La Contribución Territorial Rústica y el reparto de la carga tributaria en el siglo XX. La provincia de Lérida (1900-1963)

In Spain the agricultural cadastre was accomplished very late, and the works to cover all the territory lasted over sixty years, until the 1970s; the North zone of the country being the latest in which the implantation took place. Throughout that long period, deficiencies of the previous methods of amillaramientos, continued in those provinces not yet accomplished. One serious consequence was the lack of contributing justice generated by the defective final allocation of rustic wealth of every contributor. This article analyses these inequalities of proportionality in the loads of the Rustic and Cattle Territorial Contribution to the agrarian contributors in the southern regions of the province of Lérida, whose transition to the cadastral taxation took place between 1956 and 1963, after more than a century of amillaramientos regime. The study reveals that in the distributions of the quota of amillaramientos, great differences existed among the municipalities located in irrigated land zones or dry land zones and lower taxable wealth, finally loading the latter contributors with a fiscal pressure that did not correspond to them. Contrary to many authors, the study shows that small proprietors were mainly favoured, followed by the great ones, and the medium ones being, the less favoured during the amillaramientos in this region.