Costumbre y coacción social. La formación del arrendamiento rústico valenciano (1880-1940)

During the first decades of the 20th century) a big amount of irrigated lands in L'Horta de Valencia (Spain) was transferred from the middleclass rentier to the little farmer peasants, who became owners of those lands they had been cultivating as tenants up to that moment This article describes the factors accounting for this process: the relationships between landlords and tenants) and the real functioning of fixed-rent tenancy in the area) taking into account the economic evolution of the region. The stability of the tenants in their parcels was an important factor for a long time. They used to maintain a moderate rent so as to encourage peasants to cultivate properly and introduce improvements, and the consolidation of new crops were decisive too. However, the ability of tenants to gather around some standards, established as a custom and very advantageous for them, was the factor that eroded definitely the landlords' control over the lands. Between the latest 19th and the earliest 20th century decades) through different ways of coercing, tenants were able to impose their interests over the rights of property established by the law.