Historical and recent changes in the Spanish forests: A socio-economic process

The evolution of Spanish landscapes through history is mainly a story of deforestation. Through time, exploitation of natural resources increased to cope with the requirements of more and more complex civilizations. In this work, a review of how the Spanish forests were influenced by human activities and their changes is provided. Forests were cleared for mining, charcoal, shipbuilding and caulking. The most fertile lands were converted into cultivation and more productive cultivars were introduced. Mobile livestock, in particular sheep, became widespread, and with it the burning of wooded land to produce pastures. Woods were privatized through a series of disentailments. All these factors have occurred during the history of Spain, linked to profound changes in the landscape and vegetation. Not until the beginning of the 20th century were real efforts devoted to invert the trend to deforestation inherited from the negative woodland management of previous centuries.