The communal management of the Montes Francos of Urnieta (Guipúzcoa) and its progressive breakdown, 1882–1958

Abstract

This article is a summary of the Memoria de Llicenciatura presented in July at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. The subject is the proces of disentigration of a communal property, namely the common woods or Urnieta (Guipúzcoa) in the Basque country.

The group of hills of which the common land is composed, cover an area of approximately 800 hectares (about 30% of the total area of the municipality). In the past, they provided the villagers with a series of vital resources: coal, fire-wood, timber, grazing and ferns. And, although agriculture was the major means of livelihood for the majority of the population, the communal utilization of these hills constituted an important complement within the local economy.

The ownership of the hills was originally communal (references to this effect date back to 1379), and they were utilized by entire community until 1868, when they became the exclusive property of a limited group of inhabitants, to the detriment of the majority, who thus clost their traditional rights on the use of the hills. This restricted ownership of the former common land existed thereafter until 1959, when the hills were sold off to various individuals involved in industrial pursuits. In this way, an activity which had been carried out in the municipality for many generations was brought to an end.

Throughout the history of the exploitation of the hills, several modifications have been introduced. This article consists of a synthesis of the principal types of utilization of the hills, and of their progressive abandon between 1882 and 1958. The principal documentary source for the analysis of these aspects was the book of Records of the Community (Libro de Actas de la Comunidad).

As agricultural activities gradually lost importance in the municipality, so the hills also gradually stopped serving an essential function in the life of the community. As a logical consequence, interest in conserving this patrimony was closely related to the maintenance, of a rural style of life in the settlement with the introduction of industrial life styles. The communal property was no longer a necessity and became a commercial asset to be exploited.