La producción agraria en el sur de Aragón (1660-1827)

This paper studies the agricultural production development in southern Aragon from the 1660s to the beginning of the 19th century. It uses the source of the tithe series in the bishopric of Teruel. Sheep and cereal, with a clear predominance of wheat, are the basic produce. Production has grown since the beginning of the period, suggesting the crisis has come to its end. This chronology and that of the Mediterranean zones are alike. The driving force behind extensive growth in the 18th century is the demand coming from population increase and, particularly in the case of transhumant sheep, from the Valencian markets that maintain active relations with Southern Aragon. Growth stops at the end of the century out of exhaustion of the extensive model and because of difficulties in keeping on with the process of ploughing up new ground, thanks to the town councils and the Community of Teruel, which control this land and defend transhumant cattlemen's interests. After the independence war, the expansive stage that the agricultural production had undergone during the Age of Enlightenment came to an end.