Anales de Geografía 2015, vol. 35, núm. 1 119-137 120 Analysis of the expansion of the olive grove in the province of Jaén through cartographic sources (1956-2007)

Abstract

The province of Jaen is the most radical example of olive specialization of the world, destining to the olive groves more than 91 % of its agricultural surface. Through cartographic sources of expansion took place from middle of the 20th century is reconstructed, stressing in the spatial keys of a process in which there has predominated the strategy of substitution of other agricultural uses before that the expansion of the agricultural frontier. Likewise, there are identified some of the current characteristics of this extreme monoculture, between them those who allow us to understand its high global productivity (increase of the irrigated surface, take up of soils of better agronomic conditions) or the coexistence of olive groves of very different landscape and economic potential.