Concentración parcelaria, puesta en riego y desarrollo rural: el caso de Yéchar (Mula-Región de Murcia). De 1973 a 2016

The village of Yechar, in the middle of the Murcia Region can be studied using the regional geography as a model for rural development initiatives, having overcome various socio-economic crises through different agricultural activities. In the last fifty years, the locals have had to deal with the rural exodus of the dry lands of Southeast Iberian Peninsula with measures taken by local actors and public authorities, which include the area being declared to be of National Interest, the land consolidation of farms, and the transformation of over 800 hectares into irrigated land using water from the Tajo-Segura Transfer. On-the-spot interviews explain how Yechar farmers change crops to tackle the problems of the fruit and vegetable market, and they look for other water management policies to mitigate the excessive reliance on foreign water resources from the Tajo-Segura Transfer.