Irrigated terracing and the social organization of water distribution in Banyalbufar (Mallorca)

Abstract

This article describes a system of irrigation employed in the upland settlement of Banyalbufar, Mallorca. The settlement is surrounded by approximately 70 hectares of terraced horticultural land, which slopes relatively steeply to the sea. The stone-walled cultivation terraces have substantially transformed the natural environment. Cultivation is based on the extraction of subterranean water and its subsequent utilization for irrigation purposes, based on gravitational circulation. The water is distributed to the various cultivation terraces by means of irrigation channels. Each terrace has ample storage space in the form of dams, known locally as «safareig», which permit the regulation of the rate of distribution. Water overflows from the upper to the lower terraces, and underground filtration also occurs, whilst surplus water is diverted to canalized flood streams and eventually to the sea. Unti1 the beginning of the twentieth century, flour mills located on the flood streams also made use of this water as a source of power. The general effect of the system is a marked transformation of the ecosystem, involving complicated techniques and intensive agricultural exploitation. The system is of Arab origin, obviously reflected not only in the name of the settlement, Banyalbufar, derived from Banaya al-buhar, which means «construction of storage darns»; but also in the technology utilized. Likewise, in the system of communal water distribution which survives until the present, one can trace the basic principles of similar systems that exist in other parts of the Mediterranean and the Magreb. This system, which evolved satisfactorily in small communities, is now in a state of crisis, due to competition from the mass supply of horticultural products on the present-day market.