISLANDS

The cochineal (Dactylopius coccus) (Picture 1) is a scale insect, whose larves digs into the fruits of cacti (called tunos) were its becoming an adult and then dies there. The female produce a carmin acid, for preventing against enemies. This acid can be extracted from the insect’s body and used as dye, which is used for coloring clothes or food.

For the cultivation the cacti (mainly tuneras and nopales) are plant in rows and then they get infected with the cochineal. After 90 days cochineals are adult (Picture 2) and they get collected with big spoons by the farmers (Picture 3), killed by immersion in hot water and dried. For one kilo of dye it takes about 140.000 insects.

USE

Traditionally the dye, with its very extensive red color, was used for coloring clothes. Nowadays it is used in cosmetics (like red lipstick) or as natural food color (Picture 4). When cochineal is used in food, it must be mentioned on the packaging label where it can be found by the abbreviation “E120”.

ARRIVAL ON THE CANARY ISLANDS

The cochineal was introduced in Spain in 1820 by Don Ildenfonso Ruiz. He got them from Veracruz in Mexico and they were still alive, living in the fruit of the prickle pear cactus (Opuntia, nopales). After a few years of studying the insects, they made a proposal to King Fernando VII for developing the cultivation of cochineal. One of the places chosen for the production in Spain was the Canary Islands, because here the insects had the right climate conditions.

It is not clear when the cochineal arrive on the Canary Island. There are different opinions by different authors. I will refer to the year 1825 were Lieutenant Juan Megliriony and a surgery professor named Don Santiago de la Cruz presented a article about cochineal ("Memoria sobre el cultivo del nopal y cría de la cochinilla de América para uso de los labradores canarios") to the Economy Society of Tenerife (Sociedad Económica de Tenerife) which informed the Spanish Government of the great opportunity for the Canary Island in the production of cochineal. Twenty years later a second report (“Apuntaciones sobre el cultivo de la cochinilla en Canarias”) was published by Don Manuel de Ossuna y Savinón, refering how the cactus have to be plant properly.

It was not easy to convince the farmers to change their agriculture to cochineal because they first saw a plague in this unknown insect but wine production had entered a crisis a few years earlier and then they realized that the cochineal was the perfect substitute.

THE RISE AND PEAK

With this new agriculture the Canary Islands face a golden age, which included all social classes. Nearly all the fields on the Islands were converted to the cochineal production (Picture 5) by planting the prickle pear cactus, even the tomato fields because of the high price for the dye, which were demanded all over Europe for coloring clothes. The dye of the cochineal was more resistant than other dyes used at this time and the production process was less intensive.

But not only was the ideal climate a reason for the Expansion. Also the abolition of British protection scheme, establishment of free ports and the use of fertilizers, among other things play an important role. The main export destinations were the Spanish Peninsula, Great Britain and France but also they exported the dye to Morocco, Algeria, Gibraltar, the Netherlands and the United States.

The first export rates from the Canary Island were mentioned in 1832 with 12 tons, they raised it to 90 in 1844. Six years late the rate quadruple to 400 tons, which was worth about 16.000.000 reales. However, at this time, especially Mexico and Honduras retain supremacy, not only in terms of quality but also quantity.

The peak on the Canary Island was reached with 6.000 tons in 1870. The half of it was produced in Gran Canaria, the other half on the other islands. Because of a plague in South America Canary Islands convert in the decade of the 70ies to the biggest exporter of dry cochineal.

THE DECLINE

Like the sugar and wine production before, also the cochineal production was about to descent. But this time, because of the high exporting rates, the fall was even harder. The main reason was the invention of aniline color presented on the EXPO 1852 in London which is a synthetic substitute. The price for canary cochineal fell and a lot of the farmers were facing their ruin. They tried to return to their traditional agriculture, but the results were not quite satisfactory.

CURRENT SITUATION

The production of cochineal nearly disappeared. But there are few areas in Lanzarote (the villages of Guatiza y Mala) left were cochineal is still produced. They are not meant to compete on the world market, because countries like Peru (which is the market leader) can produce for 14-17 US$/kilo. To be rentable for the Canary Island the price must be at 60 Euros/kilo. So the production in Lanzarote is more for traditional reasons, because the fields of cacti are seen as a special kind of landscape. Because of price variation in the last decades it’s difficult for the farmers to calculate the potential profit of their business (Graph 1) There are 250 harvesters left in Lanzarote, who organized in Cooperation. They sell the cochineal in small units of 15 grams for one euro. In 2004 they were selling about 7.000 kilos.

In Gran Canaria there a few places left, where cochineal was planted and they are conserved by the Ethnographic and Canaries Handcraft Foundation FEDAC (Fundación para la Etnografía y el Desarrollo de la Artesanía Canaria).

At the field trip it was possible to enter a Tunera-Plantation in Lomo los Azules, a small village about 2.5 km west from El Tablero (Picture 8). But a man told us, they are using the cacti no more for the cochineal production, but to sell the cactus fruit (which is quite tasty) on the local markets.

CONCLUSION

The cochineal production played a very important role in the history of the Canary Island. But nowadays only few plantations remain on the islands. The biggest problem for the farmers is the strong price variety, which makes it difficult for them to foresee the profitability for their business. But maybe, with the “Ecologic-Boom” and the rising demand for natural food additives, the demand for cochineal, and therefore the price, will rise again which may would be a chance for the Canary Islands to start the export for cochineal again, as they did in the XIX Century.

3. TOMATO AND THE CANARY ISLANDS

HISTORY OF TOMATO

The tomato has always been a very important crop for the Canary Islands. In the beginning it was used in local food supply, but later it became an important crop for export. At the end of the 19^th century, the English company FYFEES Ltd, which was the first export company before First World War, started exporting tomatoes to Great Britain. After that, many other companies such as Mac Garva and La Repp were established in Canary Islands. During the Spanish civil war the production of tomato increased in order to be sent to Spain. In that period food was scarce in Spain, and Canary tomato represented an important nutrient for Spanish population. After the Spanish civil war, some local companies were established in order to control the tomato production. Nowadays, tomatoes are no longer exported to Spain because of large tomato plantations within Iberian Peninsula. On the contrary, main tomato exportation destinations are England and the Netherlands, especially the Rotterdam port. From there, tomatoes are being distributed all over Europe.

Even so, the tomato remains an important crop in the Canary agriculture. With around 15 % tomato is in the second place in Canary agriculture. Today, production is concentrated on 3 islands: Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Fuerteventura.

CONTEMPORARY PROCESSES AND PROBLEMS OF TOMATO PRODUCTION

During the last decades, the production of tomato has reduced. One of the reasons for the decline is definitely agricultural competition which is seriously affecting the Canary exportation characteristics. Morocco, for example, who is one of the most important agricultural competitors, has preferential agreements with the European Union since 1996. Moreover, the price of Moroccan labor force is much lower, which increases the difference in price between Moroccan and Canary products.

Apart from that, there are other problems the tomato production has to face. The Canary society has been experiencing mentality shift. Younger generations as opposed to older generations do not want to work in agriculture anymore, but prefer to be employed in tertiary and quarterly sector. Due to lack of labor force, foreign workers from Latin America (Ecuador, Colombia and Peru), Africa (Morocco, Mauritania) and Eastern European countries (Lithuania, Poland and Romania) are needed

Tomato has always been an important part of the canary society. Firstly, it was uses as local nutrient, and then it became one of the most important export crops in the Canary Islands which has left several impacts in the society which can be seen even in the landscape. Today, tomato production is rapidly decreasing mainly because of European market policies. However, with the growing importance and demand of locally produced food, local farmers have the opportunity to survive and compete with continuously increasing urban and tourism areas

4. BANANA AND THE CANARY ISLANDS

The banana plant which is originally from Asia is a tropical plant and was first introduced in the end of the 19^th century from British in the Canary Islands who also consumed those days 90% of the whole production of the islands. From the Canary Islands it was transported in the 15^th century to America where it became an important food crop for countries situated in the tropical zone and the Caribbean. The type of banana that is growing in the Canary Islands, the Canary banana, is different than the types of bananas from all over the world. Usually they are smaller than the other variations in other countries but sweeter in flavor. The banana tree needs soft temperature, good conditions of unbroken sunshine and large amounts of water which are more or less given on the Archipelago. Good climatic and altitude conditions (lower than 300 meters) as well as the island´s volcanic soil, the Canary banana is raised only in lower parts of the islands (except on Fuerteventura and Lanzarote) because of lack of water.

In the agricultural development of the Canary Islands the monoculture of bananas was imposed after the enforcement of the Bravo Murillo`s law of 1852 concerning the establishment of the free ports. The British were the first who installed their companies like Fyffes and Yeoward and began to import and distribute the Canary bananas all over Europe. The fast increases of the banana plantations in the islands were only possible after the introduction of modern irrigation system and the construction of canals due to the need of large amount of water. The construction of canals in the southern parts of the Canary Islands which are more favorable for the development of crop due to its climate and the particular structure of the soils represented a definitive boost to the growth of the banana sector.

During the development of the 20^th century the Canary banana lost its importance on international markets (mainly French and British market) which led to a change of the trading zone. It was Spain who became the principal market for Canary bananas. This banana trade with Spain was possible only after the Law for Economic and Fiscal Regime of the Canary Islands (Ley de Régimen Económico y Fiscal (REF) de Canarias) in 1972 in which the market of Canary bananas was closed to the international market the Spanish market was exclusively reserved for the Canary bananas. With the entry of Spain into the European Union in 1986, Canary bananas were under some sort of protection against American bananas. With the Evaluation of the common organization of the market (COM) in bananas which aims to provide a critical analysis of the common organization of the market in bananas and its implementations since 1993, this protection of the Spanish market has been removed because of the pressure of large multinational groups trading with bananas from Central America.

However the World Trade Organization meant to improve the incomes of the banana farmers and the banana production entered a new phase in which criteria of competitiveness and quality dominated. The high expectations of banana production in 2000 have been declining as the European Union market has been opening its borders to new competitors. American banana competition, from countries where labor cost is much lower than in the Canary Islands placed the banana production in a difficult situation of instability in the coming years.

Since the middle of the 20^th century Spain is the principal market of the Canary bananas followed by the local market and foreign countries. Due to the regulations of the European Union the Canary bananas couldn´t be exported because of their size. In 2007 there have been 9564 ha of surface cultivated with bananas on the Canary Islands. Generally those banana plantations in the Island were covered with plastic greenhouses, walls and protections to cover the banana trees from wind and sand; a work of numerous local banana farmers. According to the statistics of the Association of the Organization and Production of Canary Bananas in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Asociación de Organizaciones de Productores de Plátano de Canarias - ASPROCAN) in 2009 approximately 92 % of the bananas was consumed in Spain, only 7.5 % were supplied to local consumption and 0.5 % was exported in other countries of the European Union.

For a long time the banana production was considered as the most important cultivation and protagonist of the economic growth of the Archipelago regarding job supply and profit. In spite of the obvious decline today more than 35.000 people of the islands work in direct and indirect jobs in all the phases of its production from the harvest and harvesting to packaging and distribution and so its cultivation is still a fundamental part of the economy. As far as production, the banana is the first cultivation of the islands and its importance in the agricultural production of the Canary Islands is about 22 %.

With organic banana cultivations the Canary Islands could link tourism with good quality food and local products. The recent trend is that local products are more and more demanded by tourists. For example the consumer habits of German tourists could be seen as a future target. The trend of organic food in Germany is increasing during the last few years. Many health-food stores, many outdoor markets and even supermarkets have organically grown products. Also German hotels and restaurants provide organic food for their guests. This could be also introduced in the Canary Islands. Therefore a highly standard accommodation supplying local organic food would give the chance to tourists to experience authentic and unique products from the Canary Islands. This would automatically increase not only the demand of Canary bananas but also the demand of other local crops.

5. RURAL TOURISM IN CANARY ISLANDS

For the last 30 years Canary Islands have been an important tourism destination. Tourism development has left a huge impact on the economy, social structure and environment in the whole island. It has been predominantly focused on coastal areas, however, with change in mentality and progress in environmental awareness, canary countryside is becoming more and more an important tourism destination.

Continuous volcanic activity created unique landscape of quite uncommon sceneries. The uniqueness of the island’s environment culminated in an establishment of many natural parks like Tamadaba Natural Park and Teide Natural Park or rural parks such as Neblo Rural Park in Gran Canaria. These protected areas were formed to preserve equally both abiotic and biotic elements of a region.

Diverse landscape allows numerous outdoor activities such as mountain biking, trekking, climbing and observing nature. In addition to diverse landscape, Canaries boast a significant historical legacy which is an important element of rural tourism development. Interior of the islands is dotted with many archaeological sites which show how the island’s ancient inhabitants (the Canarians) lived. One of the most distinctive characteristics are traditional dwellings which are called Casas-cuevas. These caves were excavated out of volcanic rocks where original inhabitants lived and where they kept their products. Furthermore, tourists can visit picturesque villages with local markets and observe aboriginal customs that are shown at numerous festivals.

In addition, Canary Islands are worldwide known for their gastronomy that has been elaborated along several centuries with excellent raw materials such as meat, fish, fruits and vegetables combined in original and recipes offered to the visitors. The latter may taste many traditional dishes such as famous "Papas Arrugadas" (small potatoes boiled in their jackets), "Ropa Vieja" (type of casserole) or "Carajacas" (filleted liver), “Fish Soup”,“ Salmorejo Rabbit”, Bienmesabe” (very sweet almond paste), “Yolk Mass” and gofio (toasted and ground cereal meal.

GEOGRAPHY OF RURAL TOURISM

By becoming an interesting tourist destination, Canary countryside has experienced many changes. Tourist activities have an important impact on the rural areas, which causes numerous positive and negative consequences. Due to the increase in tourism interest, a network of local hotels, lodging and restaurants has been established. Not only old houses were restored but the availability of jobs in tourist sector is an important factor for the local economy and population. Newly established jobs diminish both daily and permanent migration to the coast and urban agglomerations. Moreover, local traditions, customs and knowledge are preserved which consequently means they are passed to younger generations. Good examples of this are wine routes, traditional festivals and local markets. The latter indicate and important role of tourism in many economic sectors. Local farmers can sell their local products which give them additional earnings. Farms can use their domesticated animals (horses) for visitors. Shops with local products are created. Because of tourism, infrastructure is renovated. However, rural tourism, especially massive and intensified, can generate certain problems. Firstly, even if the infrastructure is well-maintained, rural areas are usually less accessible and are without efficient public means of transport. This causes a huge impact on the environment due to increased private transportation. Secondly, as opposed to agriculture local inhabitants may consider tourism as a better option that brings them more money. This basically means that after some time, agricultural activities are entirely replaced by tourism infrastructure and local community is dependent only on income from tourism. Natural and cultural parks can experience harsh impacts due to increase in visitors and transport.

The future of rural areas in the Canary Island is uncertain. Countryside is rapidly changing, mainly because of the tourism which is becoming an influential activity also in the hinterlands. One possibility that could generate future tourism development and prosperity of rural areas are European programs that encourage sustainable rural activities (tourism). The most known “financial injection” is LEADER program, which supports a wide range of activities in the countryside.

6. PROBLEMATIC AND OPPORTUNITIES OF RURAL AREAS

• Problematic:
• Water management. Due to scarcity distribution the water management in the Canary Islands has always been one of the most important activities and the importance of the water can be seen in the landscape (canals, reservoir, drainage systems…) Traditionally, this culture of the water had managed to provide water for the whole uses in the islands, but now the changes in economy and in land uses are causing serious problems in water management. During the 20^th century the urban and touristic development increased their necessities, so the water that had been used commonly to irrigate the crops started to cover this demand. Some of the consequences of this demand were the exhaustion of the underground water and the massive decreasing of the agriculture profitability. This is the situation that explains the actual model in which appears the desalted water as a replacement of the traditional one. It’s true that we look at it as a self-sufficiency model, but its needs of energy don’t say the same. And what’s more, there are new uses, like the golf courts, which are increasing these needs without create one sustainable solution for the problematic of water.
• Changes in the land uses. The shortage of water is not the only problem that affects the rural areas in Canary Island. Parallel to this process we can also include the radical change of uses that signified the urban development. The need of space near the coast, especially where the pressure of tourism has been more important, made the farmers leave the crops with the idea of earn much money in the new sector and also intended to sell their not really profitable crops. This situation mainly caused for example the abandon of important productive areas in the southern midlands of Gran Canaria and this wouldn’t be a real problem if there weren’t some problems associated to this process, like erosion, landslides, high-water…
• Self-sufficiency. As a result of the previous problems it’s also a problem their effects over the self-sufficiency of the Canary Islands, which is decreasing, meanwhile the dependence of external markets are increasing, not really good news for any island. This information is included into “rural” because traditionally, these areas have provided the local market with basic goods, but not nowadays, when the products come from other markets, damaging the local system and get weak it.

• Developing and diversifying in the rural economy: in this globalized world where economy is almost all economic development turn really important for people. That’s the reason of why we need to talk about the future of the sectors that domain –or will domain- the economy of rural areas in Canary Islands. An analysis of future that started with previous topics like rural tourism or new perspectives for the growing of cochineal.

But before this short analysis it’s important to know why the rural system of the Canary Islands needs to change and diversify, an opinion that wasn’t born in rural researchers’ mind. This idea was born in canary people’s mind and was the most repeated when we interviewed somebody the situation of the rural economy, we have had a really good example in tomato.

So, if the opportunities of keep the system are decreasing, why they don’t change this system? It’s very easy to answer this question, this world it’s all for almost of them and it’s the only thing that they have. They want to still doing what they has been doing their whole life and they don’t care if they have to change a lot.

Now, there are some examples of different ways of diversifying and developing that locals are using to keep the system and adapt to new times.

• Non-technological innovation in agriculture: Hortabell’s project. A farmer is trying to develop a new way of business. He wants to offer a new model of farm in which the customers can collect the products by themselves.
  The enterprise that he manages –and also other local producers- has suffered some crisis because neither he nor other farmers could compete with external producers, like South-America or Morocco, in the cherry’s tomato’s or ^4th range’s market. This is an interesting and not very common project in which we can observe how the necessity makes the rural people thinks about and try to have future.
• Technological innovation in agriculture: ICIA (CIAR) (Canary Institute of Agricultural Research). Researching Station of Horticulture of Santa Lucía de Tirajana. This institute was born to work with the local horticultural farmers, especially tomato’s producers, although it also provides social support, working as a vocational college for unemployment people. The main work done in this Researching Station is linked to greenhouse tomato production and the most modern farming techniques that can be used in this kind production nowadays. In this case we’re talking about how the local administration tries to help producers to improve their ability to compete with external rivals, although there are some totally contrary policies.
• Ecological agriculture: not only as a kind of economic exploitation which respect of the environment, also as a way of economic development focused on the production of high-quality and helps to preserve the traditions. This is a very important topic to develop in the Canary Islands because the local primary sector, which was the most important in the region during decades, has decreased it weight in favor of the tertiary sector, especially the pressure of tourism, and both, tourism and primary sector, could develop together a strong agriculture sector. Although there are several problems that difficult these activities, like, for example, the low level of organization, and the high number of mini-producers, the government of the islands recognized in the ecological agriculture an opportunity to change the system that exist into a more sustainable model which, besides improving the quality of the production can also reduce the dependence of this sector from the government assistances and can help in several problems like unemployment, rural development, biodiversity conservation…

• Other interesting topics for rural world: Besides agriculture or tourism there are several topics to develop in rural areas with the idea of preserving, like the ecological agriculture, the heritage that exist in these areas, for example the social function of some activities, which support education and professional training programs meanwhile the people who participate in these programs learn a lot about the traditions of the rural areas they or the products that they spend are coming from, or also helping handicap people. And although is not a big opportunity to rural people it’s turning a very common activity to rent rural spaces and buildings, not exactly as touristic accommodation, more as places prepared to celebrate meetings and celebrations, like weddings, a very extended activity in the whole country.

But maybe the most curious way to develop in rural areas that is not necessary an economical way is the subsistence agriculture. This model of production, which had domain traditionally the rural economy, lost it importance when others more profitable economic sectors appeared in the Canary Islands. But nowadays this model of production has returned important in some areas in the region. People who are retired and especially who are unemployed have discovered that not all is lost and the subsistence agriculture it’s a good way of surviving.