Colonizing rural waters: the politics of hydro-territorial transformation in the Guadalhorce Valley, Málaga, Spain. Issue 2 (17th February 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Duarte-Abadía, Bibiana; Boelens, Rutgerd
• Is Part Of: Water international. Volume 44:Issue 2(2019)
• Page Start: 148
• Page End: 168
• Publication Date: 2019-02-17
• Subjects: Hydraulic utopia -- hydro-politics -- governmentality -- hydro-territorial transformation -- water transfers -- Spain; Water -- Periodicals; Water-supply -- Periodicals; 333.9105
• DOI: 10.1080/02508060.2019.1578080
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0250-8060

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This paper explores how, historically, the utopian thinking built into Spain's water policies has legitimized profound transformations of the Guadalhorce Valley's hydro-social territory (in Málaga), also justifying water transfers from rural to urban areas. It analyzes how the 'regenerationist hydraulic utopia' has been materialized through different 'governmentality strategies'. This intensified during Francisco Franco's dictatorship, decaying gradually into dystopias that, to this day, express profound socio-environmental impacts: dispossession, displacement, uprooting and breaking up local water governance institutions and practices. Meanwhile, the urban and tourism industries in Málaga have been strengthened by giving them priority for water supply.