Desigualdad social y toma de decisiones en los comunales: El gobierno del mayor canal de riego de España (la Acequia Real del Júcar, Valencia) en el siglo XIX

We analyse the management institutions of a community irrigation system in Mediterranean Spain, the Acequia Real (Royal Canal) of the Júcar river, where social inequality among irrigators was high. We look at the changes in the canal's institutions over time. There were two levels of government institutions. Only the elites could participate in the first one, that is, the government of the main canal. Although the local management bodies that governed the successive derivations of the main canal included more people, not every irrigator had the right to be part of them, but there were informal participation mechanisms that allowed everyone to voice.