Agrarian landscapes in conflict. The example of flower-growing in the Maresme district, Barcelona

Abstract

The Maresme district in Catalonia belongs to the rural-urban fringe of Barcelona. In the so-called Baix Maresme (the southern sector of the district), the main agricultural activities have been disappearing during the last decades due to the urban sprawl. The only exception is the intensive flower-growing activity, which has a tradition dating back to the 1920s. The key feature to that survival has been the competitiveness that has acquired through its intensification. Greenhouses are the symbol of such story of economic success, but at the same time they have failed to establish themselves as a representative feature of the agricultural landscapes of the district. The paper concludes that a viable future for floriculture depends to a large extent on its adequate internal and external reorganization (regarding productive and commercial activity and also concerning the fit of this activity in the metropolitan region of Barcelona). In this sense, a certain social recognition of the greenhouses as an inherent part of the agricultural landscape of the region seems to be crucial in order to success in such task.