El Bierzo Land Bank
The El Bierzo Land Bank is one of the first initiatives of the Spanish State for the recovery of abandoned land and the establishment of mediation between owners and people interested in leasing abandoned land.
El Bierzo is a particular area for agricultural production due to its special microclimate and abundance of water. It is the European county with the most hundred-year-old vineyard surface and where there are seven quality seals, the European record for an area.
The agri-food industry is a strategic sector of the Bercian economy, in which agricultural activity stands out as the main pillar of the development of the rural world due to its impact on economic activity, job creation and the correlative fixation of population in this environment, which allows to avoid the depopulation of the rural environment.
The progressive abandonment of agricultural activity has left a large amount of fertile land in the area uncultivated (more than half of the useful agricultural surface — SAU — is abandoned). 70% of the inactive lands are suitable for agricultural, forestry or livestock use. This percentage continues to increase gradually.
In this context, the land bank is the right way to enhance the figure of the farmer as an entrepreneur.
The fundamental objective is to energize the Bercian countryside and rural development and countyl, a fundamental instrument for the reactivation of the agricultural economy countyl, also taking into account the benefits provided in the environmental and tourist areas, through the mobilization of land with agricultural, livestock or forestry vocation.
With all this is flight:
- Create wealth and employment.
- Reactivate economy countyl.
- Recover abandoned farmland.
- Add value to land with agricultural, forestry, livestock or beekeeping use and increase its economic viability.
- Stop the loss of useful agricultural surface.
- Avoid the serious situation of abandonment of some land with the consequent risk of fires, damage to neighbors, etc.
- Recover agricultural activity in areas affected by the aging of the population and the rural exodus.
- Encourage the settlement of new farmers.
- Promote the inclusion of young people in the agri-food sector and in association and grouping initiatives.
- Strengthen the figure of the farmer and rancher as an entrepreneur and encourage self-employment.
- Promote the competitiveness of the sector.
- Develop consideration of agriculture and livestock farming as a strategic sector.
- Encourage the launch of marketing channels through commercial advice that will allow the entrepreneur to open commercial relationships with the aim of obtaining the greatest possible economic return from their production.
- Promote the signing of agreements with companies, entities, associations, consumer platforms, supply markets, fairs, etc., to distribute these products.
- Develop training actions.
- Encourage complementary activities in the agricultural sector, such as transformation activities, natural space conservation and environmental protection, tourism and crafts, etc.
- Promote associationism.
- Promote the development of environmentally sustainable agriculture.
- The peasantry moves anywhere to carry out the contracts.
- The agreed contract is a very interesting figure to leave the property to a specific person.
- Contracts are carried out throughout the year and not just on a certain date.
- People want the vine to continue alive and that is why many estates are sold.
- Professional farmers are notified if new farms become available near theirs.
- The key is personalized comprehensive advice with the experience of the people who work in the land bank.
- A free soil analysis is carried out and a machinery loan is formalised.
- The properties are delivered and cleaned before (if they are more than 2500 m²). Every year a tender is held for twelve hectares intended especially for horticultural crops in the central El Bierzo area.
- A horticultural plant is delivered to promote the quality seals.
- It is a land bank made up of thirty-eight municipalities that is the right size (neither too small nor too big) and is very close, since you can get anywhere in half an hour. The meetings are held in the various City Councils to ensure proximity and easy access to the interested people. Centralized banks are more difficult to manage.
- Dimension countyl is a success.
- Very good videos and communication campaigns are carried out, which in some cases involve well-known and relevant people in the area.
- New activities and initiatives are always being sought.
90,000 euros. Of these, 80% come from the Provincial Council of León and 20% from the County Council of El Bierzo.
112,500 euros a year. The Provincial Administration provides 80% of the money (90,000 euros) and countyl, the remaining 20% (22,500 euros).
Agreements are currently formalized every four years between the Provincial Council of León and the County Council of El Bierzo.
