El retroceso del olivar en las Baleares: un itinerario a contracorriente de la evolución española (1800-1960)

The expansion of olive tree groves in most of main1and Spain from the mid-nineteenth century on coincided with their waning in the Balearics. In the late eighteenth century Mallorca was the main oil exporting region of Spain, but just over a century later olive oil had to be imported to meet the island's demand This article analyzes the main factors re1ating to the decline in olive oil production: the causes of the landowners lack of interest in increasing production levels or improving product quality, the tendency to replace olive trees with other more profitable types of trees, the fact that olive trees were increasingly confined to areas of the island unsuitable for other crops and finally the overwhelmingly industrial export-oriented production of olive oil as a raw material for Marseilles soap.