The Beginnings of Nature Protection in Spain: Origins and Evaluation of Conservation

Abstract

This article provides a socio-historical examination of Spain’s first conservation movement; we examine its roots and the logics that led to the establishment of the country’s first protected areas. We focus on the period beginning with the establishment of the General Law on National Parks (1916) up until the Second Republic and the beginning of the Spanish Civil War (1936). At the end of the text we summarise both the contributions and limitations of this initial establishment of a natural heritage. In conclusion, we argue that some of the nineteenth century elements that inspired the conservation of nature still apply today, as we find traces of them – albeit redefined, reinterpreted and recontextualised – in declarations establishing protected areas now one hundred years later.